Upcoming free agents interested in playing with Colts

[krunk]

Sorry....

 

But I don't understand this fascination with Franklin, the NT.

 

He'll be 33 next season.    He's on his 4th team.   The Colts would make 5.    And his last two teams would be for one year.

 

If those teams are letting him walk,   there's a good reason.     This is not how we want to spend our FA dollars.    He's way, WAY past his prime.    Posters here are remembering the player he used to be.    He's not that guy anymore.   And he hasn't been for some time.   Sorry.

[NewColtsFan]

No text.   Website software is failing....

[krunk]

No text.   Website software is failing....

[unitaswestand]

Look at the Redskins who, year after year, spend all this money and free agents and accomplish nothing.  Shanahan changed  that for them recently.  Look how the Eagles have tanked since they became "the dream team".   I think it is a huge mistake to go out and buy marque players.  I would much rather see young veterans with great potential  who will play well but can be sustained for awhile.   So I cringe when I see Mike Wallace type guys.   This team is all about chemistry.  I believe Grigson and Pagano will only bring in players that fit that chemistry, regardless of how good they are.

[Mameluc]

CB Cary Williams and S Jarius Byrd as far as free agents on defense.

OT Branden Albert and G LeVitre as far as offense

hopefully land 3 of the 4..other needs will find in draft

[Mameluc]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="chad72" data-cid="357373"><p><br />Dashon Goldson of 49ers and Keenan Lewis of Steelers for DBs<br /><br />Matt Slauson of Jets, Louis Vasquez of Chargers for OL<br /><br />Richard Seymour for DE/DT<br /><br />All these moves should put us back in contention again.</p></blockquote><br />I'd add The RT from falcons, Cary Williams, Schwarts also..

[dw49]

I wonder if Reggie Bush would make a good replacement for Donald Brown next year if we decide not to keep him? Bush has a similar style to Marshall Faulk to me in some ways. I think he'd be good in this offense. Great competitor. It appears he will be a FA next year, and it seems the Dolphins have not opened talks with him as of yet.

 

 

          If injury conserns with Brown don't factor in too much , I would think the Colts would stick with Brown as his base for next year is only about 1.75 million.

[NewColtsFan]

If we actually have about 40 million in cap space for next year, that does not mean we have 40 million to just go buy talent. We have a number of guys who have performed well for us who were brought in on 1 year contracts who we have to take care of as well with that money if we want them back.

 

 

 

This is a really, really good and important post.   Wish all our Colts fans would take a moment to read your post and then re-read it again.    Re-signing some of our own will cut into our spending money for FA's. 

[BOTT]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single Free Agent that I want to sign for 5-years.    Not one.

 

And if it means the player goes elsewhere,  so be it.

 

I don't want the Colts in Salary Cap Hell in 3-5 years like we were this year....   no thanks!

 

I want 2-4 year deals for our signings.    And,  most important to me,  I want younger players coming off their first contract, who are roughly 25-26 years old.    Guys who are 27-28 years old, I want to limit to 3-year deals.   I want to make sure the players we get can give us performance and value for multiple years.      

 

If there's an older player we covet, then I'd prefer 1-2 year deals, 3 years max.     We gave 3-years to Redding, and one or two others this past off-season I believe.   Redding has worked out great -- this year.    Hopefully he will in 2013 and '14.  

 

I have confidence in Grigson.   I think he's a smart savvy guy.    I don't see him throwing around money recklessly.  

not many players get 5 year contracts. as i understand it, most nfl contracts can be thrown away after 3 years.

[krunk]

I wonder if this guy would be worth picking up next year.  I like the way he plays!

 

 

  Jets | LaRon Landry won't give hometown discount    Fri Dec 14, 10:45 PM

New York Jets FS LaRon Landry said Friday, Dec. 14, that he won't give the team a hometown discount when he hits the open market after the season. 'What do you mean (by) a discount? Take less over what? From where?,' Landry said. 'If that (were) the case, I would have taken a hometown discount and stayed with the Redskins. I love the game. I love this organization. I love them for giving me an opportunity. But at the end of the day, I'm going to sit down with my agent and my family and make the best business decision.'

Link to story
LaRon Landry player page

[Gavin]

I'd certainly consider Landry although I would take a look at a Strong Safety Kenny Phillips to

[BleedBlu8792]

Landry or Phillips would be nice. I like Landry a little more because he's not afraid to come up and lay the wood on someone. He's also big enough to play with TE's. He'd be a huge improvement over Zibby in helping against the run.

[Gavin]

Zib just has never been the SS thats gonna lay a big hit on someone even in college. Not the answer going forward, 120th in tackles by someone in the Secondary

[The Peytonator]

Sorry....

 

But I don't understand this fascination with Franklin, the NT.

 

He'll be 33 next season.    He's on his 4th team.   The Colts would make 5.    And his last two teams would be for one year.

 

If those teams are letting him walk,   there's a good reason.     This is not how we want to spend our FA dollars.    He's way, WAY past his prime.    Posters here are remembering the player he used to be.    He's not that guy anymore.   And he hasn't been for some time.   Sorry.

 

 

Franklin has been awesome as a 3-4 NT. PFF has him on their All Pro team. Last year he played for New Orleans and it was a terrible fit. Not sure why he was so ineffective, but the Saints this offseason signed another beast in the run game, Brodrick Bunkley, and he's been largely ineffective for them. In my opinion, 33 is not that old for a Nose. They don't normally play a lot of snaps, they just have to be able to dominate for the snaps they do play. I wouldn't want to sign him for more than 2 years, but he would be extremely valuable in teaching Chapman how to man the Nose.

[NewColtsFan]

not many players get 5 year contracts. as i understand it, most nfl contracts can be thrown away after 3 years.

 

 

Just went to CBSSports.com....

 

Of their list of the top-100 Free Agents from this year, the 2012 class...

 

14 of the top 26 FA's received 5 or even 6-year deals.     Of the top 100,  21 received 5 or 6-year deals.   So, they're not as rare as you might think.    Also, 10 other players received 4-year deals.

 

Since we have the most money,  agents are going to try and bleed us.   That's their job -- fine.   But that doesn't mean we have to go along.    I want guys who want to be here for the right reasons,  not simply because we're willing to write the biggest check in all cases. 

 

As for throwing the contracts out,  you can do anything you want whenever you want.   But,  there's some serious 'salary cap hell to pay' when you do that.     You can void out a contract and simply walk away without incurring some type of penalty.

 

I don't want any part of that.   I want the Monster to be Built the right way.

 

Just my two cents....

[NewColtsFan]

If Grigson lays an egg in the off-season, this board will blow up all over him like an Ostrich puking on green eggs and ham., ...... im not saying he wil but I'm just saying........

 

 

 

Define 'lays an egg'....

 

I'm curious just how you mean that?     it might mean different things to different fans here....

 

Just askin....

[BOTT]

Just went to CBSSports.com....

 

Of their list of the top-100 Free Agents from this year, the 2012 class...

 

14 of the top 26 FA's received 5 or even 6-year deals.     Of the top 100,  21 received 5 or 6-year deals.   So, they're not as rare as you might think.    Also, 10 other players received 4-year deals.

 

Since we have the most money,  agents are going to try and bleed us.   That's their job -- fine.   But that doesn't mean we have to go along.    I want guys who want to be here for the right reasons,  not simply because we're willing to write the biggest check in all cases. 

 

As for throwing the contracts out,  you can do anything you want whenever you want.   But,  there's some serious 'salary cap hell to pay' when you do that.     You can void out a contract and simply walk away without incurring some type of penalty.

 

I don't want any part of that.   I want the Monster to be Built the right way.

 

Just my two cents....

i don't pay too much attention to contracts, salary cap info, but....i think the vast majority of contracts have any out after the 3rd year, so the team doesn't take a hit if the player is released and after the player has received a hefty signing bonus. i think it chris mortenson who said every nfl contract is pretty much 3 years.

[NewColtsFan]

i don't pay too much attention to contracts, salary cap info, but....i think the vast majority of contracts have any out after the 3rd year, so the team doesn't take a hit if the player is released and after the player has received a hefty signing bonus. i think it chris mortenson who said every nfl contract is pretty much 3 years.

 

 

I would have had to have heard the whole Mortensen comment to get the full context and meaning....   but here's what I ***think*** he meant....   emphasis on the ***think*** part...

 

I think 5-year deals are set up to be renegotiated.   Years 4 and 5 have big balloon payments due...  it's an incentive to re-do the deal and to get a player good money up front and a team friendly contract the first 3-years...  a trade-off for both sides....

 

But,  I don't think teams get to walk away without a penalty hit from years 4 and 5.   I mis-typed in my previous post.   I was trying to say you ***can't*** walk away without a salary cap hit.   Perhaps Superman or FireJimCaldwell can chime in if this see our discussion here....   they both have a better understanding of such things like contracts...

 

But this is my understanding....    and again,  I could be wrong here,  but I don't think so...  

 

Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow (Saturday the 15th)

 

See you this weekend, Blood...     

[BleedBlu8792]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BLOODontheTRACKS" data-cid="360203" data-time="1355555210"><p>

i don't pay too much attention to contracts, salary cap info, but....i think the vast majority of contracts have any out after the 3rd year, so the team doesn't take a hit if the player is released and after the player has received a hefty signing bonus. i think it chris mortenson who said every nfl contract is pretty much 3 years.</p></blockquote>

It really depends on the contract and the way they are structured. For example, Mathis' last contract was a 5 yr $30MIL deal, however they front loaded it so in the first 3 years he got ~26MIL of that $30MIL while the last 2 years were just base pay of $2MIL. If he wanted out or the Colts cut him in year 4 I believe the Colts would have been accountable for that 2MIL in base pay for that year but would have owed him nothing for year 5. Reggie's 2nd contract was also structured this same way. Most of the contracts, the 4-6 year ones, are front loaded it seems unless they happen to get restructured early on, and Freeney's I think was, and then contracts tip the other way, which I believe is very risky and something GM's try to avoid a la Freeney's ending 19MIL year.

[GoColts8818]

I think the job done by Grigson and the coaches will draw some players here who want to win.  I don't know how many players that will win over but it can't hurt and frankly Pangao has already proven to be one heck of a salesman if you are interested.  Avery, Wayne, and Redding have ALL told stories how Pagano called them and talked them into coming here.  So I think money will get us in the door with a lot of players, Grigson's quick turnaround will help single that Indy is a place you can win at, and Pagano might very well be able to close it.  No matter when you factor in all those three things I think Indy is going to be very hard for a free agent to say no too if they are honestly looking at the Colts this off-season. 

[Superman]

i don't pay too much attention to contracts, salary cap info, but....i think the vast majority of contracts have any out after the 3rd year, so the team doesn't take a hit if the player is released and after the player has received a hefty signing bonus. i think it chris mortenson who said every nfl contract is pretty much 3 years.

A team can terminate a contract whenever they want, really, without having to pay the player more money. Some contracts have guarantees for future years (and usually the word "guarantee" is misused, but that's another topic), but for most players, the future money isn't guaranteed until the season begins. For instance, Freeney's $14m base salary for 2012 wasn't guaranteed until Week 1 of the regular season; if we had released him in the preseason, we wouldn't have had to pay him anything.

However, the cap penalties for releasing a player might still exist in future seasons, depending on the structure of the contract. For instance, in Freeney's case, we would have had a $5m cap penalty in 2012 had we released him before the season started. We already paid him that $5m as a signing bonus ($30m bonus on a six year contract = $5m/yr), and we wouldn't have owed him any more money, but it still has to be accounted for on the cap.

There are tricks and loopholes that some teams use -- and I think they'll pop up more and more -- to limit or avoid cap penalties in the event of a future release. It also makes it easier for a team to restructure a contract to lower a player's cap hit. For instance, the Bucs signed Carl Nicks this offseason for five years, $47.5m, but there was no signing bonus. Instead, they paid him a roster bonus of $6m. The difference between the two is that, for cap accounting, a signing bonus is split evenly over the life of the contract, while a roster bonus hits the cap in one year only. So Nicks' entire $6m bonus is on the 2012 cap, instead of being spread out in five $1.2m increments over the five year deal. If the Bucs release Nicks in the future, they don't have any bonus to allocate to the cap in future years, meaning they have no cap penalty. Any guarantees included in the contract might have an impact on the Bucs' ability to avoid paying him future money.

The Bucs used similar tricks on the Vincent Jackson and Eric Wright contracts (any guarantees in Wright's contract were voided because of his suspension). Because they had so much cap space in 2012, it made sense for them to front-load those contracts to have heavy cap hits in early years, giving them more flexibility in later years.

But, the simple truth is that, if you give a player a true signing bonus, you're going to have a cap penalty if you release him before his contract expires. The length of the contract doesn't matter in that regard.

[Superman]

I'd certainly consider Landry although I would take a look at a Strong Safety Kenny Phillips to

No thanks on Phillips. He has trouble staying on the field.

[Gavin]

No thanks on Phillips. He has trouble staying on the field.

Yeah I see that, he has been productive when on the field but has not played a full season in 2 years. Landry has the same issue though only its been 4 years for him, he only has 2 full seasons he finished. Charlie Peprah may be worth a short 1-2 year deal other that I think our best best is be the draft, I am sure Byrd from Buffalo will get resigned and even if he isn't he is a FS

[Steagles]

I just really want Jairus Byrd.

[Gavin]

I just really want Jairus Byrd.

[Brooklyn Colt]

I'm reading reports that people around the Ravens organization do not expect Ray and Ed to remain with the team after this season. Looking at the garbage we have playing alongside Bethea I think it'd make all the sense in the world to have a future HOFer ball-hawking safety to fill that role. He'd be a nice 2-3 year rental and I doubt he would ask for much as opposed to Jairus Byrd. He'd get to play with his former Db coach and former teammate again..I think the possibility of Ed donning the horseshoe is very likely and wouldn't be surprised if this happens. He could be to us what Darren Sharper was for the Saints.

[BleedBlu8792]

I'm reading reports that people around the Ravens organization do not expect Ray and Ed to remain with the team after this season. Looking at the garbage we have playing alongside Bethea I think it'd make all the sense in the world to have a future HOFer ball-hawking safety to fill that role. He'd be a nice 2-3 year rental and I doubt he would ask for much as opposed to Jairus Byrd. He'd get to play with his former Db coach and former teammate again..I think the possibility of Ed donning the horseshoe is very likely and wouldn't be surprised if this happens. He could be to us what Darren Sharper was for the Saints.

I would be completely happy with Ed playing here. Letting Bethea bulk a little and moving him to SS in favor of Reed would be fine with me. I would just wonder if he would want to come play here.

[Gavin]

I still think Brandan Bishop is the way to go in the 5th(Cmp pick) or 6th

[coltsfanatic24]

i think will sign two offensive linemen to replace mcglynn and justice. andy levitre and gosder cherilus would be huge upgrades to the o-line.

[UKColt13]

I agree with you, but that doesn't mean Grigson won't repeat his mistakes and try to buy all the top FA's...he went ape % with the Eagles when they had money to blow. Didn't workout too well for them...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Grigson in charge of College scouting, I doubt he had much to do with FA signing. The GM of the eagles at the time is the one to blame, not Grigson.

[Gavin]

_{From '06-'09 Grigson was Director of college scouting for the Eagles and from '10-'11 Grigson was director of player personnel for the Eagles}

[Gavin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Grigson

[ColtStrong]

wow

King of the one word response. Waits for it.....

[John Dee]

Well, considering that we are almost playoff contenders and have tons of dollars...we may lure valuable UFAs to our roster. There are still lot of needs.

hehe...    this is why Indy will be getting interest... 

 

Spend wisely Mr. Grigs....