Donald Thomas Cut [Merge]

[bababooey]

Per PFT twitter

[Jackie Daytona]

Colts release G Donald Thomas, per source. He had recently been activated from PUP list.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk)

August 31, 2015

 

Colts release G Donald Thomas, per source. He had recently been activated from PUP list.

 

[Jackie Daytona]

So long Donald, we hardly knew ye!

[Jackie Daytona]

According to Overthecap.com, saves us 3.25 Million, and adds only 500k in dead money against this years cap....  also, didn't notice t his, but we have 11+ mil in dead money against the cap that I believe is all off after this year..... not bad

[IndyD4U]

So, there's that.

[pgt_rob]

Cya, sorry to see it didn't pan out.

[csmopar]

not surprised he's been released.....but why not do it earlier in the offseason when you had a shot at getting a much better replacement.  To do it 2 days after he gets cleared is well strange.

[lollygagger8]

What took so long? 

 

Did we save any money by waiting or something? 

 

It's so odd he was here forever, then once cleared, gets released.

[krunk]

Oh well I guess!  I assume we'll be keeping Hugh Thornton and letting him heal up from the knee injury.

Not sure what direction Grigs is heading in.

[arkana04]

What took so long? 

 

Did we save any money by waiting or something? 

 

It's so odd he was here forever, then once cleared, gets released.

This is the most baffling thing to me aswell. 

 

maybe he just looks absolutely cooked as a football player which wouldn't be that shocking. 

[Jackie Daytona]

Maybe there was specific language in his contract or the CBA in regards to his contract that made it more financially sensible to release him when he was "healthy" rather than injured?

[csmopar]

Maybe there was specific language in his contract or the CBA in regards to his contract that made it more financially sensible to release him when he was "healthy" rather than injured?

Well, the only thing I can think of is that I don't think you can cut a player who's on the PUP or IR but I'm not positive on that one.

[PeterBowman]

I'm interested to hear the reasoning about the timing of this.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

So he's not are starting G anymore?

What are we to do now?

How do you replace his production?

Lol

[RomanianColtsFan]

And all this talk after he came off PUP list when it turns out the Colts and likely the player knew all along what was going to happen.

[CroatianColtsFan21]

his guaranteed money was probably for injury only, so by waiting for him to be medically cleared saves jim that money.

[Rhane19]

2 years of rarely playing... saw this one coming

 

be prepared, Ballard is soon (might make up until the 53 roster cut)

[ColtsBlueFL]

Duplicate topics merged.

[TigerColt]

This is what i dont understand.  If they knew they were going to release him, why didnt they add quality depth to the interior of the line?  They could have added Barksdale at RT (doing very well at SD, so good they pushed Fluker to G). and we could have kept Mewhort at G.  Shaking my head on this.

 

Joseph

[ColtsBlueFL]

Maybe there was specific language in his contract or the CBA in regards to his contract that made it more financially sensible to release him when he was "healthy" rather than injured?

 

Here is a great explanation of cuts. waivers, injuriies, and injury settlements from Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times-

 

"An injured player gets paid for as long as he's unable to play, no matter what his contract says. A team can't release an injured player until he's cleared. For most rookie contracts, players selected in the third round or later, there's something called an "up-down," which is two minimum salaries negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement. The "up" is the minimum active salary, which this season is $420,000, and the "down" ($303,000) is the minimum inactive salary. If a player is injured after eight games, he's paid eight weeks "up" and nine weeks "down" (eight weeks, plus the bye). For most veterans, there is no "down." It's whatever he's scheduled to earn. If a player gets hurt doing a football-related activity, he's covered, no matter when it happens. So if he tears his anterior cruciate ligament in a May minicamp, he's covered.

There are also injury settlements, which must be agreed to within five days of a player being placed on injured reserve. Say a player suffers a sprained ankle in training camp and it's a three-week injury. The team can pay him for those three weeks, then release him. That player is eligible to return to that team after the number of weeks the settlement was for (in this case, three), plus another six weeks. So he would be eligible to return in any capacity by Week 10. That six-week "tax" is put in place so teams can't stash players by saying they're injured. If a player suffers an injury doing something unrelated to football, he's placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. It's at the discretion of the team whether the player is paid."

 

It appears it is hard to agree to an injury settlement unless both parties know exactly how long it will take to recover.  So when he finally cleared and removed from PUP, it was then time to make the cut.

 

Another related note, All 32 NFL team rosters need to be trimmed down to 75 by Tuesday at 4:00 pm EST, and down to 53 by Saturday September 5 at 4:00 pm EST.

[SilentHill]

Ouch, does this mean Lance Louis is the starter?

[csmopar]

Here is a great explanation of cuts. waivers, injuriies, and injury settlements from Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times-

 

"An injured player gets paid for as long as he's unable to play, no matter what his contract says. A team can't release an injured player until he's cleared. For most rookie contracts, players selected in the third round or later, there's something called an "up-down," which is two minimum salaries negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement. The "up" is the minimum active salary, which this season is $420,000, and the "down" ($303,000) is the minimum inactive salary. If a player is injured after eight games, he's paid eight weeks "up" and nine weeks "down" (eight weeks, plus the bye). For most veterans, there is no "down." It's whatever he's scheduled to earn. If a player gets hurt doing a football-related activity, he's covered, no matter when it happens. So if he tears his anterior cruciate ligament in a May minicamp, he's covered.

There are also injury settlements, which must be agreed to within five days of a player being placed on injured reserve. Say a player suffers a sprained ankle in training camp and it's a three-week injury. The team can pay him for those three weeks, then release him. That player is eligible to return to that team after the number of weeks the settlement was for (in this case, three), plus another six weeks. So he would be eligible to return in any capacity by Week 10. That six-week "tax" is put in place so teams can't stash players by saying they're injured. If a player suffers an injury doing something unrelated to football, he's placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. It's at the discretion of the team whether the player is paid."

 

It appears it is hard to agree to an injury settlement unless both parties know exactly how long it will take to recover.  So when he finally cleared and removed from PUP, it was then time to make the cut.

 

 

thats what i thought, thanks for the link

[Gibbons180]

I know the little fan boy/girl in all of us wants a trade, but the grown up in us know picks are too valuable. Im ready to just trade all of our picks for new offensive linemen to give gore holes and luck protection.

[Pacergeek]

Another botched Ryan Grigson FA signing. I cannot believe how terrible Grigson has been in signing FA's

[lollygagger8]

Our guard depth is abysmal.

 

Why are we not trying Harrison at Guard more? 

 

He was a heckuva lot better at guard than at center (not difficult), and the best part is he doesn't have to touch the football.

[csmopar]

I know the little fan boy/girl in all of us wants a trade, but the grown up in us know picks are too valuable. Im ready to just trade all of our picks for new offensive linemen to give gore holes and luck protection.

yeah I'm with you there.  I'd even trade the next 2 years worth of pics for the entire cowboys O line......

[csmopar]

Another botched Ryan Grigson FA signing. I cannot believe how terrible Grigson has been in signing FA's

Can't hit a home run without taking a swing or two, even if you miss.  

[Jackie Daytona]

ColtsBlue, Thanks for the explanation, makes sense!

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Well, maybe a decent Guard vet will be cut from another team on Saturday. I'm sure Grigson will be ready to pick one up in no time. 

[CheezyColt]

Another botched Ryan Grigson FA signing. I cannot believe how terrible Grigson has been in signing FA's

Seriously? Thomas played really well in the limited time he was healthy. Injuries are the GM's fault? When did that become a thing?

[csmopar]

Seriously? Thomas played really well in the limited time he was healthy. Injuries are the GM's fault? When did that become a thing?

you mean the 2 games in 2 seasons? not much of a sample size to go on

[ColtsLegacy]

not surprised he's been released.....but why not do it earlier in the offseason when you had a shot at getting a much better replacement.  To do it 2 days after he gets cleared is well strange.

 

 

What took so long? 

 

Did we save any money by waiting or something? 

 

It's so odd he was here forever, then once cleared, gets released.

 

 

This is the most baffling thing to me aswell. 

 

maybe he just looks absolutely cooked as a football player which wouldn't be that shocking. 

 

 

Well, the only thing I can think of is that I don't think you can cut a player who's on the PUP or IR but I'm not positive on that one.

 

 

I'm interested to hear the reasoning about the timing of this.

 

As I understand it, there was little benefit to cutting him early. They held off as long as they could hoping he would be healthy enough to go for the start of the season, as long of a shot as that was. 

[Patagonia Chris]

I remember somebody on here claiming that Thomas was going to be our starting guard for weeks now. LOL. Nice call, buddy.

[Superman]

Here is a great explanation of cuts. waivers, injuriies, and injury settlements from Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times-

 

"An injured player gets paid for as long as he's unable to play, no matter what his contract says. A team can't release an injured player until he's cleared. For most rookie contracts, players selected in the third round or later, there's something called an "up-down," which is two minimum salaries negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement. The "up" is the minimum active salary, which this season is $420,000, and the "down" ($303,000) is the minimum inactive salary. If a player is injured after eight games, he's paid eight weeks "up" and nine weeks "down" (eight weeks, plus the bye). For most veterans, there is no "down." It's whatever he's scheduled to earn. If a player gets hurt doing a football-related activity, he's covered, no matter when it happens. So if he tears his anterior cruciate ligament in a May minicamp, he's covered.

There are also injury settlements, which must be agreed to within five days of a player being placed on injured reserve. Say a player suffers a sprained ankle in training camp and it's a three-week injury. The team can pay him for those three weeks, then release him. That player is eligible to return to that team after the number of weeks the settlement was for (in this case, three), plus another six weeks. So he would be eligible to return in any capacity by Week 10. That six-week "tax" is put in place so teams can't stash players by saying they're injured. If a player suffers an injury doing something unrelated to football, he's placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. It's at the discretion of the team whether the player is paid."

 

It appears it is hard to agree to an injury settlement unless both parties know exactly how long it will take to recover.  So when he finally cleared and removed from PUP, it was then time to make the cut.

 

Another related note, All 32 NFL team rosters need to be trimmed down to 75 by Tuesday at 4:00 pm EST, and down to 53 by Saturday September 5 at 4:00 pm EST.

 

Link?

 

I don't know if that's totally accurate, by the way. I believe that applies during a league year, but once you get into the next league year, a player can be released even if he's injured. Injury guarantees as stipulated by the player contract are still in effect, but eventually a team is able to release a player who can't get back on the field. That's exactly why injury guarantees exist on a per contract basis; if you were unable to release an injured player, there would be no need for injury guarantees.

[MTC]

Bad move. I would of liked to see what he had to offer when healthy. Probably would of been our best guard.

[NewColtsFan]

Another botched Ryan Grigson FA signing. I cannot believe how terrible Grigson has been in signing FA's

 

There are teams that sign very few free agents.

 

For example, Green Bay rarely signs FA's.     I'm aware of one.    Julius Peppers.

 

The Colts under Bill Polian rarely signed them.     Their view is FA's aren't worth the money they sign for.

 

Would that make you happy?    If we didn't sign any free agents?     It's a crap-shoot.    This isn't a Grigson thing.    It's an NFL thing.

[PeterBowman]

also, the Colts in 2013 had a BOATLOAD of cap available that they had to spend....plus not every FA signing works out

some are performance--Landry, some are injury related Cherilus and Thomas

[ztboiler]

Bad move. I would of liked to see what he had to offer when healthy. Probably would of been our best guard.

Bad move?  Just as a blanket statement? Don't the underlying facts and circumstances matter?

 

They bought as much time as possible, might have even offered him a pay cut to stay on and give it a shot - but he couldn't stay as a $3.5M risk.

[ColtsBlueFL]

Link?

 

I don't know if that's totally accurate, by the way. I believe that applies during a league year, but once you get into the next league year, a player can be released even if he's injured. Injury guarantees as stipulated by the player contract are still in effect, but eventually a team is able to release a player who can't get back on the field. That's exactly why injury guarantees exist on a per contract basis; if you were unable to release an injured player, there would be no need for injury guarantees.

 

This was from his column on Sept 27, 2014 linked below.  Not sure if there is any changes for 2015.

 

It would seem to me that the NFLPA (seeing how money hungry they were last CBA talks) they would allow a team to place a contracted player on IR and be able to cut him with no repercussions at the conclusion of the season, without the player having a chance to get healthy and regain his job. (or an agreed injury settlement).

 

I'll research that, when possible.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-0928-ask-farmer-20140928-story.html

[Hoosiernsavga]

Another botched Ryan Grigson FA signing. I cannot believe how terrible Grigson has been in signing FA's

I'm fine with most of the FA signings. What concerns me are the Oline signings alone. The Oline supposed to be his specialty and its just down right horrible!!!