AwesomeAustin

I had some push back before the draft when I said the Colts should trade JT if a good package was presented. The alternative is giving him an extension that would reset the market or he would hold out. Here we are. I expect him to play this year bc he has no leverage. We have him under contract plus the franchise tag next year. Unless he signs a multi year contract, this will not be going away any time soon. I don’t blame either side for taking their stance though. Both sides want what is best for them. This part is debatable and merely my opinion. JT is a great player on the Colts. However, he isn’t generational talent. Unless a deal is team friendly, I wouldn’t recommend signing him long term. Nothing more than 2 years before we can easily get out of the contract. JT may stay elite until 28-30 but most likely the injuries will start to mount. Pay the man for the next two years while AR develops and reevaluate.

Saw this holdout coming and why I thought they should have traded JT before the draft of someone was willing to give us a good package like CMC. Doubt anyone was offering much. JT deserves to be paid but I don’t think we should bc we have the franchise tag. It’s unfair for these top RBs right now. Proposed contract to replace JTs immediately. 4yrs 48m with 30m guaranteed. 6m signing bonus and 12m the next two years paid with roster bonus and game checks. Last two years are basically voidable but keep a small roster bonus on those so we have time to evaluate him and work a trade or cut him. Doubt his agent will go for that bc this will allow us to cut him after the draft if no takers and most teams starting rosters will be set.

He is easily third best QB in Colts history. He was excellent and enjoyed his time with the team. I have no opinion on the ROH and HOF. It doesn’t matter either way to me.

I’m with you. Unless it’s a story about what he is doing now or after retirement, I really have no interest. Just like we discussed a couple days ago…if you don’t like something enough you have the choice to quit. He did and I respect it on so many levels professionally and don’t need to rehash the reasons why. Still have separate feelings as a football fan, but as a person I hope he is doing what he wants to do.

I’m not familiar with available free agents. Who do you think would be a good player to target?

Well, safe to say Rodney JR didn’t get his Yale smarts from his dad

Yes. I was a worker bee, middle management and now a business owner. I’ve given my fair share of excuses and heard a lot more. If I’ve learned anything, there are two sides to every story. I won’t deny my current position heavily influences my opinion.

Fair. Good discussion. Thank you.

A lot of good points. I’m excited to see how SS calls plays this year. I’m actually looking forward to breaking down game film like I used to. With a young inexperienced QB, the all 22 type film will be the best way to really see what is going on. I expect plenty of mistakes but the film will show if they were self induced or he was put into a bad situation. This should be a fun season

I see your points. I get he is older. I get he had surgery. I get there used to be a sales department. I get he is doing something new to him. I don’t feel I’m missing the moment as badly as possible. Not even close. There is no way as successful as I’ve been in business that my take is the worst possible. I don’t appreciate that huge exaggeration bc you feel compassionate about a peer. I’m not tearing down your opinion and telling you how wrong you are. Employment is a two way street. He can choose to do the job or not. No one made him work there. He chose to and then appears to think he was entitled to be an exception. He isn’t. So either choose to do the job or don’t. Consequences and perks to both decisions. He chose to do it despite claiming how “absurd, unfair and outrageous” hit is. He sounds like a 20yr old not a 60yr old. Millions of people are working tough jobs that present hard and sometimes unfair scenarios. I ask you…how would it look if The Athletic went on a rant saying Kravitz was a stubborn employee who thought the rules shouldn’t apply to him and barely meets the standards of the job? I know I would be sitting here saying fire him then…or don’t and deal with it and quit trashing your employee. I guess they decided to part ways bc they feel the company is better served without him. By the way he describes it, he is better off not working there. Still, he is the one complaining bc he lost his job. I would be a little more understanding if he quit and was saying this but to me(just my OPINION), he is coming off as an entitled, arrogant and bitter bc he couldn’t hack it. I’m sure you feel the opposite and that’s cool. I get it. Nothing wrong with your point of view. I just don’t agree.

Looks like he was put on probation for not producing and then when his back was against the wall he barely hit the minimum to keep his job. The Athletic sold to The NYTimes and they evaluated the production he and 19 other local beat writers provided and decided it wasn’t enough to employ them. I mentioned earlier $10k revenue a month. I was way wrong.. Right now it’s $1.99 a month for 12mo and $7.99 after that. $7.99x 3mo x395 subscribers equals $9468.15. He was asked to generate less $10k in business over 3mo and he claims it half killed him to do it. Maybe not the job for him.

Btw, I never mentioned anything about killing or beating anyone to the punch. Not sure why you think I said that and maybe why it doesn’t make sense to you. I said if he didn’t want to do it or hated his job he had the option to quit. You are answering why he didn’t. Is what it is. Doesn’t mean it’s fair bc it doesn’t look that way…but it’s business.

I’m sorry you don’t understand. Not sure how to explain it besides he wanted to keep his job but that required doing the job. Yeah it’s unfortunate he is older and had surgery. People everywhere have personal issues they have to overcome. This was his battle. He obviously agreed to it and now is complaining afterwards. Work is hard, life is hard, deadlines and quotas are hard. That’s why they pay you to do it. He agreed to do the job…simple as that.

I don’t have an issue with Kravitz as a writer. I’m just saying if he didn’t like what he had to do after bypass surgery he should have quit. However he chose to do it and I don’t believe for a second he worked himself half to death. Sounds like sour grapes bc he was ultimately laid off with everyone else bc they weren’t profitable enough. He said yes he would do the job when he accepted it...bc he wanted paid. Unfortunately 400 subscriptions was what was required despite his condition. What is that $10k in revenue a month? Seems reasonable to me. Goes the same way when employers want to complain about their people. Well, you can terminate their position. Yet they don’t want to pay severance or find and train someone else. Well…suck it up. This is who you have so make it work or move on. Yes I know my view is lacking a bit of compassion. I own a small company and have seen a lot from both sides. I’ve had bitter employees that did the bare minimum and wondered why they didn’t get the red carpet treatment. I also had to lay off incredible employees during Covid that didn’t deserve it. If I learned anything, the bad employees complain to whoever will listen and the good ones understand the situation and don’t blast their former employers.

I get where he is coming from but he could have quit just the same. Does suck that after choosing to hit the quota he was let go. However, when given a do this or else ultimatum it’s typically not going to work out long term. Good employers don’t do that. They give you the tools and coaching needed to succeed and when goals aren’t met they either fire you or give you more. From experience, whenever I see an ultimatum, the employee is on their last leg

It’s so far away it depends where people are ranked based on how they perform this year. Maybe QBs go 1-3, maybe 3 in the top 10 or maybe 3 in the first round. If MHJ or a DE grade as the top in the draft and QBs go 1-2 I would run the pick up to the podium bc we need elite talent at those positions. This is of course all based off AR5 not flopping and maybe that happens too. Im just going to assume the coaches and FO will want to see more from him before moving on…of course a generational talent has emerged and sitting there for us. So many moving parts it’s hard to say what the team should do besides saying take BPA if it’s a high value non QB position.

I don’t think AR will become an elite QB bc this is a passing league. However, besides the Cardinals with Josh Rosen and Jets with the BYU guy, I don’t know of many teams that move on from a QB that quick. Paxton Lynch in Denver never really played so maybe that counts too. We have to surround AR with weapons and protection and see if a system can be built around him. It’s worth exploring bc if it works the league won’t know what hit them bc AR is one of a kind physically. I say draft the most impact non QB player available and see how it plays out. If AR doesn’t work we will be in position to draft another QB soon enough.

I expect this to be a very rough year. I don’t really have any competitive expectations for this team and will watch and see what happens.

Not a problem. I’ve seen conflicting reports of this is a zone based D but these CBs were drafted to play more man coverage. If I were to guess it will be a combination of both that will eventually lean towards zone as they gain more experience. If that’s the case he will probably stay on one side.

Do you know if Brent’s will be playing one side of the field or following the #1 receiver? I think that will have a major impact on his success.

What if he signs him to a 4yr 44-48mil deal with 22-25mil guaranteed and small signing bonus. It replaces the rookie contract and begins this season but colts have an out after two years with very little dead cap hit? I’ve been saying for a year the Colts needed to trade JT to bring in as much draft capital as possible. Not a fan of paying RBs second contracts but I could see that one making sense for the Colts.

I think the Colts knew he was or could retire before it was announced. Just my opinion but I think they were spending the summer and training camp trying to talk him out of it. Luck could have indicated he was staying and then abruptly changed his mind but I don’t think the organization was in the dark about this.

I think the writing on the wall for how the ceremony would go is already showing itself. Bring up Luck now 4 years later and you have a bunch of people with negative things to say. Typically negativity fades over time but this one is hanging around. There will be enough people still upset the boos would be noticeable. I personally respect his decision as a person, he wanted to save his body and be a dad. Kudos to him, I get it. However, as a player/employee I have little respect for him. Just another person with tons of potential that wouldn’t do what it takes. You can’t teach what he had and let his entire team and fan base down while guys are killing themselves just to hang onto a roster spot. I’m able to separate the two but guessing most who are still upset can’t.

I understand your point. Someone above said maybe labeling JT as a game changer instead of playmaker would be a better way to phrase it. MPJ does make plays, even with the QB position changing every year. He is a good player but I don’t think he is on JTs level or really close enough to be in the same conversation. At one point they were talking MVP for JT and he is a running back. I feel MPJ is more likely to be passed by Pierce as the main WR weapon than the team to sign him to a deal that shows we are building the offense around him. Saying that, they very well may have an extension in place for MPJ before training camp. I have no insight beyond being a fan so this is all just my opinion

I thought about them but don’t find either of them consistent to call them playmakers. Potential for both but really haven’t seen anything pro bowl type of numbers worthy from either. Nothing more than a gut feeling but thinking MPJ may not be on the team next year. I understand why you would think they are though. I think Alec Pierce breaks out this year or next.