Superman

I hate his throwing motion, LOL. I can handle a left handed passer, and I can handle a 3/4 passer, but both at the same time?? 🤢

I'd cross Latu off the list for the Colts. He's older, his explosive testing is below average, arm length is below average, and he has a rough medical history.

I think Arnold is really good, but I don't think he meets the Colts physical baselines. If we're talking first round, I think Mitchell would be the most obvious target. Edit: We'll see what Kool-Aid's medical looks like, but I felt like he was the Ballard prototype at corner.

We'll see if Ballard is different now than he was a couple seasons ago. We have a young, playmaking QB under contract, and a favorable cap situation. We have an obvious need at an important position. I'm not crazy about hearing Ballard go so in depth on what he wants at WR4 when the true need is at WR1. But what really matters is what happens in FA and the draft, not necessarily what he says in a radio interview.

He specifically talked about Dulin being able to fill the WR4 spot, which is what made me cringe. And I get why he says that about Dulin, his versatility and ability to play STs is important, compared to Pierce, for example, who I don't know if he's ever played a big role on STs and he's not as versatile on offense. I'm fine with having a spot on the roster for guys like Dulin, they can be important over the course of a season. But he doesn't improve our WR room in the way we need, even if he's healthy all year. We need someone who can be better than MPJ, even if we're keeping MPJ. That guy is probably not on our roster right now, and I don't know where he's coming from. But when we're talking about needing help at WR, I don't really want to hear the GM talking about WR4.

Setting aside the extreme backloading that teams do to get under the cap -- like what's happened with the Saints -- generally speaking a 4-5 year contract allows the team to terminate the contract in the last two years and still save cap money. But yeah, when you start piling on multiple restructures, things change.

I already had him between $22-25m/year. He said he wanted to test his market, so a team friendly deal was never going to happen. And Ballard all but said he'd use the tag, so $22m should be considered the floor. The bolded is going to be true of almost any long term contract.

I don't think Evans' contract has significant bearing on MPJ's market. His prior contract wasn't a comp because it was too old, and his new contract still comes in behind the top guys at $30m/year. It doesn't really change anything, IMO.

I don't know why I'm even posting this, because I think people who dislike Caleb Williams have their minds made up, and it won't matter. But I feel compelled to address some of this. First, where has Caleb Williams been shown to be "demanding" anything? Second, how has it been concluded that his dad is his agent? From the Athletic article you later linked, the reasoning for not hiring an agent is tied to the three points you listed above, and it tracks logically. Fans ask the same questions every year: Why do top NFL draft prospects hire agents to negotiate their contracts, if the terms of the contracts are determined by the CBA and are largely not negotiable? The top picks in the draft will receive a set contract, it will be fully guaranteed, and it will not have offset language. That's established for more than a decade, going back to the beginning the 2011 CBA. What else is there to negotiate? Why give away 3% of the contract value for something that's already set in stone? So what the article states is that Williams and his family decided there's no need for an agent. He's going to go near the top of the draft -- probably #1 -- and there's not much an agent can do that his group/team can't handle. And Williams is not the first player not decide against hiring an agent. Despite noise and rumors, there are no legitimate reports that suggest that Williams or his family have demanded any of the things you listed in your post. Further, it's NOT against the CBA for a player to decline medicals at the Combine. It's unprecedented, but there's nothing in the CBA that says a player must submit to medicals. In fact, Combine invitations are limited, so several players who wind up going to the NFL every year have no opportunity to provide medicals at the Combine. Caleb Williams definitely has a different personality from what people are used to. There's no point denying it, some teams are going to have a problem with him. But there's also no point in exaggerating it. Some of this stuff doesn't matter, and some of it is completely made up. It's also interesting to me how every year, we talk about how pointless some of the player evaluation stuff is in the big picture, but then when players who have some leverage start pushing back, they get labeled as egotistical. And then there's the impact of NIL. There's a new landscape in college athletics, and it's going to continue to influence how top rated draft prospects approach their potential NFL careers. We can call it good or bad, talk about what we like and don't like about it, but it's a real thing, and we're just seeing the beginning of it.

Players are coming back from ACLs like it's no big deal these days. My question is whether his injury was more than just the ACL. Either way, I wouldn't see Hines as the backup to JT, so he wouldn't be an effective replacement for Moss anyway.

I don't think Turner is a good scheme fit for the Colts, so I wouldn't see them drafting him in the first, let alone moving up for him. I'm unenthused about Verse; he can't bend, it's on his tape, and his three cone and shuttle times back that up. His explosives are good... Chop seems like the traits guy the Colts would love, but he's unrefined, and seems like a trade back target more than a trade up target.

I've watched more of Wiggins. He had a great 40 time at the Combine, but I see receivers get behind him on tape. Trying to figure out if he's taking risks, if he lacks spatial awareness, is it just sloppy transitions... I also see more of the tackling issues.

Who do you think will be the first pass rusher off the board?

Yeah... Someone said a few weeks ago that the Colts' solution at WR can't be 'we got Dulin coming back, he's really good.' And it didn't feel great hearing Ballard talk up Dulin the way he did.

I've been saying the same thing. He's worthy of being picked at #15, so if you really want him, just take him there.

Jared Verse, mediocre shuttle and three cone.

That's fair. And we just did this a couple weeks ago, so I don't know why we let ourselves get sucked back in again. Your perspective does not need validation, so I don't mean to try to judge it. I push back because I think there's a good amount of conjecture involved.

No question Luck and the Colts mishandled the situation. I don't think anyone says differently. And even if he says he finally decided to retire a couple weeks before, he was definitely thinking about it for some time before that. My opinion is that he was in denial, but knew he couldn't keep putting off the inevitable. Even if you read his statements early in camp, you can sense his tone changing. August 1, he says he "absolutely" believes he'll be ready for Week 1. August 5, he softens a little and says "I certainly believe I will, that's a goal." I haven't found any public statements from him after August 5. The retirement was August 24. Two weeks before was August 10, if we want to be exact. Camp started July 25. That's sixteen days, so actually would have been in the third week of camp, again if we're going to take his 'two weeks' estimate super literal. If you want to take everything he said and did after that and hold it against him, I guess that's fine? But it seems like the point is to prove that he intentionally lied and misled the public, and I don't think anything that's come out proves that's what happened. He absolutely messed up, he should have been more forthcoming, warming up pre-game wasn't a good idea, etc. But did he intentionally mislead the public? I don't think what you've presented is proof of that.

You could add some spaces and post it as plain text.

That's not what I see in the ESPN article. https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/insider/story/_/id/35163936/andrew-luck-reveals-why-walked-away-nfl It said he decided 'one day during camp.' I don't see where it says he decided the first week of camp. In 2019, the Colts were in camp from July 25 to August 15. The retirement game was August 24. https://www.colts.com/news/indianapolis-colts-release-2019-training-camp-schedule#:~:text=The Indianapolis Colts today released,20 miles north of Indianapolis. In his presser, he said he had decided to retire about two weeks before. https://www.espn.com/blog/indianapolis-colts/post/_/id/24738/transcript-of-andrew-lucks-retirement-news-conference

I still don't see anything. I was having trouble posting a gif yesterday, maybe the site is acting funny?

The Instagram link? There's no interview there.

You got a link to that? That's what I don't remember.

Yeah that's true. I was just pointing out that, unlike those hyped practice squad guys, we actually saw Woods making plays in real games. Not that he's arrived or anything, but we know he can actually play.

Have we seen Woods play poorly? I think he had a pretty good rookie year.