dw49

Something I quite don't understand . Looking at these signings , it appears the "average " contract has gone up more than the 13% increase in this year's salary cap. Once again , Ballard looks to be shut out on the top free agents . Can't say as I blame him.

Probably a little tricky as this draft is loaded with WRs.

McKinney isn't a Colt because he broke the bank. 68 mill over 4 years is what I'm reading

I hope to be wrong but Franklin at 9-10 mill per year is no bargain. He's pretty poor in pass coverage . Pittman got about what he deserved.

Gonna post this in this thread also... OK .... take this to the bank. If you are expecting the Colts to sign a top safety , cb or edge , it is not going to happen. We will overpay for a few of our own free agents and not participate in the early "scramble" for the top free agents. Not saying we might not make a good "secondary" signing or 2 but forget about the elite free agents.

No way the Colts spend another 23 mill on additional WR.

OK .... take this to the bank. If you are expecting the Colts to sign a top safety , cb or edge , it is not going to happen. We will overpay for a few of our own free agents and not participate in the early "scramble" for the top free agents. Not saying we might not make a good "secondary" signing or 2 but forget about the elite free agents.

I think both are gone by pick 13. I think it's a different CB , Edge or a trade down 7 -10 spots for a WR. I think the 1st and 3rd options I have are the most likely. Don't look for the colts to accumulate 3rd day picks as this draft is loaded in rounds 1-3 and really falls off somewhere in round 4. That's what I've read , not pretending to have that kind of knowledge .

I agree with your thinking but I don't think it's in the cards Wilkins signs with Indy. Rumor has it that he and the Texans have a mutual liking for each other. I think it's possible that Ballard would pay :"market price " for him . However this would require winning a bidding war and Wilkins would need to want to play in Indy. To date , we don't seem to win ANY of the "bidding wars" we've been rumored to have participated in. Ballard's has never made this kind of a FA signing in his tenure with Indy.

I guess we have deals with just Pittman and Kenny Moore. I'm starting to think maybe Ballard and the agents have different views on the market. Maybe the agents are looking at the added cap space and the Colts are looking at the fact that many positions are really deep this year , plus quite a few teams were in "cap hell." Could be that they are far apart on players like Lewis and Sanchez . Those 2 along with Blackmon and Stewart are the ones that appear to be worth resigning. So consider Blackmon and Stewart .... Blackmon has been pretty good in his 4 years but could be considered injury prone. Plus there are an unbelievable number of good Safety options in this year's FA class. Makes sense that there is no agreement there . Stewart ... he's probably looking to get a 3 year deal at around 33 mill. Could be that the Colts want a 2 year deal or at the vey least a contract with guarantees that allow them to walk in year 3 with little cap implications . I have no idea on Lewis . This said which could be full of poop , I would think Sanchez should be an easy signing that at most will require him to hit free agency and test the market. Stewart and Blackmon could be a little tricky. If I had to guess , we sign Stewart and Sanchez and Blackmon walks. I haven't a clue on Lewis.

That's a bit concerning

I wouldn't expect the Bears to do that , but I could be wrong. Why would they need to create cap room when they had over 50 million with Johnson counting 19.8 against the cap. If anything , IMO, it would be prudent for them to front load the contract a bit. We'll revisit when we see the contract. Unless they want to create a huge splash in free agency , it makes no sense. Plus they probably will be trading their QB and replacing him with a QB on a rookie contract .

"Picking up more cap space"depends on how his contract is structured. It (4 years 76 mill) averages 19 mill a year , which is similar to the tag number. Did you see the specifics of his contract and see what his cap hit is for 2024 ?

For sure .

Looks like 2024 is a year that many teams are paying a price for "kicking the can down the road." Even with the huge increase in the cap number , many teams are "forced" into trimming salary. No doubt in my mind we will sign a good safety or a good corner and keep at least one of Blackmon or Moore. This will make Indy much more versatile in the April draft . As we speak , we have a need at WR (or Bowens) , CB and Safety . Eliminating at least one of these in free agency is big , especially considering this draft is said to be very strong in rounds 1 -3 and weak there after.

I think Snead will be more like 4/80. He going to get at least the tag number which is over 19 mill.

I mostly agree with that , I just think that if the top 3 WR's and Bowen are gone , there is more value in a top CB at 15 and then a WR in the second round. Thomas probably goes around 25-26 in this draft . Mitchell will go from 12-16 . I'll be very surprised if the Colts take a WR at 15 as the top 3 are almost certain to be gone . Maybe a trade back into the mid 20's and then select a WR like Thomas is a good possibility but I would be shocked if he's the pick at 15. Bowens could be there and I'm thinking it's him , Verse or one of the 3 QB's . I know we need weapons for AR but this WR draft is very much like the ones that had Campbell and Pittman in it. There are great group of WR's that SHOULD be available from around picks 25 to 50. Maybe move up a few spots in the second ?

I would be surprised if Thomas was not available at pick 1.15. I would ne equally surprised if the Colts selected him there . I would think if the 3 top Wrs and Bowers are gone at 15 , they go for one of the top 3 cbs. That would be Mitchell , Arnold and Wiggins. They could then trade up a bit in round 2 and get a nice WR.

Bingo . I can still do subtraction and that would make me 74.

Naa .. no need . I'm old and cranky. My bad .

Of coarse . My first post said it would be ridiculous if he was cut because of the incident. That was in response to a few posts that I read to say the Colts still might take some kind of action against him

How in the world would that be a "blanket statement." If anything it's a "specific" statement . Probably far fetched but a "blanket statement ?" Uhhhh... no

Yes , the player would sue for monetary damages , not to stay on the roster. If a player had played well and was on his original contract and was cut following an unfounded (something he was cleared of) incident , I think it could get challenged. It has been litigated a bit in a few cases but obviously it's a tough one to prove.

Yes ... I said I overstated my feelings. So why respond with "But it feels like you responded to your own claim for me. You listed two lawsuits, and added neither amounted to much. What does that tell you? I've been sued twice over ridiculous , unfounded real estate related incidents. In both cases my attorney advised me to settle. I cited 2 cases where litigation was started , one was dismissed , the other I think is still pending. So I'll stick by my belief that a team could be liable for a non football related cut. For instance , let's suppose the Colts cut a gay player and Jim Irsay in a drunken stupor said so at a bar. By your blanket statement , that player couldn't sue ?

Not sure that's completely true. There have been litigations that were at least started against teams for cuts that were said not to be football related . Josh Lamb would be one and Chris Klue would be another. Neither amounted to much . I'm not an attorney and perhaps I over stated my feelings . But I think I'l nitpick , as you often do and call you out on that "blanket " statement you made .