NewColtsFan

I think it’s now three …. Didn’t AA sign this week? I believe I read that here. I’ll try to double check. NOTE: Yes, Tomi signed. It happened Wednesday of this week.

Hopkins is a better version of Michael Pittman Jr. He’s a great possession receiver. I don’t know why he was paid the way he was, but I wouldn’t have signed him to that kind of money. I want our young receivers to gain experience. Guys like Pitt, Pierce, Downs, Dulin, Strachan and McKenzie, plus TE’s like Woods, Ogletree, Granson, MAC, and Mallory to get opportunity. A guy like Hopkins will take away opportunity for all those players. And for what? Another win or two? The idea is to grow the team long term. Signing Hopkins takes your eyes off the prize which is development for AR and the young players around him. The money the Colts still have is needed for the pieces they will sign in June, July, August and September. Hopkins is linked for teams who are in the hunt for a deep playoff run. Teams that might be one player away. That’s not the Colts in 2023. Sorry if that makes me a Debbie Downer.

Question: Those are fascinating stats that I’ve never seen before. Where did you find that info? Which website? Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance….

Richardson, a top-10/12 QB by the end of his rookie deal? That’s an interesting question. 4 years or 5? I’d say at least 50/50 and maybe better. Perhaps much better. But if he’s not, he shouldn’t be too far off. I’d love to give better odds but there are no real good historical comps. He’s in a league of his own. But by year 4 or 5 the Colts should have surrounded him with more talent and the young talent should have matured and perhaps also re-tooled the O-line as well. Given health, he should be a real force by then. It looks like he’s going to get very good coaching, so AR needs health and lots and lots of experience to be the best he can be. I think we’ll all have a much better answer to your question by the end of the season.

To be clear…. These are NOT Stampede’s projections. These are from PFF. Even your link says pff. Personally, I don’t think either is close, especially the one for Pitt, but that’s just my opinion.

The part you found irrelevant is this…. That even if Freeland makes the team it’s proof of NOTHING. Pryor made the team last year and was terrible. Pinter made the team last year and was terrible. Fries made the team last year and wasn’t very good. And Raimann made the team last year and was terrible for the first half of the season. That’s four players who made the team and we’re not very good for the most part. So you can cheerlead for Freeland all you want. Making the team won’t mean much to me. I’m looking for players who can contribute in a positive way. According to some, that makes me Debbie Downer. Welcome to the Colts in 2023.

He might not make the 53. He might just make the practice squad. As for agreement, you had to delete a fair amount of my post, in fact two posts, to come close to agreement. Not a good look.

You tried to post something to me earlier today, but for whatever reason, you didn’t write anything. The post was blank. And, IMO, you sounded much smarter in that post writing nothing than you do in this post. Quit while you’re behind.

He’ll make the team. But he might not be very good. was Pryor very good last year? Pinter? Fries? Raimann in the first half of the season? Look at the post I responded to…. They’re talking about him starting week one. I’d be thrilled of Freeland was starting week one of 2024. The poster was talking about 2023. There’s close to a zero percent chance of that happening.

Start? Week one? It’s not even clear he’ll make the 53 man roster. He might. But it’s not a lock. And even if he makes the 53, he has to be able to play effectively if called upon. The odds on all of that are likely not very high.

We will quickly find out, but I seriously doubt Pat agreed to a deal like that. At some point, I’m sure there was language negotiated in his new contract that gives him complete creative control. There woukd be no reason to do a deal with Disney without it. Pat is on the record saying he will be doing the exact same show for ESPN, except he’ll clean up some of the language. Fewer F-bombs. He might even be on a 7- second delay to get bleeped. But I’d be beyond shocked if he gave up creative control to Disney. They may want to give him recommendations, but Disney should want the magic that Pat and his staff bring and let them decide what to do on a day by day, hour by hour basis. Is it possible you’re right? Sure. But I don’t see why Pat would agree to anything that debuted his brand? What’s the upside? Im sure this will be closely watched by everyone. There will be stories written. Interviews given. I hope Pat is happy. But if not, I hope Pat can get out of this deal early and re-invent himself as he was.

Nothing. I figured it out. I’ve removed the response.

It’s kinda hard to be excited in the middle of a 4-12-1 season…..

The Pats may be viewed as cheaters, but I don’t think Brady is. That’s more the view of Belichick. The generic NFL fan loves and respects Brady. His career is too long and too wildly successful to think much of anything else. Where is the poll, the proof that says most don’t like or love or respect Brady? Something more than an opinion? Most recently, Fox Sports was willing to give Brady $375 million over 10 years to be their face of the NFL, their John Madden. That’s roughly twice as long and double the money as they’ve given anyone else. That’s objective proof.

Signing a TE at this point is NOT a sign that the Colts value signing a TE over a good solid O-lineman, either guard or tackle. The Colts will sign a lineman when the player(s) are ready to sign a deal. They may want more than the Colts are willing to pay. Or, they may want to play for a team that stands a better chance at making the playoffs. Lots of factors going into the decision of who to sign and when do they sign. By the way, Smith is a decent player. He was once a top-3 ranked tight end in high school. Played well at Stanford. I think he was drafted later than expected, 6th round. I think the reason was a problematic knee. And I’d guess it’s the knee that made the Giants cut him. So, I’d say he’s decent but limited.

I think tainted is a Colts-centric view of Brady’s reputation. Most everyone else in the NFL world… players, coaches, front office, media, fans…. They see Brady as the undisputed GOAT and everyone else is fighting for a distant second.

For What It’s Worth…. Former Colts player Cato June is the assistant linebacker coach. And former Colts player Mike Mitchell is the assistant safeties coach. These are paid jobs, but they’re not the primary coach at their position, they’re the #2. Reggie is the #1 coach of the wide receivers.

Yup! 100 percent. At some point, you have to fold with a losing hand and just minimize the damage.

Never mind…. I understand now….

To be clear, I’m certainly not promoting the idea of paying JT $15m. Not at all. I’m in the roughly $12-13 camp and that’s only after he proves he’s back to being healthy. Otherwise, after this season I’m fine using the tag on him. A year at $10 then a year at $12 and then the Colts will have gotten the 6 best years of his career. it might not be fair to JT, but this is the work the NFL has created.

I wonder who this guy’s source is? Who says Reggie is expected to have more input going forward? Frankly, I would’ve thought he already had a good amount of input. Tweets like this with no source or context always leave me with more questions than answers.

By the way, this Dungy ranking of Brady as the 6th best QB of all time is missing some very important context. The story is from summer of 2017. Six years ago. I don’t know if Dungy has ever updated this list but I strongly suspect he has.

Really good post. I had to read it twice to fully absorb all your interesting points, but well worth it.., So…. Thinking out loud…. The tag numbers are based on the top 5 or 10 at your position. RB salaries appear to be somewhat leveling off. The tag is under $10.1 this year. But you’re projecting the next three years for JT at $12, $14.4 and $20.7. I think the three years are given bumps of 20 percent, 40 percent and 40 percent again for repeat tagging which is how you arrived at your numbers. Am I ok so far? But wouldn’t that suggest the Colts might never do a third tag and might not even do a second tag? Not sure I see a 4-year offer to JT or anyone else anymore. The injury risk would just seem way too high. Again… Just thinking out loud….

I knew you left a word or multiple words out, but I wasn’t sure what you ultimately meant. I wasn’t giving you a hard time just for the sake of giving you a hard time. I get plenty of that from my haters so I don’t like doing it to others. I just wanted you to clarify…. Honestly, that’s all.

He might. Maybe. But the Colts don’t have a franchise QB under center — just yet. And we don’t know if and when he will become one? Maybe it’s sooner than we think. But it could easily take longer. I’m just urging caution.