Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan

[Hans Moleman]

It isn't to me.   And I suspect there were other offers that forced us to go this high.   A story about Walden today quoted him saying there was serious interest (offers) from Oakland and KC.   The GM's of both teams used to be with Green Bay, so they know Walden.

 

The downside?    If he's a bust,  he's a $4m bust as opposed to an $8Mill a year bust with Kruger, or a $9/10Mill bust with Avril.

 

This is not a deal that will hurt our cap.    I think Grigson knows something most other GM's don't....    and I'm betting on Grigson to be right....

 

Those GM's both knew Walden, and they backed off. That's a warning sign when a team without inside info on a player is willing to pay more than the guys that know him. You're generally not going to land a player in that circumstance without overpaying because they've got a better grasp on his fair value than we do. 

 

I don't have a problem with us not landing Kruger because we had more inside info on him than anyone and chose not to pursue the bidding war, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Walden's not worth half of what Kruger was. 

[NewColtsFan]

Those GM's both knew Walden, and they backed off. That's a warning sign when a team without inside info on a player is willing to pay more than the guys that know him. You're generally not going to land a player in that circumstance without overpaying because they've got a better grasp on his fair value than we do. 

 

I don't have a problem with us not landing Kruger because we had more inside info on him than anyone and chose not to pursue the bidding war, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Walden's not worth half of what Kruger was. 

 

 

Do we know for sure that those GM's backed off?    Did they back off because they weren't interested?    Or did they back off because our opening bid was more than they were willing to pay?    Big difference.

 

I don't know the answer here, so I'm simply asking......

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Those GM's both knew Walden, and they backed off. That's a warning sign when a team without inside info on a player is willing to pay more than the guys that know him. You're generally not going to land a player in that circumstance without overpaying because they've got a better grasp on his fair value than we do. 

 

I don't have a problem with us not landing Kruger because we had more inside info on him than anyone and chose not to pursue the bidding war, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Walden's not worth half of what Kruger was. 

Oakland has Cap problems & the Chiefs don't need a guy like him as bad as we do they also have a higher draft slot & a 2nd round pick.

[Hans Moleman]

Do we know for sure that those GM's backed off?    Did they back off because they weren't interested?    Or did they back off because our opening bid was more than they were willing to pay?    Big difference.

 

I don't know the answer here, so I'm simply asking......

 

Our opening bid may well have scared them off if the news that they were interested in Walden is legit. And that's where the red flag comes in because I'd interpret that as "If Indy wants him that bad, they can knock themselves out". How many rounds it took before it got to that point, nobody knows. The more rounds it took, the more it would mitigate our paying (IMO overpaying) him what we did somewhat. No doubt Walden's agent played the three teams off against each other if he's worth his salt. 

 

If they backed down off of our first offer, that's a surefire sign we paid too much.

[Hans Moleman]

Oakland has Cap problems & the Chiefs don't need a guy like him as bad as we do they also have a higher draft slot & a 2nd round pick.

 

Which leads me to think they were looking at him as a Vet Minimum kind of signing, not a 4 year/ $16 million kind of signing. 

 

I've seen a lot of Packers games- the guy may be a fine locker room presence, but he's terrible on the field. I'm not even going to pretend to be in denial over it. Grigson will learn from his mistake, which was panicking and overcommitting to the Plan B, surly girl with the mustache because the prom queen spurned him for the ugly guy with a fatter wallet. 

[Freenyfan102]

Dont be scared the only person you have to watch out is Bill Polian if we said we did a great job in FA i think we made a mistake. If he said we did a horrible job in FA then we hit a home run.

[Dan]

I'm so sick of hearing "we overpaid for...".  How does anyone here know what a player is worth?  We may have underpaid for them all if they contribute.  

 

I'll take Grigs word that the guys he brought in are going to help the team.  

 

This isn't very good logic. You don't have to be talking about contributions to make a comment on whether they were overpaid or not, that issue comes down to the simple matter of, "Could we have got him for less?", or bring in ability with "Could we have got a better player for the same money, or an equal one for less?". Do you think Cherilus, Walden and Toler really had the leverage to demand the money they're receiving? Do you think there's no way we couldn't have got them for less? When I see Vasquez and Loadholt on less than Cherilus, it makes me think we paid him too much, too soon. Toler is quite a good player, but that's still a lot of money for essentially a depth corner when we had someone of similar ability on the roster already in Jerraud Powers, who I guarantee gets paid less wherever he goes. Walden could have probably been signed for vet min, if you honestly think $4m is acceptable for him then I'm gobsmacked.

[John Dee]

Pat Kirwin predicted Indy to win ONE game last season......         nuff said..

I was listening to NFL Radio when Tim and Pat was talking about our FA signings.  They said we paid way to much for who we signed and did not upgrade any position other than the RT.  Hope they are wrong.  We do not have to sign a big name but over paying a third tier FA player makes you 

[Narcosys]

Well Ross Tucker of Serious XM Morning Kickoff says that we have a strategy of picking up upper middle tier players. And is thinking we came out very strong in day one and thought we did an awesome job. Unsure about the money spent, but an awesome job nonetheless. Says to wait and see the structure if our contracts before people freak out. Like Walden being 16 mil for 4 years. Maybe it's the min for the first 2 years and then like 14 mil on the back end.

Cliff avril is still available and thinks the colts will make a run on him.

Here's a good read from stampede blue on a recap of day one. http://www.stampedeblue.com/2013/3/13/4097550/recapping-the-first-day-of-free-agency-for-the-colts

[ColtsBlueFL]

I'm cautiously optimistic.  It seems the new team getting a player never receives the value a players old team received. This could happen to us as well. OTOH, there is a chance (some/all of) the players we signed can make notable improvements in their game and achieving or, in best circumstances, outplaying their contracts.  Big name guys often drop off after the big pay windfall.

 

This is a business, and sometimes you need to take risks.  Colts had holes. We see how Grigson is approaching the risk management aspect now.  I see some genius in there.  I'm sure they have done homework and feel that these guys are not only better than what we have now, but can improve their performance over time.  I can't wait to see who else they get, and how it affects their draft board.

 

As I said... cautiously optimistic here.  

[FightLikeSin]

I'm just glad I don't care what they have to say about anything. Their show is a joke. Not very good insight. They should rename their show "Pullin' The Chains". 

[ColtJ82]

Vasquez is good, but not top flight

Lol, I think you missed the point of my post.

[Smonroe]

This isn't very good logic. You don't have to be talking about contributions to make a comment on whether they were overpaid or not, that issue comes down to the simple matter of, "Could we have got him for less?", or bring in ability with "Could we have got a better player for the same money, or an equal one for less?". Do you think Cherilus, Walden and Toler really had the leverage to demand the money they're receiving? Do you think there's no way we couldn't have got them for less? When I see Vasquez and Loadholt on less than Cherilus, it makes me think we paid him too much, too soon. Toler is quite a good player, but that's still a lot of money for essentially a depth corner when we had someone of similar ability on the roster already in Jerraud Powers, who I guarantee gets paid less wherever he goes. Walden could have probably been signed for vet min, if you honestly think $4m is acceptable for him then I'm gobsmacked.

First of all, I don't know that we had a chance at Vasquez or Loadholt, or if Grigs even wanted them. I do know that Vasquez is guaranteed $13M and Cherilus $10. That's the only thing that counts in an NFL contract, right? So Cherilus could be cheaper, plus OTs are worth more.

How do you know Walden would have taken vet min? Do you have some insight that our management doesn't? What's his guaranteed money? Is it incentive based? Until you know all that, how can anyone judge the terms?

As for how much Powers will get - keep in mind he only plays 11 games a year so you have to prorate his contract.

I'm joking about that, but my point is you don't know if you're overpaying someone until you see how they perform. And I also don't think anyone here (including me) understand the contracts yet.

[jvan1973]

First of all, I don't know that we had a chance at Vasquez or Loadholt, or if Grigs even wanted them. I do know that Vasquez is guaranteed $13M and Cherilus $10. That's the only thing that counts in an NFL contract, right? So Cherilus could be cheaper, plus OTs are worth more.

How do you know Walden would have taken vet min? Do you have some insight that our management doesn't? What's his guaranteed money? Is it incentive based? Until you know all that, how can anyone judge the terms?

As for how much Powers will get - keep in mind he only plays 11 games a year so you have to prorate his contract.

I'm joking about that, but my point is you don't know if you're overpaying someone until you see how they perform. And I also don't think anyone here (including me) understand the contracts yet.

Stop trying to reason with all these nfl experts we have here. Clearly they were in the war room with the front office yesterday and know all of the details of what went on

[Smonroe]

Stop trying to reason with all these nfl experts we have here. Clearly they were in the war room with the front office yesterday and know all of the details of what went on

I'm sorry... I go to the shed now...