Brad Wells article [Merge]

[HarassedOffTheSite]

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2013/3/16/4111698/colts-free-agent-signings-raise-eyebrows-around-nfl-fail-to-address-needs

 

Colts Free Agent Signings Raise Eyebrows Around NFL, Fail To Address Key Needs

 

"...it seemed likely that the Colts would use some of their cap space to find an adequate replacement for Freeney.

That's not what happened.

Instead, Colts general manager Ryan Grigson overpaid on decent, but generally marginal talents"...."The Sidbury and Walden signings were the ones that had more than a few people around the NFL raising their eyebrows. I spoke with one scout for an NFC North team, and he expressed surprise that Walden got the contract the Colts offered him. The perception around the league is that Grigson overpaid for players that were was no market for."

 

Poor Brad. The well established lack of credibility aside, his skyrocket requiring leap from one "NFL scout" to "league perception" is pure comedy made without hesitation.

 

Ehhh, no more Polian to bash (clicks to generate)....so, next man up!

 

[theanarchist]

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2013/3/16/4111698/colts-free-agent-signings-raise-eyebrows-around-nfl-fail-to-address-needs

 

I only check in at the blue just for the entertainment value because most of the hogwash written there is, well, hogwash. Nothing new here really.

 

My comments are this: 1) they signed Walden so that they could move Mathis to Rush LB where he belongs. So, in my opinion they got the BEST pass rusher they could this year by signing a guy who could allow them to move Mathis. Not bad thinking in my opinion. Did they over pay? probably but I'm not gonna complain on that one.

 

2) Cherilus: even though I had no idea who he was it sure sounds like he's a really good player that will provide pass protection first and foremost. This was a definite need. So, I don't get the article trying to say needs were not addressed.

 

3) Landry: I don't think we over paid and I think he's a definite NEED. He got less than Goldson and both were rated at the #1 and #2 available Safeties.

 

4) The article's title is that the Colts failed to address needs. 3 of the biggest needs were addressed, pass protecton, Playmaking safety, and pass rusher. Apparently they can't see that Mathis is a much better option to rush the passer than either Kruger or Avril would have been. I don't think its even a contest. Mathis has all the skills, moves.

 

Typical second guessing

[IndyD4U]

It's Brad Wells! He's thrown a fit on Twitter ever since we signed Walden.

[James]

No surprise. You really shouldn't take Brad Wells serious. 

[Gavin]

Im not sure it was an awful deal if I am understanding how Spotrac perceives the deal. Waldens base salary according to what Spotrac has is 3 million plus a 250 thousand dollar signing bonus thats on the books for this year for a cap hit this coming year of 3 mill 250,000.  If I am interpreting correctly the way Spotrac has the contract laid out then all we would owe Walden next year IF we decided to go in a different direction and he did not make the cut would be 250 thousand dollars (in signing bonuses) I could be way way way off on all this so feel free for someone to correct me who knows cap hits and overall cap situations far better then me

[Franklin County]

Who is Brad Wells? Does he write checks for the Colts or something? Sounds like another cry baby. ( I know who he is)

[Gavin]

No surprise. You really shouldn't take Brad Wells serious. 

Meh 16 million is quite a bit for for a rotational OLB no matter how ya slice it

[CR91]

like anyone cares what brad wells has to say. hes as useless as skip bayless

[Gavin]

Ill try that again, not sure if I was clear: 

 

Waldens Base Salary according to Spotrac is 3 million dollars plus 250,000 signing bonus for a cap hit of 3,250,000.00 this year coming off the books(2013). 

 

Next year if he is still on the roster by the 5th day of the 2014 league year then his 4 mill base salary kicks in BUT IF NOT (I expect he will be) then we dont owe that salary? do we owe the rest of the remaining signing bonus? Hope that is easier to understand

[mark5362]

Haters gonna Hate

[Tark The Shark]

People are going to say what they want to say.

 

I am not going to get riled up about it. I believe Grigson has done some good work, others do not, well that is their opinion.

 

We will see come the start of the season.

[theanarchist]

Ill try that again, not sure if I was clear: 

 

Waldens Base Salary according to Spotrac is 3 million dollars plus 250,000 signing bonus for a cap hit of 3,250,000.00 this year coming off the books(2013). 

 

Next year if he is still on the roster by the 5th day of the 2014 league year then his 4 mill base salary kicks in BUT IF NOT (I expect he will be) then we dont owe that salary? do we owe the rest of the remaining signing bonus? Hope that is easier to understand

It's easier to understand but IDK the answer. I think if he is let go next year they still have to eat some of that signing bonus. I don't expect him to be cut. The guy was a backup in GB but started quite a few games the  past 2 years due to injury. He'll play here. Will he be the next Pro Bowl OLB? Probably not. This is typical Brad Wells though. Gotta stir the pot you know. I'd like to see Jeff Saturday give him in swirtly in toilet of his mother's basement...

[ar1888]

I think the big knock on Waldens contract is just the fact that more proven rush OLB/DE were available that ended up going for less money. I have no problem him  because I have really little knowledge about Walden. Im happy with all of the Colts signings with the exception of Cherilus. He is the player I am most familiar with out of this crop, and have not at all been impressed with him.  I don't care what the "ratings" say, I think they are high due to Matt Staffords quick release.

[theanarchist]

People are going to say what they want to say.

 

I am not going to get riled up about it. I believe Grigson has done some good work, others do not, well that is their opinion.

 

We will see come the start of the season.

Ya, my biggest gripe is that he claims needs werent addressed. The guy is tool. We'll see how these players look after they have a year under their belt in INDY

[coltsfanatic24]

I think we did overpay for Walden because he's not a good pass rusher but he is a great run stopper. Everyone else we payed was worth it.

[Gavin]

I agree with Wells though about Walden gettin overpaid though thats the thing, were not even sure he can beat out Hughes but were all assuming he can because of the contract he got, he started 15 games in 2011 and had 60 tackles and 3 sacks getting consistent playing time through 16 games, Hughes had 41 tackles in 6 starts and he had 4 sacks in 2012, thats what dont add up to me, Walden is also 4 lbs lighter and the same height, to me ya got a GM that sees him as the starter going forward (if were going by what he will be making this year) but nothing stands out about him to me that says he is clearly starter worthy, Green Bay would agree and Miami and KC all from the looks of it. if I am interpreting his contract right according to Spotrac then Grigson has an out come next year like I said though so we will just have to wait and see

[theanarchist]

I agree with Wells though about Walden gettin overpaid though thats the thing, were not even sure he can beat out Hughes but were all assuming he can because of the contract he got, he started 15 games in 2011 and had 60 tackles and 3 sacks getting consistent playing time through 16 games, Hughes had 41 tackles in 6 starts and he had 4 sacks in 2012, thats what dont add up to me, Walden is also 4 lbs lighter and the same height, to me ya got a GM that sees him as the starter going forward (if were going by what he will be making this year) but nothing stands out about him to me that says he is clearly starter worthy, Green Bay would agree and Miami and KC all from the looks of it. if I am interpreting his contract right according to Spotrac then Grigson has an out come next year like I said though so we will just have to wait and see

Could be a big indictment on what the team thinks of Jerry Hughes no?

[esmort]

I agree with Wells though about Walden gettin overpaid though thats the thing, were not even sure he can beat out Hughes but were all assuming he can because of the contract he got, he started 15 games in 2011 and had 60 tackles and 3 sacks getting consistent playing time through 16 games, Hughes had 41 tackles in 6 starts and he had 4 sacks in 2012, thats what dont add up to me, Walden is also 4 lbs lighter and the same height, to me ya got a GM that sees him as the starter going forward (if were going by what he will be making this year) but nothing stands out about him to me that says he is clearly starter worthy, Green Bay would agree and Miami and KC all from the looks of it. if I am interpreting his contract right according to Spotrac then Grigson has an out come next year like I said though so we will just have to wait and see

 

I think it sounds high to me, but I truly believe there is some reason Grigson gave him this contract. If every talking head seems to think it is high, I am sure Grigson knew when he was giving it what it looked like on the surface.  Just spit balling here, but maybe he really expects  Walden to succeed at a big level and does not want him outplaying his contract to the point that he ends up trying to hold out for more money, but yet it still structured so that he can be cut if he does not perform. 

 

Its not like there weren't other players he could have signed to that position ... even lower level guys like Victor Butler.   There was "some method to his madness."

[Tark The Shark]

Ya, my biggest gripe is that he claims needs werent addressed. The guy is tool. We'll see how these players look after they have a year under their belt in INDY

 

I think we addressed plenty of needs, but because they weren't name guys, people will say that we overspent for our guys.

 

We have put in guys that fit our scheme and what we expect from them. I worked last year with bringing in guys like Freeman, Butler, Shipley, Avery, etc. I anticipate the same.

 

We signed guys on the young side of 30 who have tons of upside and a low risk-high reward type players. Guys who work hard and will compete play-in and play-out.

[ColtStrong]

Haters gonna Hate

[Gavin]

Could be a big indictment on what the team thinks of Jerry Hughes no?

Very possible but why they would think that after 1 year in a new scheme with the production he had does not make alot of sense to me IF that is the case, ya dint just quit on a guy 1 year in when he had a succesful year given his number of snaps he had (Which I posted in another thread but forget the number now, it was like 596 or something)

[HarassedOffTheSite]

I love that Wells' psychotic, bitterness driven rants smoke out some of our own special individuals. ;)

[Larry Horseman]

I agree with Wells though about Walden gettin overpaid though thats the thing, were not even sure he can beat out Hughes but were all assuming he can because of the contract he got, he started 15 games in 2011 and had 60 tackles and 3 sacks getting consistent playing time through 16 games, Hughes had 41 tackles in 6 starts and he had 4 sacks in 2012, thats what dont add up to me, Walden is also 4 lbs lighter and the same height, to me ya got a GM that sees him as the starter going forward (if were going by what he will be making this year) but nothing stands out about him to me that says he is clearly starter worthy, Green Bay would agree and Miami and KC all from the looks of it. if I am interpreting his contract right according to Spotrac then Grigson has an out come next year like I said though so we will just have to wait and see

 

Walden and Hughes play different positions. This year Hughes played Rush LB when Freeney was out. Mathis played the position Walden will play pretty much all year. Walden wasn't brought in to get sacks; Mathis will be moved to Rush LB to get sacks. Despite popular perception, Walden, RJF, and LL were signed to address our terrible rush defense...the FO and coaching staff must feel that is a priority over pass rush. I for one will be happy to see us be more physical and stop the run. I think Wells and others are failing to admit what these FA signings point to...now, it's OK to say we still have a need at pass rusher (I think we will draft one), but Hughes and Mathis are just as good as bringing in Kruger or Avril, IMO.

[Icelandic_Colt]

Ill try that again, not sure if I was clear: 

 

Waldens Base Salary according to Spotrac is 3 million dollars plus 250,000 signing bonus for a cap hit of 3,250,000.00 this year coming off the books(2013). 

 

Next year if he is still on the roster by the 5th day of the 2014 league year then his 4 mill base salary kicks in BUT IF NOT (I expect he will be) then we dont owe that salary? do we owe the rest of the remaining signing bonus? Hope that is easier to understand

Yes sir. It's a VERY team friendly deal. His base salary the first year is guaranteed, counting 3 million against the cap. His 1 million dollar signing bonus spreads out over the 4 year contract, so counts $250.000 each year. If we decide to cut him in the early days of the next league year, only the remaining $750.000 dollars of the signing bonus counts against the cap as dead money.

We had the 29th ranked rush defense last year, so I fail to see how Cliff Avril, one of the league's worst run stopping defensive ends(not even OLB, a position he hasn't played since college), was going to fix that. We got a good run stopping OLB in Walden, who has shown he can rush the passer as well. We got one of the league's best run stopping strong safeties in Landry and finally a real beast at defensive end in Francois. On top of that we're getting essentially a new signing at NT in Chapman, along with Brandon McKinney. Toler is very underrated, and if he can stay healthy I think he can be a real steal for us. Would I have loved a pure pass rushing OLB as well(Sidbury is 100% unproven in my opinion)? Sure, but if we don't get one in the draft, we can hopefully blitz more to generate pressure, with better defensive backs this year.

On offense we got a very solid RT along with an underrated guard who made the Pats not really miss Logan Mankins that much last year. If we get a solid G and a WR in the draft(or see what Whalen and co. can bring to training camp) I'd say we're good to go.

This FA haul pretty much means we can afford to go best-player-available in round 1 come April, which is saying something, compared to how things looked a couple of weeks ago.....

[JTrouble]

I'm not sure how many times this needs to be said but WALDEN was not brought in to be a pass rusher! He was brought in to SET THE EDGE vs the run! Why some writers don't understand this is beyond me....do they actually do ANY research before writing this garbage? IMO Mathis moving over is better than anybody else the Colts could of brought in.

[Smonroe]

I've talked to many scouts around the blogosphere and the consensus is that SBNation paid way too much for Brad Wells. I think he gets upwards of $7.25/hour, guaranteed 22 hour weeks.

I have to agree with them.

[NewColtsFan]

I agree with Wells though about Walden gettin overpaid though thats the thing, were not even sure he can beat out Hughes but were all assuming he can because of the contract he got, he started 15 games in 2011 and had 60 tackles and 3 sacks getting consistent playing time through 16 games, Hughes had 41 tackles in 6 starts and he had 4 sacks in 2012, thats what dont add up to me, Walden is also 4 lbs lighter and the same height, to me ya got a GM that sees him as the starter going forward (if were going by what he will be making this year) but nothing stands out about him to me that says he is clearly starter worthy, Green Bay would agree and Miami and KC all from the looks of it. if I am interpreting his contract right according to Spotrac then Grigson has an out come next year like I said though so we will just have to wait and see

 

Gavin.....

 

What in the world does 4 pounds have to do with anything??     The things that you focus on are head scratching.

 

The more important point is this....    while you can't tell if Walden is better than Hughes,  the GM and the HC can.   And they think Walden is better than Hughes.    You can point to the stats all you want.   But in the grand scheme of things, the only thing that matters is what the GM/HC believe.   And they believe Walden is better than Hughes.    They may not be right.   But that's their view.

[Ja'Crispy]

I'm still one to trust the guys that are paid to evaluate players and sign them. Especially when the same guys took a 2 win team and turned it into an 11 win team. They just might know what they are doing

[Superman]

Meh 16 million is quite a bit for for a rotational OLB no matter how ya slice it

That's the thing: it's NOT too much for a rotation guy in this defense, historically speaking. It's less than Jarrett Johnson was making with the Ravens.

The question is whether Walden can fill that role, and maybe whether we could have gotten him for less. But if he does fill that role, then the money is right in line.

[dw49]

That's the thing: it's NOT too much for a rotation guy in this defense, historically speaking. It's less than Jarrett Johnson was making with the Ravens.

The question is whether Walden can fill that role, and maybe whether we could have gotten him for less. But if he does fill that role, then the money is right in line.

 

 

 

The Walden deal is no biggi. If you cut him after two years , you have a 500K cap hit. So if he doesn't work out , you overpaid for a back-up for 2 years....big deal. The one that is a bit riskier to me is the Landry deal. He's suspect in pass coverage and wasn't that great in his first 5 years with the Redskins. Many thought he didn't deserve to go to the Pro Bowl. He did play well with the Jets but 24 mill over 6 years with 14 guaranteed is a bite in the butt if he doesn't pan out. I also hope that body and speed is not related to anything other than hard work and genetics. I guess he will be a huge upgrade over Zib even if he plays poorly. I guess there are two ways to play free agency.

 

1) Be agrresive and sign the guys you like the best and overpay a bit as the Colts may have on a few contracts.

2) Sit back and hope the market sucks and sign what's left on the cheap. 

 

I think when you have as many GLARING holes as the Colts had , option one is how you have to go. We had to get a good guard , OT , and SS. DL was probably a big need too.  If we were shut out . it would have been a disaster.

[NewEra]

I really really can't wait to rub it in people's faces when these signings work out.

[Restored]

Brad Wells is easily the most ignorant and out of touch colts blogger that I've seen in some years. The ONLY thing I will give him credit for was agreeing that last years colts roster was better than the 1998 one with a rookie Peyton Manning. Even though that idea was obvious to begin with.

[theanarchist]

Very possible but why they would think that after 1 year in a new scheme with the production he had does not make alot of sense to me IF that is the case, ya dint just quit on a guy 1 year in when he had a succesful year given his number of snaps he had (Which I posted in another thread but forget the number now, it was like 596 or something)

My guess is they MAY think Hughes isn't the man I can't really say that they do. But regardless of the playing time that you bring up the fact is that our staff and GM would have the best idea about Jerry Hughes more than any of us on the outside. They see him day in and day out in practice. It very well could be that the coaching staff is planning on using Hughes plenty this year and maybe they could even be thinking that he eventually takes over for Mathis one day but regardless we still need 3 or 4 quality OLB's and based on what I read from Grigson he likes Walden's ability to set the edge and stop the run. I don't know it for a fact but I don't think that is Hughes' strong suit.

 

That isn't to say I don't like hughes. I do think he can be a help to the team. He can be used to rush the passer from either a standing or hand on the ground position and that's nice to have.

[LockeDown]

I may be mistaken, but if Mathis is replacing Freeney and becoming the pass rush specialist and Walden is taking Mathis spot to be the run stopper, then why is Hughes being compared to Walden?  Shouldn't we be comparing Hughes with Mathis now?

[husker61]

My comments are this: 1) they signed Walden so that they could move Mathis to Rush LB where he belongs. So, in my opinion they got the BEST pass rusher they could this year by signing a guy who could allow them to move Mathis. Not bad thinking in my opinion. Did they over pay? probably but I'm not gonna complain on that one.

 

2) Cherilus: even though I had no idea who he was it sure sounds like he's a really good player that will provide pass protection first and foremost. This was a definite need. So, I don't get the article trying to say needs were not addressed.

 

3) Landry: I don't think we over paid and I think he's a definite NEED. He got less than Goldson and both were rated at the #1 and #2 available Safeties.

 

4) The article's title is that the Colts failed to address needs. 3 of the biggest needs were addressed, pass protecton, Playmaking safety, and pass rusher. Apparently they can't see that Mathis is a much better option to rush the passer than either Kruger or Avril would have been. I don't think its even a contest. Mathis has all the skills, moves.

 

Typical second guessing

 

i completely agree, adding that the contracts don't tie the colts hands in the future if these players don't work out.

[bahhummbug]

I really really can't wait to rub it in people's faces when these signings work out.

I think if people would sit down and look at what we got and what we have is going to be so much better than last year.stop looking at names Pags is a Defense coach,CMON MAN do you think hes just throwing darts at a board?Look at what Grigs did last year in draft,i believe in his scouting and staff.We need to give them a chance bigger names have been busts in time.Lets all just agree to disagree until January:)Seems like we keep riding this same dead horse into the ground.Someone find a new topic please

[unitaswestand]

It's hard to give Brad much credit.   Bill Polian made a remark some years ago about homosexuals and Brad took it personally.   Since then, Brad and his boyfriend over there attack Polian in anyway possible.  So most of his writing is so far off the mark, you would be better off shooting darts and you would be more accurate.   Try to criticize Brad sometime and watch his boyfriend attack you and ban you from the blog.

[Ryan Pelley]

So, exactly what was wrong about what he said about over paying?