D'Qwell Jackson Agrees To Terms With The Colts

[Jeffrey Jeff]

Not only that  CF12 & corgi, is the contract restructured down to 50 cents or 25 cents the following year in a scenario like that? Only teasing man! 

 

Jackson seems like a pretty solid ILB next to Freeman.. Contract is essentially 2 years long, nice signing! 

Yes he does!!!!

[Le Neon]

If I could, I'd break my Like button on this post!

The 3-4 is all about the FRONT end! How else did the rookie Eric Reid have a good year, cause when you have Bowman-Willis-Smith 1 & Smith 2 in front of you, your job is soooo much easier.

Everything starts up front!!!!

I say that so much I'm gonna change my name to for the off-season I swear!

My counter point would be that our cbs are very exposed in this defense, especially if we don't generate a pass rush. I understand not wanting to drop a chunk of change on a safety, but this defense really begs for a rangy free safety (ideally with ball skills) to protect the top of the defense when the corners get beat. Landry and Bethea struggled in this capacity last season.

Byrd specifically worries me as a expensive malcontent, but an upgrade at FS would do wonders for the defense.

[Jeffrey Jeff]

In another topic..........I am thinking don't be surprised at  Grigson making moves in this year's draft at moving the Colts into the 1st round I just have that feeling he isn't going to sit pat at ##59 in the 2nd round,,,,I for one hope he doesn't jeopardize our future draft(s) by making rash moves in this years draft but Yeah I think its in his blood to do that,,,,,,,,,,,,I feel Grigsom hit big on his 1st years draft netting Luck & TY Hilton etc,,,,,,,Fleener D. Allen etc,but kinda bombed on the 2nd years draft,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 I mean Werner I can see him developing into a great player but also he maybe just average also his career,,,,,Hope he becomes a wrecking force for the Colts its entirely possible,,,,,,,,,,,So look for the Colts to pull a trade up into the 1st round I feel it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[southwest1]

I'm not going to give much credence to that, for two reasons.  One, using as an example, Erik Walden, they said the same thing and then pointed to his lack of production, which, coincidentally enough, was pretty much on par with several people who were paid almost twice as much last year in FA.  Second, and with my first point in mind, criticizing Grigson for overpaying for FA's seems to be the trendy, mainstream thing to do.  You're always taking risks for FAs, but you're paying a guy for what he could bring to the table, the risk being that he not only fits your scheme, but can play well in it (or playing well enough to earn his pay). 

 

What I'll never understand, is people often judge a FA signing before he even plays a down with the next team based ONLY on what his numbers were with the previous team.  That's like saying a team who was bad last year can't be good next year.  It doesn't make any sense.  Now, if by the endo f the year, a team that was bad last year finishes terribly the following year, then you can say they are a bad team.  Same with FA signings.  You just simply can't know if a guy is overpaid until he proves it one way or the other.

Beautiful response OPC!   The  Satele thread ate up all my likes. Your 2nd paragraph is pure poetry man. 

[BLUEx40]

im just curious how we were able to sign him before march 11 I thought free agents couldn't be signed until that time

[Gavin]

im just curious how we were able to sign him before march 11 I thought free agents couldn't be signed until that time

They can if released prior to March 11 if I remember correctly

[dw49]

In another topic..........I am thinking don't be surprised at  Grigson making moves in this year's draft at moving the Colts into the 1st round I just have that feeling he isn't going to sit pat at ##59 in the 2nd round,,,,I for one hope he doesn't jeopardize our future draft(s) by making rash moves in this years draft but Yeah I think its in his blood to do that,,,,,,,,,,,,I feel Grigsom hit big on his 1st years draft netting Luck & TY Hilton etc,,,,,,,Fleener D. Allen etc,but kinda bombed on the 2nd years draft,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 I mean Werner I can see him developing into a great player but also he maybe just average also his career,,,,,Hope he becomes a wrecking force for the Colts its entirely possible,,,,,,,,,,,So look for the Colts to pull a trade up into the 1st round I feel it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Pretty much impossible for the Colts to trade into the first round with only a 2nd ,3rd , 5th , 6th and 7th going into the draft. Would have to be something like this years 2nd and next years 1st to get to around pick 1.20

[Jeffrey Jeff]

Pretty much impossible for the Colts to trade into the first round with only a 2nd ,3rd , 5th , 6th and 7th going into the draft. Would have to be something like this years 2nd and next years 1st to get to around pick 1.20

True am sure it'd be very hard to get into the 1st round this draft But multiple picks given to another team and Colts could swing it I am hoping they DO NOT DO IT,,,,,,it'd mess us up bad or our future,,,,,,,,,,,I hope our scouts do/did/ a great job at evaluating this year's draft and we come up w/ some gems lik in Grigson's 1st draft w/ the Colts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HarassedOffTheSite]

My counter point would be...

 

...an inadequate contra-positive.

 

As was written earlier, it all begins up front. If THAT works right, everything else across the board improves exponentially. Whereas we could sign both Derrell Revis AND Byrd and their efforts combined would only help the others in particular circumstances.

 

Blowing a ton of cash on a Safety (or CB) is the dumbest thing ANY GM can do if his Line is not solid. And plenty of dumb GMs do it. I do not think ours is dumb.

[Le Neon]

...an inadequate contra-positive.

As was written earlier, it all begins up front. If THAT works right, everything else across the board improves exponentially. Whereas we could sign both Derrell Revis AND Byrd and their efforts combined would only help the others in particular circumstances.

Blowing a ton of cash on a Safety (or CB) is the dumbest thing ANY GM can do if his Line is not solid. And plenty of dumb GMs do it. I do not think ours is dumb.

It's true that it all starts up front, but I suppose it all ends in the secondary. Upgrading one does not preclude upgrading the other.

If Byrd is as good as the hype he's worth it, but I'm concerned that he's been overrated. Free safety is a weakness on this defense that will need to be addressed this offseason. We'll sign or draft somebody.

[HarassedOffTheSite]

S.O.S.

[BlueCollarColts]

Browns had a pretty good defense if I remember correctly right?

[dw49]

There is most certainly a signing bonus - that speculation is premature - but the impact of the guaranteed money is the same, and very fair mutually for a player of his ability.  As long as we carry over the cap savings from the pro-rated portion, the total cap impact is identical whether there is a signing bonus or not.

 

 

 

I have no idea of if there is a signing bonus or not. I was answering the poster's question of why some "are calling this a two year deal." I believe I answered the question correctly. If there is no signing bonus , as one of the tweets seemed to indicate, then this probably is essentially a two year deal. As far as the guaranteed money affecting the cap , the signing bonus spreads it out of the life (4 years) of the contract , while the other (1st two years guaranteed ) would hit just the first two years and make cutting him after year two have a zero cap hit. Very different strategies as one you take the hit early and the other you probably eat around 2.5 mill in prorated bonus as he will be around 35 in that 4th year.

[ponyboy]

Jackson turned down a bigger offer to sign with us. And we can cut him after two years with no harm(because of the way the contract is structured). And he's not being overpaid. He's being paid middle of the pack money.

 

Can anybody provide a link to show how the contract is structured?   Where did you see that all the guaranteed money is in the first two years?

[ztboiler]

I have no idea of if there is a signing bonus or not. I was answering the poster's question of why some "are calling this a two year deal." I believe I answered the question correctly. If there is no signing bonus , as one of the tweets seemed to indicate, then this probably is essentially a two year deal. As far as the guaranteed money affecting the cap , the signing bonus spreads it out of the life (4 years) of the contract , while the other (1st two years guaranteed ) would hit just the first two years and make cutting him after year two have a zero cap hit. Very different strategies as one you take the hit early and the other you probably eat around 2.5 mill in prorated bonus as he will be around 35 in that 4th year.

I re-read my wording and it came across as confrontational...sorry about that.  What I meant is "more than likely" we'll find there is a signing bonus of some sort once the actual structure becomes known.  Being what it may, yes it affects the cap accounting, but money is money - and the actual cap impact is equivalent if you don't spend the pro-rated savings.

[oldunclemark]

I dont know a ton about him. Is he good?

Legend.....That;s how I feel..

 

He seems like a great guy....and his numbers are not to be questioned..

 

..but I;ve got to be honest.....I've never watched Cleveland closely ..I don't know him..

 

but he's obviously highly respected

[HorseShoeHarry23]

Hey I saw D`Qwells agent talked today on NFL Radio... the link is below!  Good stuff!

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmsports/dqwell-jacksons-agent-brian

[New Zealands #1 Colts Fan]

I dont know a ton about him. Is he good?

 

He was great in my IDP league

[dw49]

I re-read my wording and it came across as confrontational...sorry about that.  What I meant is "more than likely" we'll find there is a signing bonus of some sort once the actual structure becomes known.  Being what it may, yes it affects the cap accounting, but money is money - and the actual cap impact is equivalent if you don't spend the pro-rated savings.

 

No problem and I'll be interested in seeing if there is or isn't a signing bonus involved in this. If I had to guess , I would say probably not anything too significant.

 

I think what Grigson could be planning is to take the bigger cap hits with a lot of these free agents early and then have ample money to resign the rookies from the 2012 draft. About the only significant hit we would take if we needed room in 2016 would be Cherlius at around 6 mill. Landry would be less than 2 million but a cap saving of around 6 million as he has a 4.5 base and a 1.5 roster bonus that doesn't appear to be guaranteed. Say what you want about how Grigson has done on free agency ... he has not subjected this team to any future "cap hell" with the way he's doled out these contracts.

[TKnight24]

Browns had a pretty good defense if I remember correctly right?

Top 10-15 defense indeed it was

[dw49]

Can anybody provide a link to show how the contract is structured?   Where did you see that all the guaranteed money is in the first two years?

 

 

There is no such link . We'll probably see the details tomorrow. The only thing I found that implies it's basically a two year deal is this tweet from Holder. Plus it makes sense considering he's almost 31 that it would be structured as such.

 

Anyway could take Holder to mean that Landry received 7.5 as a signing bonus and DJ received little or nothing ? Maybe ... I dunno

 

 

 

 

@HolderStephen: Warned you the D'Qwell Jackson numbers would be on the high side. 4 yrs, $22M qualifies as such. But again, that's expected in this scenario

@HolderStephen: FWIW, 4 yrs, $22M, $11M guaranteed almost identical to LaRon Landry deal last yr...4 yrs, $24M, $11M guaranteed. LL had $7M sign. bonus tho 

• Like This

[dw49]

OK, so we didn't over pay you just think we should have drafted for the position. That makes much more sense. I still think we should draft one though. Freeman's deal is up next year and Jackson is old.

 

 

But we have control over Freeman for two more years , just have to make a qualifying offer in year 4.

[GoColts8818]

For those not liking the price tag you don't get good players for cheap and often times in free agency you have to over pay to get players.  That's why Polian didn't like to use it, he knew you were going to over spend to get guys to sign more times than not who by the end of their deals wouldn't be worth what they were getting paid.  I saw today that there were about five other teams willing to pay what the Colts did to get Jackson so had the Colts offered less odds are he would have probably signed with one of them. 

 

Also be warned per Conrad Brunner's twitter page according to Pro Football Focus Jackson ranked lower overall and against the run than Angerer and Sheppard last year.  There is a chance he could be starting the downward slide of his career. 

 

I like this signing but I am not in love with it.  I think he fits the mold of what Grigson has done to this point.  Brought in good players but not great players on defense.  We need another player maker or two like a Mathis to make our defense truly what Pagano wants it to be.  Hopefully we can get those guys in free agency or the draft this year.  If we get those guys kinds of guys then a guy like Jackson will turn out to be a really good signing if we are asking him to be the fifth or sixth best player in our defense.  If he has to be the third or fourth we might be in some trouble. 

[BlueCollarColts]

My counter point would be that our cbs are very exposed in this defense, especially if we don't generate a pass rush. I understand not wanting to drop a chunk of change on a safety, but this defense really begs for a rangy free safety (ideally with ball skills) to protect the top of the defense when the corners get beat. Landry and Bethea struggled in this capacity last season.

Byrd specifically worries me as a expensive malcontent, but an upgrade at FS would do wonders for the defense.

How is T.J. Ward in coverage? Could he be a cheaper, but still very effective option?

[Mitch]

How is T.J. Ward in coverage? Could he be a cheaper, but still very effective option?

 

He's a strong safety. He could play either, but Byrd is more of your prototypical ball-hawk FS. Ward may not be a bad fit with how our scheme works. We just switched Bethea/Landry at SS/FS from play to play. Personally I'd rather get a true FS in Byrd, even if the price is high and keep Landry at SS, his coverage skills aren't the best.

[Le Neon]

How is T.J. Ward in coverage? Could he be a cheaper, but still very effective option?

Same problem as Landry, he's an in the box guy. It's the reason Byrd is likely gonna make so much money, his skillset is very much in demand right now.

[BrentMc11]

What is that - Nyquil Jackson?

When he hits you, he make your nose drip, sneeze, causes itchy throat...and can help ya sleep...

 

Wonder what Day Quil Jackson does????

[BrentMc11]

S.O.S.

Chipped beef and gravy?

 

[Insert Colts Pun Here]

For those that know more about Jackson than me (which is probably most of you as I know very little), how much impact do you see him making next season? Can we expect him to be a starter or has he been brought in more for depth?

[Valpo2004]

Let that set in folks...

 

A player took less money to come and play here. -grin-

 

After playing with the Browns for so many years he's probably like to play for a winning team for once.  

[Valpo2004]

For those that know more about Jackson than me (which is probably most of you as I know very little), how much impact do you see him making next season? Can we expect him to be a starter or has he been brought in more for depth?

 

He's a starter, you don't pay a free agent 5.5 million APY for depth.  

 

I wouldn't expect too much from him.  He's had some good years in the past but he's over 30 now.  He was cut by the Browns likely because he wasn't living up to his contract (he got a really big contract from them.)  I would say he's an improvement for our team, but it isn't like we got a top linebacker here.  He may have used to be but he's past his prime now.  

 

I think most of us are waiting to see the details of the contract.  If most of this money is up front in the form of guaranteed salary for maybe the first 2 years then basically this contract is a 2 year deal with 2 "option" years.  I will be a little more upset if the guaranteed money to pro-rated over all 4 years.  

 

I certainly hope Grigson basically guaranteed the first 2 years salary.  Because of his age I wouldn't want to be on the hook for him for more then 2 years.  

[coltsfansince65]

I'm happy DQ landed on his feet. I must admit I'm a little surprised he went to a 3-4 team though, his best years have been in the 4-3. I'll copy paste my thoughts on him from the other day:

Jackson's a good leader and great teammate. That said, he's a good all-around player but not particularly strong in any one area. Alot of his tackles were after gains of 5+ yards.Was better in the 4-3 than the 3-4, but has never had good lateral movement and is not strong enough to shed blocks. Has certainly lost a step. Missed 26 consecutive games with separate pectoral tears.

 

I think DQ is a good addition to any team, especially in the locker room. Just don't expect him to be a difference maker on the field.

This almost sounds like you're describing Pat Angerer.

[Gavin]

This almost sounds like you're describing Pat Angerer.

same height, 2 lbs separate them, Basically he is the healthy version.....probably a little more instinctive back in coverage in a short zone but I dont think bu much

[Coffeedrinker]

Perfect situation to spend a 3rd rounder on Shayne Skov (or better yet, Borland if he was there in the 3rd). They are both immediate type impact guys but they could be used as run down defenders with Jackson being the guy on coverage downs while the young guy develops his pass coverage and NFL awareness.

I don't know much about Skov but as a Big Ten fan I do like Borland and I will not be surprised if his size and 40 time drop him to the late 3rd round.

 

Another prospect that I really like is Max Bullough from Michigan State.  With him a lot of drafting him depends on the reason he was suspended.  But that guy is a terror in the middle, he plays every bit as big as his measurables (6'4" 250lbs) yet he still has 4.7 speed and good football intelligence.  If he was suspended for steroid use or HGH something like that (or something violent like hitting his girlfriend, kicking puppies, etc), then I would pass because those type of drugs cause injury problems or that type of violence indicates mental problems.  But if it was for something else (marijuana, getting in a fight) and he's available, IMO, the Colts would be stupid not to give him a shot.

[Insert Colts Pun Here]

He's a starter, you don't pay a free agent 5.5 million APY for depth.  

 

I wouldn't expect too much from him.  He's had some good years in the past but he's over 30 now.  He was cut by the Browns likely because he wasn't living up to his contract (he got a really big contract from them.)  I would say he's an improvement for our team, but it isn't like we got a top linebacker here.  He may have used to be but he's past his prime now.  

 

I think most of us are waiting to see the details of the contract.  If most of this money is up front in the form of guaranteed salary for maybe the first 2 years then basically this contract is a 2 year deal with 2 "option" years.  I will be a little more upset if the guaranteed money to pro-rated over all 4 years.  

 

I certainly hope Grigson basically guaranteed the first 2 years salary.  Because of his age I wouldn't want to be on the hook for him for more then 2 years.  

 

Sounds decent. I look forward to seeing what he can bring to the team. At the very least, it sounds like he'll bring discipline and leadership which is promising.

 

Thanks for the info!

[HarassedOffTheSite]

After playing with the Browns for so many years he's probably like to play for a winning team for once.  

 

"Once I became free and I was allowed to speak to teams, Chud was one of the first calls that I personally made...He's a big part of me being here (Indianapolis) today. I thought highly of him last year when he was my head coach in Cleveland. He hadn't been here for a long time but I trusted his judgment. We had a great run in Cleveland..."If you've been in this game long enough, you start to realize if you don't have a guy under center, it's going to be hard for you to be in a place with stability and let alone win games...Unfortunately, that's been my career in Cleveland...But it never stopped my drive, my passion, the way I prepared, the way I played the game at all. I can only imagine. That's why I'm so excited today because there is a guy under center. I feel it's like it's going to re-energize the batteries...Every guy has a reason why they play the game...If you haven’t paid attention to this organization, then you’re not a fan of any sport...What this organization has been able to accomplish the last decade, more than that, I’ve watched them...I've been a huge fan of what they’ve accomplished the last two years after having a reign of success for 14 years, having a down year one year and bouncing back and losing your coach and having him come back.  It’s definitely a testament to what they do in this building.  I’m more than excited to be a part of it...In my opinion...I'm going in Year 9, I've made a great living so far so the decision for me was easy. It wasn't a financial decision. It was a decision to be around a good group of guys, first and foremost, and a team that was willing to get to the Super Bowl and that's what it comes down to. It's the passion of the game." - D'Qwell Jackson

[HarassedOffTheSite]

Chipped beef and gravy?

 

 

S.tuck O.n S.tupid

[Coffeedrinker]

  But if it was for something else (marijuana, getting in a fight) and he's available, IMO, the Colts would be stupid not to give him a shot.

I meant to say, if he's available in the 5th or 6th round (which most draft sites have him a 5-7th rounder) then it would be stupid if the Colts did not give him a shot.

[austriancolt]

I don't like the signing looks like we are again overpaying for an average player...

[HarassedOffTheSite]

Hahaha it's always going to take longer when you're caught in the middle relaying someone else's message.