OverTheCap.com likes Colts' Off-Season Signings....

[NewColtsFan]

Stumbled into this write-up on YahooSports.com

 

One of the writes from OverTheCap does a breakdown on every team...    and I'm cutting and pasting his review of what the Colts have done...    He really likes what we did financially...  and breaks down our deals...

 

Says we showed great restraint from spending too much given that we're soon to enter a window of signing our most expensive players.....

 

I think our own Superman -- who likes and closely follows this stuff -- will be pleased with what he reads here! 

 

Enjoy!     

 

7. Indianapolis Colts

 

Substantial FA Acquisitions

D'Qwell Jackson (Signed four-year, $22M deal)

Arthur Jones (Signed five-year, $33M deal)

 

Total Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $55 million

 

Fully Guaranteed Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $20.1 million

 

2014 Cap Hit of Substantial FA’s = $10.35 million

 

With a big-spender’s reputation and loads of pre-free agency cap space, many projected Jim Irsay’s Colts to spend wildly during free agency.  And while they’ve made plenty of moves, credit GM Ryan Grigson for not doing anything to compromise the future of the franchise.  D’Qwell Jackson’s contract is really just a two-year, $11 million commitment while Arthur Jones’ deal reads as a true two-year contract worth $16 million.  With Andrew Luck in line for a massive payday when extension-eligible after this coming season, Indianapolis is in a good financial situation in both the short-term and long-term.

[TKnight24]

And here people were saying Ryan Grigson is the worst GM ever

[Michael Myers]

And here people were saying Ryan Grigson is the worst GM ever

Who said that?

[TKnight24]

Who said that?

I guess you're too busy slowly walking behind your victims while they run into the woods & trip on an invisible stick to read the forum Michael

But the Grigson bashing on here is endless. You'd be surprised what people say about Grigson, Pep, & Chuck

[PrincetonTiger]

Very nice info

Nice Find NCF

[Gavin]

And here people were saying Ryan Grigson is the worst GM ever

I think some of that has to do with the $35,000,000 contract Cherilus is  working off....Highest in the league at RT......$15,500,000.00 of that is guaranteed which is the 4th highest guaranteed $ for a RT...Of the 3 Right Tackles that are making more guaranteed money they all 3 can play LT as well and probably at a high level in the NFL (Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson), I thought Cherilus had a very good year, I just hope he can improve opening up holes in the run game...Though have my doubts since he hasn't been a consistent run blocker in his career, Now would I have guaranteed a RT 15 mill? absolutely not...He is a RT who is very inconsistent at doing what RT's are supposed to be good at and thats opening up holes in the run game, There are RT's making significantly less guaranteed money who are significantly better at run blocking then he is. I dont want come off as complaining because Im certainly not but if there is a complaint to be had about a contract then Cherilus is the one

[NewColtsFan]

Very nice info

Nice Find NCF

 

Hey,  even the blind squirrel finds the occasional nut!

 

But thanks for the kind words....  

[southwest1]

Hey,  even the blind squirrel finds the occasional nut!

 

But thanks for the kind words....  

Don't sell yourself short NCF. You're an intelligent writer who always gives good information my friend. Just for laughs...

 

[NewColtsFan]

Don't sell yourself short NCF. You're an intelligent writer who always gives good information my friend. Just for laughs...

 

 

Hey!    That's one of the best pictures of me I've ever seen!!    (And that's me on a good day!

 

Don't know where you found it,  but that ROCKS!!  

 

Thanks,  SW!! 

[southwest1]

Stumbled into this write-up on YahooSports.com

 

One of the writes from OverTheCap does a breakdown on every team...    and I'm cutting and pasting his review of what the Colts have done...    He really likes what we did financially...  and breaks down our deals...

 

Says we showed great restraint from spending too much given that we're soon to enter a window of signing our most expensive players.....

 

I think our own Superman -- who likes and closely follows this stuff -- will be pleased with what he reads here! 

 

Enjoy!     

 

7. Indianapolis Colts

 

Substantial FA Acquisitions

D'Qwell Jackson (Signed four-year, $22M deal)

Arthur Jones (Signed five-year, $33M deal)

 

Total Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $55 million

 

Fully Guaranteed Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $20.1 million

 

2014 Cap Hit of Substantial FA’s = $10.35 million

 

With a big-spender’s reputation and loads of pre-free agency cap space, many projected Jim Irsay’s Colts to spend wildly during free agency.  And while they’ve made plenty of moves, credit GM Ryan Grigson for not doing anything to compromise the future of the franchise.  D’Qwell Jackson’s contract is really just a two-year, $11 million commitment while Arthur Jones’ deal reads as a true two-year contract worth $16 million.  With Andrew Luck in line for a massive payday when extension-eligible after this coming season, Indianapolis is in a good financial situation in both the short-term and long-term.

I know when SW1 is way outside my area of expertise: spending & cap space, but it is nice to hear that our GM is being commended for his wise free agency pickups & frugal nature. I leave this stuff to Bert, Superman, Chad72, NCF, krunk, & Gavin. Guys whose judgement in this arena that I trust implicitly & absolutely. I may not be well versed here, but I know who I should be listening to anyway. 

[southwest1]

Hey!    That's one of the best pictures of me I've ever seen!!    (And that's me on a good day!

 

Don't know where you found it,  but that ROCKS!!  

 

Thanks,  SW!! 

Here is the link to the image NCF: 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRDgylm18Uw/Uku7LSgiirI/AAAAAAAABmI/mhEh3QxrBzc/s1600/6060696683_16afbb92b6_z.jpg

 

All I did is go to google images & type in blind squirrel buddy! Glad to make you crack a smile & chuckle pal.  ;)

[Michael Myers]

I guess you're too busy slowly walking behind your victims while they run into the woods & trip on an invisible stick to read the forum Michael

But the Grigson bashing on here is endless. You'd be surprised what people say about Grigson, Pep, & Chuck

Oh well I guess you're right, the Richardson fiasco won't end until he has a good season next year, which I'm positive he will, he's too good of a talent. And then the anger about how our project pass rusher didn't get 10 sacks, or how Khaled, even though he didn't play last year, is a bust. I see your point.

[jvan1973]

And here people were saying Ryan Grigson is the worst GM ever

Haven't you heard, he has no ability to scout talent. Anyone here watching YouTube is better at talent evaluation.

[MTC]

I want Jones for five years not for two.

[Valpo2004]

Stumbled into this write-up on YahooSports.com

 

One of the writes from OverTheCap does a breakdown on every team...    and I'm cutting and pasting his review of what the Colts have done...    He really likes what we did financially...  and breaks down our deals...

 

Says we showed great restraint from spending too much given that we're soon to enter a window of signing our most expensive players.....

 

I think our own Superman -- who likes and closely follows this stuff -- will be pleased with what he reads here! 

 

Enjoy!     

 

7. Indianapolis Colts

 

Substantial FA Acquisitions

D'Qwell Jackson (Signed four-year, $22M deal)

Arthur Jones (Signed five-year, $33M deal)

 

Total Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $55 million

 

Fully Guaranteed Money Given to Substantial FA’s = $20.1 million

 

2014 Cap Hit of Substantial FA’s = $10.35 million

 

With a big-spender’s reputation and loads of pre-free agency cap space, many projected Jim Irsay’s Colts to spend wildly during free agency.  And while they’ve made plenty of moves, credit GM Ryan Grigson for not doing anything to compromise the future of the franchise.  D’Qwell Jackson’s contract is really just a two-year, $11 million commitment while Arthur Jones’ deal reads as a true two-year contract worth $16 million.  With Andrew Luck in line for a massive payday when extension-eligible after this coming season, Indianapolis is in a good financial situation in both the short-term and long-term.

 

They are not right about Arthur Jones's deal.  

 

The pro-rated bonus is high enough to make cutting him at any point a significant dead money loss.  True we can gain cap space from cutting him as soon as next year.  But that's 4.4 million in dead money to save only 2.7 million in cap space.  The year after it's 3.3 million and so on.  

 

Unless he's just extremely bad it wouldn't be worth cutting him until year 4.  As before that the cap savings is below 3 million while the dead money hit is pretty high.  

 

Also Luck is likely to get tagged with the 5th year option in May 2015.  So he might not be going on extension years until the 2017 season.  

 

(5th year option will likely cost around 14 million in cap space, so it will still be a significant increase.)

[Slick_Rick]

Who said that?

Jamie Lee Curtis for one.

[SteelDragon]

I like the signings.  It's only March though.  I still think there's a few more gems to come from FA later, but at a bargain price. Also wondering if we can land a starter out of this draft.

[Valpo2004]

I like the signings.  It's only March though.  I still think there's a few more gems to come from FA later, but at a bargain price. Also wondering if we can land a starter out of this draft.

 

There seems to be several solid players left on the FA market but the signings have sort of dried up.  

 

The RB market seems especially dry.  

[jvan1973]

Jamie Lee Curtis for one.

She is such a hater

[lollygagger8]

Awesome write up on Grigs. 

 

 

Now let's get some O-Linemen! 

[Superman]

They are not right about Arthur Jones's deal.  

 

The pro-rated bonus is high enough to make cutting him at any point a significant dead money loss.  True we can gain cap space from cutting him as soon as next year.  But that's 4.4 million in dead money to save only 2.7 million in cap space.  The year after it's 3.3 million and so on.  

 

Unless he's just extremely bad it wouldn't be worth cutting him until year 4.  As before that the cap savings is below 3 million while the dead money hit is pretty high.  

 

Also Luck is likely to get tagged with the 5th year option in May 2015.  So he might not be going on extension years until the 2017 season.  

 

(5th year option will likely cost around 14 million in cap space, so it will still be a significant increase.)

 

There's no reason to think that Jones would be released anytime before Year 3, under any reasonable circumstances. But a $1.1m/year prorated bonus is on the low end. Jason Hatcher's $9m signing bonus carries a $2.25m/year prorated bonus. Most teams are keeping signing bonuses lower this year to keep that prorated bonus under $1.5m/year.

[BLUEx40]

im glad all the worries about us being in the same situation with Luck as we were with peyton manning are kind of gone, I seen multiple reports before last season that Irsay would be in the same perdiciment with Luck as he was with Manning, glad to see Grigson is preparing for the future

[Malakai432]

I guess you're too busy slowly walking behind your victims while they run into the woods & trip on an invisible stick to read the forum Michael

Hey now, that's my job also!!!!! I prefer houses rather than the woods however.............

[Smonroe]

She is such a hater

Then she had some Activa and her whole (made sure I spelled it right) attitude changed.

[Valpo2004]

There's no reason to think that Jones would be released anytime before Year 3, under any reasonable circumstances. But a $1.1m/year prorated bonus is on the low end. Jason Hatcher's $9m signing bonus carries a $2.25m/year prorated bonus. Most teams are keeping signing bonuses lower this year to keep that prorated bonus under $1.5m/year.

 

1.1 million per year pro-rated bonus is on the high end.  Sure it's not the highest, but very few players are gonna get 2 million pro-rated per year bonus.  

 

Although my point really is that it's not worth the dead money hit to cut him until after year 3.  

 

Even if you can save money against the cap you have to consider if taking the dead money hit is worth it.  Essentially a dead money hit against your cap cuts the size of your cap down by that amount of money.  

 

I just don't think you can simplify say a 4 or 5 year contract as "basically a 2 year deal" unless the dead money hit in the next year is less then a million.  You can say the guy can be cut at that point for cap savings but it doesn't change the fact that the dead money is still fairly significant.

[Superman]

1.1 million per year pro-rated bonus is on the high end.  Sure it's not the highest, but very few players are gonna get 2 million pro-rated per year bonus.  

 

Although my point really is that it's not worth the dead money hit to cut him until after year 3.  

 

Even if you can save money against the cap you have to consider if taking the dead money hit is worth it.  Essentially a dead money hit against your cap cuts the size of your cap down by that amount of money.  

 

I just don't think you can simplify say a 4 or 5 year contract as "basically a 2 year deal" unless the dead money hit in the next year is less then a million.  You can say the guy can be cut at that point for cap savings but it doesn't change the fact that the dead money is still fairly significant.

 

I disagree, on a number of levels.

 

First, players get cut when their performance isn't commensurate with their pay. This sometimes results in a net loss of cap space, but it usually saves the team money on their cap. It doesn't cut down the size of the cap. There's a NET SAVINGS that makes it worth it to the team. For instance, the Bears have a cap penalty of $8.3m from cutting Julius Peppers, but his cap hit was going to be $20m, so they have a net savings of nearly $12m. That's a more extreme example, but the cap accounting is simple. So if we were to cut Jones after Year 2, and take a $3.3m cap penalty for a $2.3m net savings, it would still be worth it. Let's assume the 2016 cap is $145m, that cap penalty is barely 2% of the cap. I wouldn't call that "fairly significant."

 

Second, there's the issue of cash. It's not important to us fans, but teams keep a close eye on their yearly cash outlay, because once the money goes out, it doesn't come back, and it eventually goes against the cap. So if you save $6m in cash from releasing Arthur Jones before Year 2, that's $6m that never hits your cap. In exchange for that, you accelerate the remainder of the $5.5m that you already paid out. Still net cap savings, but also significant cash savings.

 

Third, plenty of players get more than $1.1m/year prorated bonus, especially top tier free agents. This is changing radically and rapidly, as these numbers used to routinely be in the $3m/year range, and sometimes higher than that. Peppers' new contract has a $3m/year prorated bonus. More typical is the $1-2m/year range: Decker, $1.5m, Tate, $1.6m, Ware, $1.67m, Byrd, $2.2m, Tyson Jackson, $1.6m, Eugene Monroe, $2.2m, Soliai, $1.4m, Albert, $1.7m, Whitner, $2.25m, etc. Jones' $1.1m is about average for players who actually receive a signing bonus on a multi-year deal.

 

Some teams -- Raiders, Bucs, Jags, etc. -- are frontloading with guaranteed salary and roster bonuses, rather than signing bonuses. The Broncos are doing pretty much what we're doing, limiting pro-rated bonus to around $1m/year, but in cases like Talib and Ware, they are guaranteeing Year 2 salary, so a release after Year 1 is still punitive. But the cap hit structure -- which is similar to what the Colts are doing -- still promotes a "pay as you go" mentality, and it allows you to make football decisions rather than cap decisions.

 

Any time a player is given a five year deal, then doesn't make it past Year 2, that's not good for the team. Even if the dead money isn't necessarily punitive. But at $1.1m/year, for a five year deal, that's right where you want to be.

[dgambill]

I think the biggest complaints come down to a very small amount of moves. By the way these are not my feelings but from what I gather from others. 

 

1. Trade for TRICH...that first rd pick lost HURTS...we are all hoping Trent rebounds..but we don't have a lot of confidence.

2. Walden deal....some think thats a lot for a guy that doesn't get after the qb and that was decent but not a difference maker at that position.

3. Toler deal...some thought it was high for an unproven corner that has injury concerns

4. Werner...some don't see the potential..whether its there or not nobody knows it will take time but some question his athleticism to get to the qb

5. RJF deal...not a bank buster but for not sure he justified the contract because he had never been a full time guy

6. Finally I think some are concerned with the FS/C positions and how he is moving forward...many are uneasy with them not being addressed to their satisfaction.

 

I can understand where some come from...and yet I think MANY over-react...his drafting to me is hard to argue with because of the small sample size and time for players to develop....look at the leap Fleener made from year 1 to 2....hoping Thorton and Hughes and Werner can do somewhat the same. Most I think have had issues with some contracts we gave out...I think they want bigger names (bigger doesn't always equal better) and if not think perhaps we overpaid for what we have (even though most deals are cap friendly most didn't see a lot of these guys warranting these contracts because they weren't heavily sought after or publicized guys). I think most people rush to judgement...by Lucks second contract I think is the appropriate time to say if we are on the right road or we need to change course...I'm hoping and believe we are buiding strong and steady.

[Luck_Is_Skilled]

People consciously choose to ignore the fact that the cupboard was completely bare when the regime change took place. You would think two consecutive 11-5 seasons with one Division title in two years would open some eyes.

[wig]

I think some of that has to do with the $35,000,000 contract Cherilus is working off....Highest in the league at RT......$15,500,000.00 of that is guaranteed which is the 4th highest guaranteed $ for a RT...Of the 3 Right Tackles that are making more guaranteed money they all 3 can play LT as well and probably at a high level in the NFL (Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson), I thought Cherilus had a very good year, I just hope he can improve opening up holes in the run game...Though have my doubts since he hasn't been a consistent run blocker in his career, Now would I have guaranteed a RT 15 mill? absolutely not...He is a RT who is very inconsistent at doing what RT's are supposed to be good at and thats opening up holes in the run game, There are RT's making significantly less guaranteed money who are significantly better at run blocking then he is. I dont want come off as complaining because Im certainly not but if there is a complaint to be had about a contract then Cherilus is the one

The three other guys you posted were top ten picks last year, off course they would have more potential at LT. All we need us a top pick in a loaded draft and Grigson can look smarter.

[braveheartcolt]

I know when SW1 is way outside my area of expertise: spending & cap space, but it is nice to hear that our GM is being commended for his wise free agency pickups & frugal nature. I leave this stuff to Bert, Superman, Chad72, NCF, krunk, & Gavin. Guys whose judgement in this arena that I trust implicitly & absolutely. I may not be well versed here, but I know who I should be listening to anyway.

Hey, BHC once said Andrew Luck was a steal. Where's my mention? BHC and SW1 are officially done...

[Valpo2004]

I disagree, on a number of levels.

 

First, players get cut when their performance isn't commensurate with their pay. This sometimes results in a net loss of cap space, but it usually saves the team money on their cap. It doesn't cut down the size of the cap. There's a NET SAVINGS that makes it worth it to the team. For instance, the Bears have a cap penalty of $8.3m from cutting Julius Peppers, but his cap hit was going to be $20m, so they have a net savings of nearly $12m. That's a more extreme example, but the cap accounting is simple. So if we were to cut Jones after Year 2, and take a $3.3m cap penalty for a $2.3m net savings, it would still be worth it. Let's assume the 2016 cap is $145m, that cap penalty is barely 2% of the cap. I wouldn't call that "fairly significant."

 

Second, there's the issue of cash. It's not important to us fans, but teams keep a close eye on their yearly cash outlay, because once the money goes out, it doesn't come back, and it eventually goes against the cap. So if you save $6m in cash from releasing Arthur Jones before Year 2, that's $6m that never hits your cap. In exchange for that, you accelerate the remainder of the $5.5m that you already paid out. Still net cap savings, but also significant cash savings.

 

Third, plenty of players get more than $1.1m/year prorated bonus, especially top tier free agents. This is changing radically and rapidly, as these numbers used to routinely be in the $3m/year range, and sometimes higher than that. Peppers' new contract has a $3m/year prorated bonus. More typical is the $1-2m/year range: Decker, $1.5m, Tate, $1.6m, Ware, $1.67m, Byrd, $2.2m, Tyson Jackson, $1.6m, Eugene Monroe, $2.2m, Soliai, $1.4m, Albert, $1.7m, Whitner, $2.25m, etc. Jones' $1.1m is about average for players who actually receive a signing bonus on a multi-year deal.

 

Some teams -- Raiders, Bucs, Jags, etc. -- are frontloading with guaranteed salary and roster bonuses, rather than signing bonuses. The Broncos are doing pretty much what we're doing, limiting pro-rated bonus to around $1m/year, but in cases like Talib and Ware, they are guaranteeing Year 2 salary, so a release after Year 1 is still punitive. But the cap hit structure -- which is similar to what the Colts are doing -- still promotes a "pay as you go" mentality, and it allows you to make football decisions rather than cap decisions.

 

Any time a player is given a five year deal, then doesn't make it past Year 2, that's not good for the team. Even if the dead money isn't necessarily punitive. But at $1.1m/year, for a five year deal, that's right where you want to be.

 

I just want to point out that 3.3 million by itself might not seem like a lot of money, but you have to consider that stuff like that adds up because there are several other players with bonus money left that are gonna be cut throughout the season.

 

If you look at our 2013 cap for example we spent 11.6 million in dead money.  Now you can get a star player at just about any position other then quarterback for 11.6 million dollars.  But we couldn't sign that star player.  Why?   Because we had that much dead money.  Granted 6.9 million of that was carry over from Gary Bracket being cut and Hughes being traded.  

 

That's what I mean.  The dead money adds up and limits you.  So my feeling is generally that you want to be careful about cutting guys with a lot of dead money on their contract, especially for small net cap gains.  

[Superman]

I just want to point out that 3.3 million by itself might not seem like a lot of money, but you have to consider that stuff like that adds up because there are several other players with bonus money left that are gonna be cut throughout the season.

 

If you look at our 2013 cap for example we spent 11.6 million in dead money.  Now you can get a star player at just about any position other then quarterback for 11.6 million dollars.  But we couldn't sign that star player.  Why?   Because we had that much dead money.  Granted 6.9 million of that was carry over from Gary Bracket being cut and Hughes being traded.  

 

That's what I mean.  The dead money adds up and limits you.  So my feeling is generally that you want to be careful about cutting guys with a lot of dead money on their contract, especially for small net cap gains.  

 

I agree. That's why I think the overriding factor should be the player's performance on the field. It's unlikely, given what we know right now, that Jones gets cut before Year 3, so this is probably all moot. But if he should under-perform, the team will weigh what he's scheduled to make against his play, and determine if they want to keep him or not. A cap penalty of $3.3m isn't anything to sneeze at, but if he's stinking it up, that cap penalty won't be enough to save him. 

 

Dead money does add up, that's for sure. We still had some residuals in 2013 from the great purge of 2012. That includes any remaining prorated bonus from post-June 1 cuts, which includes training camp cuts. (You mentioned Brackett at $4.8m. He was a slightly above average player with a $2.4m/year prorated bonus. Different time, different team situation, etc. But that's a big difference from Jones' $1.1m/year.)

[Valpo2004]

I agree. That's why I think the overriding factor should be the player's performance on the field. It's unlikely, given what we know right now, that Jones gets cut before Year 3, so this is probably all moot. But if he should under-perform, the team will weigh what he's scheduled to make against his play, and determine if they want to keep him or not. A cap penalty of $3.3m isn't anything to sneeze at, but if he's stinking it up, that cap penalty won't be enough to save him. 

 

Dead money does add up, that's for sure. We still had some residuals in 2013 from the great purge of 2012. That includes any remaining prorated bonus from post-June 1 cuts, which includes training camp cuts. (You mentioned Brackett at $4.8m. He was a slightly above average player with a $2.4m/year prorated bonus. Different time, different team situation, etc. But that's a big difference from Jones' $1.1m/year.)

 

Well I agree that performance is the deciding factor there.  My point is that if you start to feel like this guy is slightly overpaid then you probably do nothing because of the dead money hit.

 

Now if he's the Defensive End version of Satele, then yeah that isn't gonna save him.  

 

Satele had a bit over 1 million in dead money hit but I certainly felt he was worth getting rid of.