What Would U List As The 10 Worse Colts Contracts

[BIGugly]

Jim Caldwell.

Curtis Painter

Bob Sanders ('roids keep his tendons brittle, ergo, torn easily).

Kelvin Hayden

Anthony Gonzales

[Fx Stryker]

Hank Basket...

We should just forget this man was ever a Colt. He did the unspeakable.

[Superman]

I hear ya, Superman. Truly. But my whole thing for the purpose of this thread is to look at the big picture, and that is an area where hindsight does come to bear because we're looking at a body of work going back a good number of years right on up through the present with regard to the front office decision tree. There are team tendancies detrimental to long range sustain, and that's what the spirit of this thread is about. Bob's contract was just a part of things, of course, but at some great cost both monetarily and in terms of roster space. 9 of a possible 48 games played over his last three years is a lot of wasted time on one player....so you get the double-whammy vacant roster spot thus driving the true cost up to _____ (fill in the blank Lord knows what). What it boiled down to was too much money spent on Bob Sanders and he was kept around taking up a roster spot until his 20M guarantee was met, hoping he could play and hoping money wasn't thrown away.

Following the 2007 season, yes I say resign Bob. But for the richest contract in league history at his position? No. I didn't agree with that then and never did. In my opinion, Polamolu was a better player then and I believe there's a part of Irsay that just doesn't like to be outdone when it comes to showing how much he cares for his guys and level of commitment he's willing to go to. It's to a fault.

We resigned Bob before his contract expired, making me think that was less than he would have gotten on the free market. I might be wrong about that, but I think that's the primary reason we did that.

Anyways, I'm not trying to downplay how horrible that worked out for us. I'm just saying we're being a little harsh about resigning one of our best players after he's come off a monster year for us, plus a monster playoffs.

[Smitto]

Here is your list...

Gary Brackett - can make a case for a bad signing, although not a very good one

Bob Sanders - can certainly make the case

Joseph Addai - guess you can make the case here for a bad signing

Melvin Bullit - don't know how you would make a case for his 2nd contract being bad without the benefit of hindsight

Kerry Collins - what was the alternative?

Tyjuan Hagler - mid round played through his rookie contract and then was brought back for a partial season when injuries dictated it. Was most certainly not a bad contract

Cato June - left after his rookie contract and a mid round pick. I would say the starting LB on a Super Bowl winning team, he was not under a bad contract.

Kelvin Hayden - won't debate you here

Freddie Kieaho - only played through his rookie contract. Was a 3rd round pick and certainly played under a team friendly contract

Hank Basket - was picked up after Gonzo got hurt. What was the alternative. And when he was here, he certainly was on a team friendly deal.

My point is you can make a case for the Brackett, Sanders, Hayden deals. But June, Kieaho, etc were nothing close to bad contracts and certainly not on anyone's top ten list of bad contracts other than yours. Which is why you don't understand the question.

Ok maybe you should REREAD what the OP said... those are based on your opinions... cato june took a tender from the colts which i thought the colts should have never done hence TO ME it was a bad contract...the colts could have brung in other players who were capable of playing in that position. Collins did not deserve 4mil what so ever, they could have gone and invest in someone younger and much cheaper but they didnt.

[husker61]

What players has Bill Polian signed to deals that you feel were horrible contracts when signed?

almost everyone is missing the point of this. he said "when signed", not after seeing how things turned out.

i didn't like the sanders contract when it was given to him because of his injury problems. not a popular opinion at a previous board.

i didn't like clark's deal at the time because i felt manning made him. not a popular opinion at a previous board.

i didn't like hayden and bracket's contracts ether. they just got too much money.

i didn't like the caldwell signing.

i did like the simon signing, along with just about everyone else at the time at the colts forum at the time.

it's funny how peoples opinions change on players like sanders, clark, simon, harrison, james, after they have seen how things play out.

it's like betting on sports, whatever opinion everyone has, go the opposite and you will usually be on the rightside.

[everybodysgotone]

We resigned Bob before his contract expired, making me think that was less than he would have gotten on the free market. I might be wrong about that, but I think that's the primary reason we did that.

Anyways, I'm not trying to downplay how horrible that worked out for us. I'm just saying we're being a little harsh about resigning one of our best players after he's come off a monster year for us, plus a monster playoffs.

I was as big a Bob Sanders fan as anyone and thought he was a very good player, but when it came to the money I didn't agree. Looking at our top of the league and/or largest in league history salaries handed out, we don't have a good success rate. Bob Sanders, Marvin Harrison, Kelvin Hayden and Corey Simon all represented money down the drain and/or roster spot issues. I've heard Irsay say he's learned his lesson on bringing in expensive FAs (C. Simon), but he ought to be looking at what's happend in-house a lot closer, as well. I believe the team could have mitigated and minimized some of it's own exposure over the years but by far and large that's not our M.O. Hopefully, Dallas Clark, Gary Brackett, Melvin Bullitt (like to know what he's making) and Peyton Manning don't end up down that same road with regard to unproductive money out the door. Manning is a sure bet if he's on the field, and Freeney earns his keep because he's a difference maker in my opinion. Two other guys - Mathis and Wayne, both very much earn their keep while being paid less than their contemporaries (as noted by Chad72 in another thread) and have been worth every penny even though they're not in the off the salary chart group.

I realize it's a game of chance when you swing for the fences, but therein lies the Colt problem. It comes full circle to the have/have-nots salary disparity within the organization = an accurate reflection of the team we field, which over the years has more often than not been unbalanced. This dynamic has given the Colts some success (considering our weak expansion division and postseason shortcomings) but I believe we could have done better. This goes hand in hand with any number of discussions on big picture team performance over the years which have been talked into the ground here. All I'm suggesting is a more reasonable and balanced front office approach where some conservative decisions are mixed with willingness to go to the plate hacking. Irsay has nothing to prove when it comes to his wallet. What I'd like to see is a slight culture shift building more toward long range sustain. This past off season started trending in a better direction with decision making.....and I don't care who gets credit, some correct moves were made. We'll see what they give us going into 2012, should be a very interesting off season.

[jskinnz]

Ok maybe you should REREAD what the OP said... those are based on your opinions... cato june took a tender from the colts which i thought the colts should have never done hence TO ME it was a bad contract...the colts could have brung in other players who were capable of playing in that position. Collins did not deserve 4mil what so ever, they could have gone and invest in someone younger and much cheaper but they didnt.

OK - June did sign a 1 year contract in 2006 for $1.5 million but was a 16 game starter on a Super Bowl winning team. Under any definition of a bad NFL contract, that does not come close and certainly not in the top 10 of worst contracts the Colts have given. Which still makes my point that this thread has gone right over your head.

And the Collins signing - tell me, at that point in the preseason, who was the better, younger QB they should have signed that would have made a difference to this season?

[SilentHill]

What was the alternative? Just roll with Painter? We needed to pay a backup quarterback, and it was Collins. $4 million is about the going rate for a veteran backup. Sucks that he got hurt, but that doesn't make it a bad signing. What makes it a bad signing is that he wasn't good for our offense, but still, that $4 million was going to somebody to play quarterback.

I'm saying that, in the grand scheme of things, that contract isn't that big of a deal. To list it among the worst Colts contracts in recent history is sensationalizing, I think.

Did they even work him oiut first? I mean seriously. You paid someone 4 Mil who played that calibur of football? Bad contract, no questions about it.

[icf]

peyton was fine because he will return and all the top qbs get paid a lot. tb gets paid the same. brees will get about the same next year and a-rod in a few years.

guessed I missed an announcement that he was cleared to play and will be 100% and ready to go next season....

[jskinnz]

Did they even work him oiut first? I mean seriously. You paid someone 4 Mil who played that calibur of football? Bad contract, no questions about it.

You still have not answered the "what was the alternative" question. The point is they did not sign Collins and miss out on some other serviceable QB.

My take on this question is if they had not spent all the money they did on player X, we could have gotten someone else. I don't think you can make that case for Collins.

[The Fish]

Peyton's current contract is easily the worst. It's got the team hog tied to a QB that can't throw.

[justnhlsmok]

almost everyone is missing the point of this. he said "when signed", not after seeing how things turned out.

i didn't like the sanders contract when it was given to him because of his injury problems. not a popular opinion at a previous board.

i didn't like clark's deal at the time because i felt manning made him. not a popular opinion at a previous board.

i didn't like hayden and bracket's contracts ether. they just got too much money.

i didn't like the caldwell signing.

i did like the simon signing, along with just about everyone else at the time at the colts forum at the time.

it's funny how peoples opinions change on players like sanders, clark, simon, harrison, james, after they have seen how things play out.

it's like betting on sports, whatever opinion everyone has, go the opposite and you will usually be on the rightside.

Bold portion is QFT!!!

Most of the contracts you mentioned were okay, but they pretty much didn't live up to the expectations of the fans and the FO.

So, a majority of people will say they were bad contracts. It's all about what kind of return you get for your investment.

I think the OP has a valid question, just worded wrong in my opinion.

It's kinda like buying a Hummer. It looks and feels good when you take the test drive. But when you get it home and drive it for a couple months, you realize that you spent way above the means for a gas-guzzler.

[jskinnz]

Sorry - wrong thread. Deleted.

[Superman]

Did they even work him oiut first? I mean seriously. You paid someone 4 Mil who played that calibur of football? Bad contract, no questions about it.

Bad signing? Yes. Bad contract? No. A one year, $4 million deal for a veteran backup is right in line with industry standard, and it's not like that signing made it impossible for us to sign someone else worth signing.

[JColts72]

Besides Caldwell; Sanders and Addai (They were and both are Fragile). More bad contracts to come; Mathis and Freeny. I would resign Garcon, don't be suprised to see Saturday with Kraft's Pats.

[smittywerb]

Hayden

Sanders

Brackett

Diem

Freeney (IMO, he's sort of one dimensional and is getting paid like he's Demarcus Ware or Julius Peppers)

And just for fun, Caldwell.

[jskinnz]

Besides Caldwell; Sanders and Addai (They were and both are Fragile). More bad contracts to come; Mathis and Freeny. I would resign Garcon, don't be suprised to see Saturday with Kraft's Pats.

Methinks you are reading too much into the manhug between Saturday and Kraft.

[BOTT]

Here is your list...

Gary Brackett - can make a case for a bad signing, although not a very good one

Bob Sanders - can certainly make the case

Joseph Addai - guess you can make the case here for a bad signing

Melvin Bullit - don't know how you would make a case for his 2nd contract being bad without the benefit of hindsight

Kerry Collins - what was the alternative?

Tyjuan Hagler - mid round played through his rookie contract and then was brought back for a partial season when injuries dictated it. Was most certainly not a bad contract

Cato June - left after his rookie contract and a mid round pick. I would say the starting LB on a Super Bowl winning team, he was not under a bad contract.

Kelvin Hayden - won't debate you here

Freddie Kieaho - only played through his rookie contract. Was a 3rd round pick and certainly played under a team friendly contract

Hank Basket - was picked up after Gonzo got hurt. What was the alternative. And when he was here, he certainly was on a team friendly deal.

My point is you can make a case for the Brackett, Sanders, Hayden deals. But June, Kieaho, etc were nothing close to bad contracts and certainly not on anyone's top ten list of bad contracts other than yours. Which is why you don't understand the question.

regarding bullit....signing a strong safety with screws in his shoulder was a bad idea. didn't need hindsight.

[SilentHill]

You still have not answered the "what was the alternative" question. The point is they did not sign Collins and miss out on some other serviceable QB.

My take on this question is if they had not spent all the money they did on player X, we could have gotten someone else. I don't think you can make that case for Collins.

They didn;t need an alternative. They made there bed with Painter and Orvlosky and they should sleep in it. You can't judge whether a signing is good or not based upon how else we would have spent the money that is dumb. The fact is 4 million in the colts posket was better than Collins on the field and that makes it a bad signing.

[SilentHill]

Bad signing? Yes. Bad contract? No. A one year, $4 million deal for a veteran backup is right in line with industry standard, and it's not like that signing made it impossible for us to sign someone else worth signing.

No, any contract where you pay someone X amount of dollars and you get a negative return is a bad contract. I'm not sure what you guys are basing this on but your not basing it on what it should be. and that is was he worth what you paid him.

[Buck Showalter]

Besides Caldwell; Sanders and Addai (They were and both are Fragile). More bad contracts to come; Mathis and Freeny. I would resign Garcon, don't be suprised to see Saturday with Kraft's Pats.

If 18 is gone at the end of the season Saturday is gone too, I almost guarantee. Pats would be funny, I would assume he'd retire, but if he went to the Pats it would go to show how bad this team really has been handled