Should Gonzo Be Resigned Next Year?

[The Peytonator]

Now I know some people are going to come in here and post a big 'NO!!!' without reading this but for the rest of you please just hear me out.

People like to talk about how he's always hurt. That was true for '09 and '10, but this year I'm pretty sure he was healthy for most of the year. Some might say, well, if he was healthy why didn't he have the production of his first two years? To that I'd say nobody had the kind of production we're accustomed to in Indy. Plus he was behind Wayne, Garcon, and Collie. Justifiably so. But for next year, we don't know about Wayne being resigned, because he'd probably want a pretty fat contract, while Gonzo on the other hand, has no bargaining chip in his corner due to his lack of production for three years. He could probably be resigned for vet minimum, and it's not like any other team would pay more than that for him.

I don't think the dude has regressed in ability. He's still young, can run routes, and as far as I know can still catch. If Wayne can't be resigned, I see no reason not to resign Gonzo to a vet minimum contract. Next year line up Garcon out to the right, Collie to the left, and Gonzo in the slot. Hey if Peyton can make Blair White work, he can turn Gonzo back into starter material.

[SubZero]

You make a good arguement, and i could see them keeping Gonzo to pair with Collie and Garcon when Wayne leaves.

[CR91]

unless we pick up another wr to fill wayne, i cant see us not resigning wayne which means gonzo is not worth resigning

[21isSuperman]

Only at the minimum possible contract we can offer him. Anything more than $1-1.2 mil a season is too much if you ask me

[The Peytonator]

Only at the minimum possible contract we can offer him. Anything more than $1-1.2 mil a season is too much if you ask me

Agreed, but at vet minimum it couldn't hurt. I mean we sign other teams scrubs for vet minimum, why not Gonzo?

[The Fish]

What is he capable of? Only the Coaches know, so considering their status, I'd say it's not so likely.

[colts52761]

I'd rather get udfa instead, tired of inactives on gameday

[Pombi]

Yes. i still Remember all those times he burned the Chargers. I know we didn't win those games but he was a huge reason why our offense wasn't to blame.

[presto123]

Gonzo is the Bob Sanders of the offense and his fate will probably be the same.

[lance.acres]

Signing for Vet mi maybe...but I think he is gone with Irsays new mindset.

[GoColts8818]

No, we've been down this road with Bob Sanders. I know in college Gonzo had no injury problems but for whatever reason they have hit at the NFL level and he just can't stay healthy. Add to that the little he's gotten on the field in recent years he hasn't done much and I don't see the point to bringing him back. I know it would be cheap but it would still be a waste of a roster spot. I'd rather take young WR in the draft that we can develop than hope Gonzo can stay healthy. It doesn't help Gonzo that the GM that drafted him is gone.

[John Dee]

Negative...

He had his 3 minutes of fame..

and his last 3 years of IR pay....

Time to say goodbye.

[SilentHill]

NO...

There is NO scenario where he should be a Colt next year.

[MAC]

Depends on whether a draft pick is used for a WR, whether Wayne is resigned, whether Garcon is resigned, whether any other teams offer him a contract, how much money he pushes for, and most importantly his health. But if the circumstances are right, yes, I'd love for him to come back.

I can't imagine what the problem is with him, but this is getting ridiculous. The fact remains however that "if healthy" he is probably the second best wide receiver on the team. He is far more talented than any WR the Colts could bring in unless a high draft pick is used. You are talking #4 or #5 WR, so if this comes down once again to a training camp battle with a warm body, the only way he doesn't get selected is if the coaching philosophy decides to put emphasis on special teams over receiving depth. If Peyton (or Luck) is the QB, I'm not sure if you can do that.

[jskinnz]

Now I know some people are going to come in here and post a big 'NO!!!' without reading this but for the rest of you please just hear me out.

People like to talk about how he's always hurt. That was true for '09 and '10, but this year I'm pretty sure he was healthy for most of the year. Some might say, well, if he was healthy why didn't he have the production of his first two years? To that I'd say nobody had the kind of production we're accustomed to in Indy. Plus he was behind Wayne, Garcon, and Collie. Justifiably so. But for next year, we don't know about Wayne being resigned, because he'd probably want a pretty fat contract, while Gonzo on the other hand, has no bargaining chip in his corner due to his lack of production for three years. He could probably be resigned for vet minimum, and it's not like any other team would pay more than that for him.

I don't think the dude has regressed in ability. He's still young, can run routes, and as far as I know can still catch. If Wayne can't be resigned, I see no reason not to resign Gonzo to a vet minimum contract. Next year line up Garcon out to the right, Collie to the left, and Gonzo in the slot. Hey if Peyton can make Blair White work, he can turn Gonzo back into starter material.

To quote Tony Dungy, the most important ability is availability. He has not proven to be available for 3 years, including the 2011 season where his injuries were more of the nagging variety. There is sero indication that he has the ability to withstand an NFL season.

Gonzo has played his last down in Indy.

[DP21]

You want our Wr corps to look like garçon 1 gonzo 2 collie 3.... No thanks, let him go... What we need is a decent fa Wr... A lot are available but is the money right?

[MTC]

I keep forgetting he is on this team. There is a 5% chance he stays.

[IndyTrav]

You want our Wr corps to look like garçon 1 gonzo 2 collie 3....

Ugh. Thats ugly.

[Thewholefnshow28]

I have no problem throwing the minimum at him because when he has been healthy and playing he did play well, but he just is to much of a risk to sink to much money into him.

If we are re-signing any WR it better be Wayne. We definitely cannot go into the season with Garcon and Collie being our top two WRs. One has stone hands and the other one is an injury concern.

[bWild]

I don't think his talent was ever in question. Availability has been the issue with him. Everytime he appeared to be ready to go he suffered a set back or had a whole new injury.

[oldunclemark]

Now I know some people are going to come in here and post a big 'NO!!!' without reading this but for the rest of you please just hear me out.

People like to talk about how he's always hurt. That was true for '09 and '10, but this year I'm pretty sure he was healthy for most of the year. Some might say, well, if he was healthy why didn't he have the production of his first two years? To that I'd say nobody had the kind of production we're accustomed to in Indy. Plus he was behind Wayne, Garcon, and Collie. Justifiably so. But for next year, we don't know about Wayne being resigned, because he'd probably want a pretty fat contract, while Gonzo on the other hand, has no bargaining chip in his corner due to his lack of production for three years. He could probably be resigned for vet minimum, and it's not like any other team would pay more than that for him.

I don't think the dude has regressed in ability. He's still young, can run routes, and as far as I know can still catch. If Wayne can't be resigned, I see no reason not to resign Gonzo to a vet minimum contract. Next year line up Garcon out to the right, Collie to the left, and Gonzo in the slot. Hey if Peyton can make Blair White work, he can turn Gonzo back into starter material.

I agree P-nator...

I guess we have to accept that we have to let one of our fan favorites go...

Wayne, Mathis, Brackett, Bullitt. Garcon...

..we cant resign them all. Logic (as much as it pains me) says to let Reggie go and slide Anthony G in there.

...We'll be drafting someone new but Manning and Gonzales work well together..and I didnt think he was unavailble all season.

He just couldnt get back into the mix

[JoKeR]

He seems to be the type that wont play even its a minor, nagging injury. Most players play with some nagging issue. Maybe he just content collecting pay checks.

[kansascolt]

If you put Gonzo in as a slot you might as well chock him up as a first game season ending injury. He couldn't handle hits as a wide out, whats he going to do as a slot? For vet minimum maybe might be worth a shot but I just can't see him playing slot and making it through two games, thats a nasty position to play.

[GoColts8818]

You want our Wr corps to look like garçon 1 gonzo 2 collie 3.... No thanks, let him go... What we need is a decent fa Wr... A lot are available but is the money right?

For the type of budget we are going to have this off-season in all likely hood we aren't going to be signing other teams free agents. We are going to run out of money trying to keep our own and thus probably have to let some people go.

I know Irsay said he would be open to the new GM going after free agents but really what else was Irsay going to say before he even knows who the guy the is going to be?

Like Irsay said there are some real cap concerns here and we just don't have the money. To me that's always been the biggest thing that stopped us from playing the free agent game is we just didn't have the money. When we had the money Polian would go get a guy like AV, Bratzke, Reagor, Stokley, etc.

Also if notice most of the people interviewing for this job they seem to be people who come from system that have built like the Colts have threw the draft so I don't think there is going to be a major change on the free agent system the Colts have used. Keep your own and fill in the gaps with a key free agent here or there both because that's what these GMs believe and it's what the Colts can afford.

[oldunclemark]

I have no problem throwing the minimum at him because when he has been healthy and playing he did play well, but he just is to much of a risk to sink to much money into him.

If we are re-signing any WR it better be Wayne. We definitely cannot go into the season with Garcon and Collie being our top two WRs. One has stone hands and the other one is an injury concern.

We could enter next year with Anthony Gonzales, Austin Collie (injury concern? played all 16, right?) , Pierre Garcon (stone hands? 1,000 yards!) and Dallas Clark/Jacob Tamme and we'd be fine..

..we cant resign everybody

[Rich Cannon]

I think we address our WR issue in the draft by taking a big time WR in rds 2 or 3, especially if we trade our pick away. That being said i dont see Gonzo being signed. He was also inactive in a few games this year.

[Thewholefnshow28]

We could enter next year with Anthony Gonzales, Austin Collie (injury concern? played all 16, right?) , Pierre Garcon (stone hands? 1,000 yards!) and Dallas Clark/Jacob Tamme and we'd be fine.. ..we cant resign everybody

Yeah Garcon still has stone hands and is inconsistent. One good year does not change the fact that he tends to have a case of the droppsies and has been inconsistent. Do you want to tie up a good amount of money in a player whose one good year was his contract year?

Gonzo, Collie, and Dallas are all major injury concerns and cannot be relied on to be healthy all year long especially Gonzo.

If we had Manning and everyone was healthy we would probably be ok with that WR skills, but one injury or if worst case scenario we have to go with a rookie then that is not a receiver core you can trust.

[DILLIGAFER]

Want a Vet WR.. I hear TO is avalible.

[oldunclemark]

Yeah Garcon still has stone hands and is inconsistent. One good year does not change the fact that he tends to have a case of the droppsies and has been inconsistent. Do you want to tie up a good amount of money in a player whose one good year was his contract year?

Gonzo, Collie, and Dallas are all major injury concerns and cannot be relied on to be healthy all year long especially Gonzo.

If we had Manning and everyone was healthy we would probably be ok with that WR skills, but one injury or if worst case scenario we have to go with a rookie then that is not a receiver core you can trust.

How many good years would change the 'fact' that Pierre has been inconsistent??

You still holding a grudge form the Super Bowl 2 years ago..?

..and we made the playoffs with rookie receivers off the street in 2010, right/

[Thewholefnshow28]

How many good years would change the 'fact' that Pierre has been inconsistent?? You still holding a grudge form the Super Bowl 2 years ago..? ..and we made the playoffs with rookie receivers off the street in 2010, right/

Inconsistent play does not just stem from his play in the Super Bowl. You can go back and look at many games over his tenure here and you will see that he will make some amazing catch and then Peyton will go right back to him and he will drop the most routine pass. He is the most exciting offensive weapon we have, but he is the most frustrating player on this team because of his inconsistent hands.

Two to three years of consistent high level play is all you need. Look at Derek Anderson a few years ago. He played like he was a top tier QB leading the Browns. Then the next year the guy came back down to the earth and then fall off totally.

I am not saying Garcon is Derek Anderson, but you might want to be a bit more cautious making him your number one WR and I am sure he will want to be paid like one if that is the case.

Yeah we made the playoffs because we had Peyton Manning in 2010. Like I said if we have Manning 100% healthy that receiving core would due, but if you are rolling out a rookie QB do you want to really trust those guys to stay healthy and show up every game for your rookie QB?

[21isSuperman]

Agreed, but at vet minimum it couldn't hurt. I mean we sign other teams scrubs for vet minimum, why not Gonzo?

I wouldn't say scrubs Jamaal Anderson, Tyler Brayton and Ernie Sims have been decent for us. I wouldn't mind seeing Gonzo back. I just don't want us to pay him very much because he hasn't shown he can stay healthy. A contract with performance incentives would be good

[emac]

Gonzo is a waste of money and roster spot. The colts need to dump him and give blair white more playing time. The Colts also need to try to get trade value for Dallas Clark while he is still worth something........he has been replaced by Tamme.

[GoColts8818]

Gonzo is a waste of money and roster spot. The colts need to dump him and give blair white more playing time. The Colts also need to try to get trade value for Dallas Clark while he is still worth something........he has been replaced by Tamme.

Who is a free agent they might want to make sure they get Tamme resigned before they think about moving Clark but if they do I wouldn't rule out moving Clark and I hate to say that because he's my favorite player and while I do think he was probably affected more than any other player by not having Peyton it's pretty clear he was just not right this season and I wonder if his wrist has healed fully.

Still with the fact Garcon and Wayne are free agents as well and the fact Clark is under contract forces us to keep Clark till we get probably get Garcon or Wayne and Tamme under contract. If that doesn't happen I would expect them to keep Dallas.

[joo 2h]

I think so, It will not cost us much money, and if reggie is gone, we are going to need a guy to play that outside role while keeping collie in the slot, and Mr. white as our back up slot/4 wr

Only if reggie leaves i think we sign him

[OLD FAN MAN]

couldnt cut it with a 2 and 14 team let him go

[bap1331]

i honestly think its over for Reggie and Gonzo considering the draft is coming up. They will definitely chose their replacements.

I really wish we can bring Reggie back but its time to rebuild.

[DP21]

For the type of budget we are going to have this off-season in all likely hood we aren't going to be signing other teams free agents. We are going to run out of money trying to keep our own and thus probably have to let some people go.

I know Irsay said he would be open to the new GM going after free agents but really what else was Irsay going to say before he even knows who the guy the is going to be?

Like Irsay said there are some real cap concerns here and we just don't have the money. To me that's always been the biggest thing that stopped us from playing the free agent game is we just didn't have the money. When we had the money Polian would go get a guy like AV, Bratzke, Reagor, Stokley, etc.

Also if notice most of the people interviewing for this job they seem to be people who come from system that have built like the Colts have threw the draft so I don't think there is going to be a major change on the free agent system the Colts have used. Keep your own and fill in the gaps with a key free agent here or there both because that's what these GMs believe and it's what the Colts can afford.

We drop everyone including manning and bam! Tons of cap room... It all just depends on what direction we take.... Personally I would be ticked if we just didn't sign manning... Can't let someone like that go for free

[austriancolt]

I would resign him for vet min., but would also sign some free agent wr and see what happens in pre season. if he stays healthy fine, otherwise cut him.... I think we will draft one receiver and let wayne go. I love Reggie but, he is getting old and maybe not worth the big contract he is gonna ask for.

[basketballsteve]

Sometimes the simple answer is the best. Based on the assumption that Gonzo will not get any significant offers and can be resigned for or near vet minimum and I think that is a fair assumption I would get Gonzo to work with Peyton as part of rehab for Peyton (something that I believe has already happened) and when it came time to make the decision I would rest my decision on what ever Peyton said about Gonzo's ability to play at a high level and help the team. If Peyton had confidence in Gonzo I would and if not I would not. Is this a conventional strategy or practice.....No.....but the situation with Peyton is not conventional and if anyone can really know if Gonzo has something left it is Peyton.

[BIGugly]

Gonzo's contribtuion to this team should be what it was his rookie year. KO/P Return Man. He was good at that. And we certainly need one. Don't understand why Calwell hasn't seen that. He certainly SAT him enough, he coulda been doin' sumthin'.