Good Article By Kuharsky

[BProland85]

http://espn.go.com/b...i-ran-the-colts

An article on what he would do if he ran the Colts. I would do about the same, except I would bring back OLB Wheeler to be a pass rushing LB. I would keep Mathis and let Wayne and Garcon walk if they are asking for too much money. I also would try and at least see what I could get in a trade for both Freeney and Clark. Im a firm believer of trading aging veterans while they still have value to gain young talent through the draft.

[Balzer40]

I find it difficult to disagree with anything he said.

[JoKeR]

Yeah just drop everyone, great.

[UndecidedFrog]

Yeah just drop everyone, great.

Well, that is certainly one way of staying under the cap.

[SubZero]

To be honest i kinda want to get rid of Brackett, Clark, and Addai. Brackett has been good to the team but i dont see him fitting in a 3-4, and there is no reason to keep if hes going to take a cap hit and not start. Clarks has definaly regressed and he wont go any where but down, and again he will take up money. And honestly Addai is just terrible, he dances around to much and couldnt convert a 3 and 1 to save his life. Addai IMO brings no benefit in the run game.

[JoKeR]

Well, that is certainly one way of staying under the cap.

Atleast keep the parts playing at a high level like Garcon and Mathis. Clark will probably be healthy next year so keep him, if not, maybe its time to move on.

1 thing I noticed is he didn't mention dead cap hits in his savings. That could change the authors outlook.

[gspdx]

Well, that certainly sounds like rebuilding. Does this mean "the window has closed?"

[jwilli69]

I would really like to see Garcon stay but if he goes away for bigger money, I won't lose sleep over it and kick the dog. I do think they have to do something with Freeneys cap number, no doubt. I would guess that Brackett and maybe even Bullitt get the axe in understanding that it will cost as much in cap space this year but it saves a whole lot next year and do these guys fit into the hybrid scheme the new group wants to run? I do think that Wheeler could be a very solid player in a 3-4 role as well so I would try and get him into the fold for a reasonable modest contract, not minimum but not more than a few mil/yr either and see what he brings. I would almost think about going to Dallas and saying look, you are not playing at the top 3 TE role any longer and we need you to take a pay cut. If not, you may be forced to cut him or offer him up in a trade for a mid level draft trade. The key would be of course, can you get Tamme signed for a reasonable cost. One thing regardless, the 19 mil cap for Freeney is going to have to get resolved either way. His should be an easy extension of a contract to complete his career as a Colt.

[04DarkShadowGT]

Well, that certainly sounds like rebuilding. Does this mean "the window has closed?"

Without question, at least for winning a SB in the next couple seasons, even with Manning healthy they are not winning a SB and I would be stunned if they won the division.

[UndecidedFrog]

Atleast keep the parts playing at a high level like Garcon and Mathis. Clark will probably be healthy next year so keep him, if not, maybe its time to move on.

1 thing I noticed is he didn't mention dead cap hits in his savings. That could change the authors outlook.

Good point.

Here is what he advocated and the dead cap space that results:

1) Thanks and bye to PM...$10.4MM dead cap space, to offset the $17MM there, net savings = $6.6MM to the 2012 cap

2) Franchise tag Mathis.... add $10.6MM to 2012 cap, or franchise tag Wayne....add $9.4MM to 2012 cap

3) Restructure or cut Freeney. Do details provided on a possible restructure, so cut ......$5MM dead cap space

4) Cut Clark...Saves 4.53MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 5.58, nets a 1.05MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Brackett...Saves 5MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 7.2, nets a 2.2MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Addai...Saves 2.9MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 3.72, nets a 0.82MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Bullitt....Saves 2.4MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 2.67, nets a 0.27MM dead cap space hit to 2012

5)Let Garcon walk.....since he is a FA, no consequence to the cap

6) re-sign Saturday for one more year.....no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $4.43MM to the 2012 cap

7) re-sign Orlovsky................no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $0.59MM to the 2012 cap

re-sign Tamme................ no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $0.54MM to the 2012 cap

re-sign Gonzo..................no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $1.21MM to the 2012 cap

8) Let Wheeler, Pollak and Diem walk......... since they are FAs, no consequences to the cap.

Total hits to the 2012 cap proposed by his moves = Additional $20.11MM to the cap.

[Warhorse]

Good point.

Here is what he advocated and the dead cap space that results:

1) Thanks and bye to PM...$10.4MM dead cap space, to offset the $17MM there, net savings = $6.6MM to the 2012 cap

2) Franchise tag Mathis.... add $10.6MM to 2012 cap, or franchise tag Wayne....add $9.4MM to 2012 cap

3) Restructure or cut Freeney. Do details provided on a possible restructure, so cut ......$5MM dead cap space

4) Cut Clark...Saves 4.53MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 5.58, nets a 1.05MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Brackett...Saves 5MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 7.2, nets a 2.2MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Addai...Saves 2.9MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 3.72, nets a 0.82MM dead cap space hit to 2012

Cut Bullitt....Saves 2.4MM in 2012 base salary, but creates dead cap space of 2.67, nets a 0.27MM dead cap space hit to 2012

5)Let Garcon walk.....since he is a FA, no consequence to the cap

6) re-sign Saturday for one more year.....no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $4.43MM to the 2012 cap

7) re-sign Orlovsky................no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $0.59MM to the 2012 cap

re-sign Tamme................ no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $0.54MM to the 2012 cap

re-sign Gonzo..................no details provided, assume same avg. annual comp from previous contract at $1.21MM to the 2012 cap

8) Let Wheeler, Pollak and Diem walk......... since they are FAs, no consequences to the cap.

Total hits to the 2012 cap proposed by his moves = Additional $20.11MM to the cap.

....and we would su...uh...uh...uh...uh...uuuuuuuck. :bag:

[UndecidedFrog]

....and we would su...uh...uh...uh...uh...uuuuuuuck. :bag:

I finished working up Kuharsky's mock cap.

He has 33 players under contract (including Luck)

Bringing that up to 53 players (difference receiving league minimum) total cap = $96.18MM, or $24.92MM under the cap.

However, he let the following FAs walk:

Anderson, Brayton, Diem, Foster, Garcon, Lacey, Muir, Richard, Toudouze, Wayne, Wheeler

and he cut these players:

Addai, Brackett, Bullitt, Clark, Freeney, Manning

and he re-signed these players:

Gonzo, Mathis, Saturday, Tamme, Orlovsky,

This leaves his roster with some holes at WR, DE, DB, RB, LB, TE and he has less than $25MM to spend.

[HungarianColtsFan]

I agree with most of Kuharsky's points. However I can see only little chance for Jeff Saturday to take one more season, and if Manning is cut Wayne and Garcon may walk away too.

Manning's case isn't just so simple, his medical state and performance should be evaluated regularly before making decision to resign/cut him. In my opinion salary cap question isn't such significant, it can be solved (or Manning's salary reworked) if both parties want it to. Irsay is open, so I hope PM still will be resigned. His experience and knowledge about the football is priceless for Colts. I think Luck seems to be a golden chance for the Colts to fill in QB position over the next decade, and I hope he will prove himself.

As for me keeping vets (like Saturday, Mathis and Garcon) is also essential either we start with Manning or with Luck.

Still there are wholes in the roster (and depth charts) which we should fill in somehow with drafting/ signing FAs.

After 8. March we will see the situation more clearly, and we can discuss the lineup for next season here.

Edited March 2, 2012 by HungarianColtsFan

[Ramblinwreck7]

http://espn.go.com/b...i-ran-the-colts

An article on what he would do if he ran the Colts. I would do about the same, except I would bring back OLB Wheeler to be a pass rushing LB. I would keep Mathis and let Wayne and Garcon walk if they are asking for too much money. I also would try and at least see what I could get in a trade for both Freeney and Clark. Im a firm believer of trading aging veterans while they still have value to gain young talent through the draft.

, I didn't think it was very good...

[Ohio Colt]

Keep Reggie wayne

[MR. Blueblood]

He talks about cutting Brackett and Bullitt (which I'm not totally against) because they are "injury prone" but says to keep Anthony Gonzalez (who is more injury prone than the other 2) if you can get him cheap. I understand Gonzo will cost less than the other 2 but injury prone is injury prone, all 3 should be let go.

[jwilli69]

He talks about cutting Brackett and Bullitt (which I'm not totally against) because they are "injury prone" but says to keep Anthony Gonzalez (who is more injury prone than the other 2) if you can get him cheap. I understand Gonzo will cost less than the other 2 but injury prone is injury prone, all 3 should be let go.

Problem is, Gonzo was in the doghouse and beaten down by Polian/coaches and was said to be healthy last year. If he can breathe new life into his career at a reasonable rate and a new staff can bring back his confidence, there is no reason he can't succeed.

There is good reason to cut out Brackett and probably Bullitt because the 2 players do not fit the new change of scheme if tey are going to a 3-4 plus they are being paid pretty well and would be somewhere to start with cap savings for next season and real money saved for this year.

[MR. Blueblood]

Problem is, Gonzo was in the doghouse and beaten down by Polian/coaches and was said to be healthy last year. If he can breathe new life into his career at a reasonable rate and a new staff can bring back his confidence, there is no reason he can't succeed.

There is good reason to cut out Brackett and probably Bullitt because the 2 players do not fit the new change of scheme if tey are going to a 3-4 plus they are being paid pretty well and would be somewhere to start with cap savings for next season and real money saved for this year.

http://www.cleveland...wr_anthony.html

http://www.stampedeb...cticed-all-week

Those were just a cpl I found right off the bat. I do know that he had some groin troubles last year and like a lot of other players had hamstring injuries too. That is 3 years in a row that he basically rode the pine. Time to part ways with Gonzo.

And I didn't realize that confidence can prevent injuries, j/k but not really. Staying healthy will be the only way he can succeed. You can have all the confidence in the world but if you're not on the field then confidence doesn't do squat for you.

[Boiler_Colt]

I would say it's not really helpful to a rookie QB to get rid of his only legitimate weapons. That might be setting the kid up for failure.

[jwilli69]

Well if he can't play, he can't play and he may just be an injury waiting to happen again, who knows. If he is cheap, you try to sign him and see if you can get anything out of him or cut him at camp. It is not like anyone is going to give anything but vet min for him.

[doogansquest]

I disagree that we would be bad with a healthy Manning. Had Orlovsky started all year, we win 6-7 games instead of 2, and probably second in the division. Manning couldn't have gotten a few more? Now he will have healthy, new O-line toys, and a defensive-minded coaching crew focusing on creating possessions for the offense. Health PM = 11 wins minimum.

[Portage Coltfans]

I disagree that we would be bad with a healthy Manning. Had Orlovsky started all year, we win 6-7 games instead of 2, and probably second in the division. Manning couldn't have gotten a few more? Now he will have healthy, new O-line toys, and a defensive-minded coaching crew focusing on creating possessions for the offense. Health PM = 11 wins minimum.

add in trading Luck for some stud youth on defense, our Offense would be ready to rock with Peyton. you know Wayne will be back with manning.

[TennEngr]

Andrew Luck will need a solid #1 Wide Receiver. Reggie Wayne will need to be resigned or franchised. Reggie may not like this but the Colts and Luck need him. Hopefully, Reggie won't be so upset that he quits on us and I don't think he would.

I would prefer Luck to start right away with the Center that is going to be with him for years to come and I don't know who that would be.

As for the rest of the article, I don't know how our cap would be affected. I have seen several scenarios and not to many looked good for the Colts. GO COLTS!

[Balzer40]

Please, please, please Irsay, hurry up and make the decision so we don't keep having these meaningless reports posted and talked about to death every single day. I am so freakin sick of seeing this stuff posted over and over and the same posters saying the same thing over and over. The one's that keep saying "trade the pick" when its a certainty that is NOT going to happen. Move on once and for all for crying out loud and just announce it already.

[JoKeR]

I finished working up Kuharsky's mock cap.

He has 33 players under contract (including Luck)

Bringing that up to 53 players (difference receiving league minimum) total cap = $96.18MM, or $24.92MM under the cap.

However, he let the following FAs walk:

Anderson, Brayton, Diem, Foster, Garcon, Lacey, Muir, Richard, Toudouze, Wayne, Wheeler

and he cut these players:

Addai, Brackett, Bullitt, Clark, Freeney, Manning

and he re-signed these players:

Gonzo, Mathis, Saturday, Tamme, Orlovsky,

This leaves his roster with some holes at WR, DE, DB, RB, LB, TE and he has less than $25MM to spend.

The dead cap hit from cutting Clark and Bracket look terrible, might as well retain them for now. Not sure how we use Bracket now with the new scheme, guess we'll find out in the preseason. How many more years is Gary under contract?

Good work by the way.

[UndecidedFrog]

The dead cap hit from cutting Clark and Bracket look terrible, might as well retain them for now. Not sure how we use Bracket now with the new scheme, guess we'll find out in the preseason. How many more years is Gary under contract?

Good work by the way.

Thanks,

Brackett is entering the 3rd year of his 5 year, $33MM contract.

[Jason_]

Please, please, please Irsay, hurry up and make the decision so we don't keep having these meaningless reports posted and talked about to death every single day. I am so freakin sick of seeing this stuff posted over and over and the same posters saying the same thing over and over. The one's that keep saying "trade the pick" when its a certainty that is NOT going to happen. Move on once and for all for crying out loud and just announce it already.

You should call the police so they can come and arrest whoever it is that's holding the gun to your head making you read all of these threads that you're so freaking sick of. ;)

As to the rest of the thread, I'm all for trying to trade Freeney and Clark and get whatever we can in draft picks for them. Heck, throw Brackett on the trading block too. I'd be happy if we could get a 5th round pick for him. Anything higher than that would be gravy. I don't see him having much, if any success on a team that's not running a cover/tampa 2 type defense. This is assuming these guys could be traded without causing havoc on our salary cap with penalties and/or accelerated bonuses.

[Balzer40]

You should call the police so they can come and arrest whoever it is that's holding the gun to your head making you read all of these threads that you're so freaking sick of. ;)

As to the rest of the thread, I'm all for trying to trade Freeney and Clark and get whatever we can in draft picks for them. Heck, throw Brackett on the trading block too. I'd be happy if we could get a 5th round pick for him. Anything higher than that would be gravy. I don't see him having much, if any success on a team that's not running a cover/tampa 2 type defense. This is assuming these guys could be traded without causing havoc on our salary cap with penalties and/or accelerated bonuses.

Why do you find it necessary to respond to my posts then? It goes both ways, Im sick of the complete and utter nonsense that gets repeated 100's of times a day and then you come in and make a smart remark about why im responding to the threads and/or posts. I was all for keeping Manning and having him tutor Luck, but with all the posters that have come out of the woodwork saying they'll quit on the Colts if Mannings released, or calling Luck names(who is very likely our next starting QB), and all the other completely irrational behavior showed by some, Im almost hoping Irsay just releases Manning just so those fans will hopefully stick to their word and dissappear. I come here to see if people actually started a new topic about something other than Manning, but even when they do, somebody will inevitably turn into a "Keep Manning" thread or "trade the pick" thread.

[dgambill]

Looking at all the cap hits you have to really ask yourself is cutting some of those players to take the cap hit worth it? Even Peyton. You only save $6 million dollars by cutting him. Heck looking at that you could resign and trade him at the end of the year and be better off almost. You can't let garcon, reggie, and clark ALL go. That is your Top 3 receivers and targets and would leave only Collie who is more a possession receiver and used to getting the 3rd best db on him. He is so good because he plays the slot against the weakest db. You have to bring at least one more of those back and since it costs more to let him go that would be Clark...and we all know how much Luck loves his TEs. We need all the bodies we can get. Even if a lot of those don't start any longer we need depth severely...and losing money to get rid sounds just plain dumb. Interesting to see how hard it is to get rid of someone once they are signed. This year we would be picking back in the Top 5 again if all those people were cut because we would barely be able to sign enough people to field a team. Of course next year we would have tons of cap space as I assume those cap hits only count this year right?

[JoKeR]

Thanks,

Brackett is entering the 3rd year of his 5 year, $33MM contract.

Here's a question you will like. Does Brackets dead cap hit go up after this year? Is it cheaper to cut him now or later?

[UndecidedFrog]

Here's a question you will like. Does Brackets dead cap hit go up after this year? Is it cheaper to cut him now or later?

I do like that question.

The answer depends on how you value his contribution to the team, which in turns depends on his effort and performance on the field.

Here are some facts to consider as well:

1) If you cut him now, he represents a dead cap space of 3 years worth of accelerated unamortized pro-rated bonus pieces totaling $7.2MM

2) His 2012 contracted base salary is $5MM, therefore his projected 2012 cap hit if you kept him is $7.4 ($5+$2.4 prorated bonus piece)

3) Cutting him now will represent a net savings to the projected 2012 cap charge of $0.2MM (projected cap charge of keeping him $7.4, offset by dead cap space of $7.2).

4) If you cut him next year, he represents a dead cap space of 2 years worth of accelerated unamortized pro-rated bonus pieces totaling $4.8MM

5) His 2013 contracted base salary is $6.6MM, therefore his projected 2013 cap hit if you kept him is $9 ($6.6+$2.4 prorated bonus piece)

6) Cutting him next year will represent a net savings to the projected 2013 cap charge of $4.2MM (projected cap charge of keeping him $9, offset by dead cap space of $4.8).

So the financial answer is yes, you save more in projected cap space if you cut him later rather than sooner. However, you must realize that the financial analysis will always favor cutting him later, and to the extreme, allowing him to play out his contract such that he will have zero cap charge the following year as a FA. That is why in most financial circles, they do not view the unamortized pro-rated pieces of bonus in the cap charge as relevant in making decisions, as they represent sunk costs. They focus purely on the base salary.

However, this is not most financial circles, because finance does not usually deal with team salary cap constraints as artificially adopted by the NFL.

In terms of real dollars, you always save more money by cutting earlier rather than later, because you do not have to pay the contracted salaries going forward. The bonus was already paid upfront, and considered sunk cost.

The real answer should come from answering this question...is Brackett's contribution to the team worth cap charges in 2012 of $7.4?

in 2013 of $9?

in 2014 of $9?

Could this cap space be better employed by the team?

[Jason_]

Why do you find it necessary to respond to my posts then? It goes both ways, Im sick of the complete and utter nonsense that gets repeated 100's of times a day and then you come in and make a smart remark about why im responding to the threads and/or posts. I was all for keeping Manning and having him tutor Luck, but with all the posters that have come out of the woodwork saying they'll quit on the Colts if Mannings released, or calling Luck names(who is very likely our next starting QB), and all the other completely irrational behavior showed by some, Im almost hoping Irsay just releases Manning just so those fans will hopefully stick to their word and dissappear. I come here to see if people actually started a new topic about something other than Manning, but even when they do, somebody will inevitably turn into a "Keep Manning" thread or "trade the pick" thread.

Why do you find it necessary to respond to threads expressing your dislike of the thread. See that kind of thing is as annoying to me as all the repeated threads are to you. If you don't like the thread then DON'T READ IT. If you did read it and are disgusted by the fact that the same things keep getting said over and over again then simply click the back button. There's no reason to respond just to express your dislike of the purpose of the thread. Yes the same could be said to me that I could simply not read your posts. But then how would you ever realize that you're doing the exact same thing that you claim to be so annoyed by?

[Balzer40]

Why do you find it necessary to respond to threads expressing your dislike of the thread. See that kind of thing is as annoying to me as all the repeated threads are to you. If you don't like the thread then DON'T READ IT. If you did read it and are disgusted by the fact that the same things keep getting said over and over again then simply click the back button. There's no reason to respond just to express your dislike of the purpose of the thread. Yes the same could be said to me that I could simply not read your posts. But then how would you ever realize that you're doing the exact same thing that you claim to be so annoyed by?

Oh well, by all means thank you for pointing that out to me. :rolleyes:

[Ramblinwreck7]

Oh well, by all means thank you for pointing that out to me. :rolleyes:

I'm glad he could help you out, now you won't have to waste your time by reading all these threads that you don't like!

[Jason_]

Oh well, by all means thank you for pointing that out to me. :rolleyes:

Glad I could help. And thank you for your continued positive contributions to the forum. ;)