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Report: Darius Leonard contract is up next


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  • Superman changed the title to Report: Darius Leonard contract is up next
2 minutes ago, wig said:

 

Didn't know he played OLB...  the closest comp before this deal was Lavonte David who signed for $12.5 per. 

Officially, he is an OLB.  That's how the Tampa-2 is designed to work.  The MLB drops back in deep zone coverage, and the plays are directed to the weak side OLB for all of the tackles.  See: Derrick Brooks, Cato June, etc.

However, for the purposes of the Pro Bowl, Darius Leonard is listed as an ILB, because functionally he is an "off ball" linebacker.  The OLB's in the Pro Bowl are all about pass rushing stats.  If he were to have to match up with them, he'd never make the Pro Bowl.  He has to compare to ILB's.

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Eeek... that's not good. For the Colts. For Leonard this is great and I will be happy for him when he gets the bag because he's worked hard for it and deserves to get paid. We couldn't really have asked much more from him over those 3 years. 

 

I am still not sure it's wise roster construction decision to do it... but... I guess... it's better to pony up for great players than for meh players and Leonard has been great so far. 

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25 minutes ago, Wentzszn said:

That Shefty report saying Leonard would get four years tells me he will be playing on his current salary this year.

 

If they do it this year, he'll get new money in 2021.

 

15 minutes ago, stitches said:

Eeek... that's not good. For the Colts. For Leonard this is great and I will be happy for him when he gets the bag because he's worked hard for it and deserves to get paid. We couldn't really have asked much more from him over those 3 years. 

 

I am still not sure it's wise roster construction decision to do it... but... I guess... it's better to pony up for great players than for meh players and Leonard has been great so far. 

 

When will you accept this as fact? LOL, we've known he was gonna get PAID for two years now.

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19 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

If they do it this year, he'll get new money in 2021.

 

 

When will you accept this as fact? LOL, we've known he was gonna get PAID for two years now.

I've accepted it already. :dunno: I'm just waiting for the final numbers to come in ... 

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Am I the only one who thought they played different positions? 
 

everything being reported is stating that Warner is a MLB… NFL.com is staying Leonard is the next MLB in line to get paid…

 

Darius is a Weakside LB…

 

are we still expecting the contracts to be comparable simply due to caliber of player or position?

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Talent wise is Fred Warner a comparable player to Leonard?  

 

It looks to me like he had a great season last season and was named a first team all pro.

 

Leonard in 3 years was named first team all pro twice and second team all pro once.  Plus he was DROY and lead the team in tackles in 2018.

 

So it sounds to me like Leonard might demand more money than 19 mil

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https://twitter.com/mchappell51/status/1417907509684314118?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1417925585364525073|twgr^|twcon^s3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Findianapolis-colts

6 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

Talent wise is Fred Warner a comparable player to Leonard?  

 

It looks to me like he had a great season last season and was named a first team all pro.

 

Leonard in 3 years was named first team all pro twice and second team all pro once.  Plus he was DROY and lead the team in tackles in 2018.

 

So it sounds to me like Leonard might demand more money than 19 mil

Since I just saw this and it answers your question, Leonard has more stats for certain and isn't on quite as talented of a D overall. 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, MONEYdontLIE said:

Am I the only one who thought they played different positions? 
 

everything being reported is stating that Warner is a MLB… NFL.com is staying Leonard is the next MLB in line to get paid…

 

Darius is a Weakside LB…

 

are we still expecting the contracts to be comparable simply due to caliber of player or position?

 

They're both off ball linebackers in a 4-3, they're grouped together for contract comparisons. 

 

4 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

Talent wise is Fred Warner a comparable player to Leonard?  

 

It looks to me like he had a great season last season and was named a first team all pro.

 

Leonard in 3 years was named first team all pro twice and second team all pro once.  Plus he was DROY and lead the team in tackles in 2018.

 

So it sounds to me like Leonard might demand more money than 19 mil

 

Uh, yeah, Fred Warner is really, really good. They're on the same tier, really close comparisons. Warner is better at certain things than Leonard, IMO. I don't think Leonard can walk in the room and say 'if Warner got $19m, I should be getting way more.' I think the Colts could offer the same deal and get it done today, if they wanted. 

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5 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

They're both off ball linebackers in a 4-3, they're grouped together for contract comparisons. 

 

 

Uh, yeah, Fred Warner is really, really good. They're on the same tier, really close comparisons. Warner is better at certain things than Leonard, IMO. I don't think Leonard can walk in the room and say 'if Warner got $19m, I should be getting way more.' I think the Colts could offer the same deal and get it done today, if they wanted. 

 

Honestly it might for cap purposes makes sense to do something like that.  Try and front end load as much of the money as possible while we have a bunch of cap space because we arn't paying Nelson and Smith.  

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3 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

They're both off ball linebackers in a 4-3, they're grouped together for contract comparisons. 

 

 

Uh, yeah, Fred Warner is really, really good. They're on the same tier, really close comparisons. Warner is better at certain things than Leonard, IMO. I don't think Leonard can walk in the room and say 'if Warner got $19m, I should be getting way more.' I think the Colts could offer the same deal and get it done today, if they wanted

Agreed 100% w this take. These two were always going to be grouped together and be slightly above Roquon Smith when it came to getting their extensions. Warner may not be as highly regarded in the IDP fantasy football community as Leonard since Leonard has some better stats, but in terms of impact on his defense and on the field they are almost interchangeable. Warner is really, really, really good. And he had an elite coverage season last year as well. Want to know how good? This article lays some of it out.

 

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/next-gen-stats-top-10-coverage-players-in-2020-49ers-lb-fred-warner-crashes-db-h

 

He was, by their logic, the 4th best coverage player in 2021. The only LB to make the list.

 

Darius deserves his payday. And he makes some more splash plays. But he and Warner were always going to get similar money. So this sets the stage to give a very similar deal and lock him up.

 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

Honestly it might for cap purposes makes sense to do something like that.  Try and front end load as much of the money as possible while we have a bunch of cap space because we arn't paying Nelson and Smith.  

 

I've been waiting to see these contracts by the Colts, because if there's ever a time to be okay with a prorated signing bonus, it's for guys like Leonard, Nelson and Smith -- young, foundational, core pieces that aren't going anywhere any time soon. But if they do the same Buckner structure -- and he was in that category to me, so the precedent is probably already set -- then it will confirm that they'll never use a big prorated bonus. They'd rather have the flat numbers so they continue to have cap space in future seasons.

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31 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

Leonard would have some data in his pocket to back up the want for more than Warner.  

They've both played 3 seasons.

Total tackles:

Leonard - 416

Warner - 367

 

Sacks:

Leonard - 15

Warner - 4

 

INT's:

Leonard - 7

Warner - 3

 

Forced Fumbles:

Leonard - 9

Warner - 5

 

QB hits:

Leonard - 17

Warner - 14

 

Tackles for loss:

Leonard - 26

Warner - 15

 

 

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You have to resign DL but I fear he is going to start having injury issues.  Part of me was hoping Bobby O would of shown he was 85% of DL and gave us the ability to choose.  He plays lights out and has earned every penny so it is what it is. We don’t have a choice and for team moral you pay the man. 

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24 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

You have to resign DL but I fear he is going to start having injury issues.  Part of me was hoping Bobby O would of shown he was 85% of DL and gave us the ability to choose.  He plays lights out and has earned every penny so it is what it is. We don’t have a choice and for team moral you pay the man. 

 

It is for more than team moral. Average per year doesn't matter nearly as much as the guaranteed money and team friendly clauses. If Ballard takes care of that, the team can be taken care of.

 

If you look at it objectively, marquee WRs, CBs, LTs and pass rushers get paid a LOT. How many of those do we really have to eat up our cap other than our QB? So, keep the marquee players you do have for positions that the team values. Some have said, an outside LB cannot be paid this much, a guard cannot be paid this much, a right tackle cannot be paid this much etc. etc., but that line of thinking erodes if all you do is peg the value of a player to "your team" and pay him commensurate with the market. 

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1 hour ago, Myles said:

Leonard would have some data in his pocket to back up the want for more than Warner.  

They've both played 3 seasons.

Total tackles:

Leonard - 416

Warner - 367

 

Sacks:

Leonard - 15

Warner - 4

 

INT's:

Leonard - 7

Warner - 3

 

Forced Fumbles:

Leonard - 9

Warner - 5

 

QB hits:

Leonard - 17

Warner - 14

 

Tackles for loss:

Leonard - 26

Warner - 15

 

 

Excellent post, thank you for the comparison!

 

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As these contracts start coming up, I’m glad Ballard didn’t go wild in FA.
  I know some (including local and national media) were clamoring for a WR, OT or pass rusher but there’s a lot of contracts to be done and we’re probably still going to lose some good players. As long as Ballard keeps drafting well, this team is going to be okay.

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Honestly, I’m not expecting any announcements until everyone is in camp. 
 

I think a team that values culture as highly as the Colts do would like to have the big announcements made by Jim Irsay, Chris Ballard and Frank Reich in a packed locker room. 
 

Let the players be celebrated for their new big contracts with all their teammates.   I think that’s how this plays out. 

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4 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

It is for more than team moral. Average per year doesn't matter nearly as much as the guaranteed money and team friendly clauses. If Ballard takes care of that, the team can be taken care of.

 

If you look at it objectively, marquee WRs, CBs, LTs and pass rushers get paid a LOT. How many of those do we really have to eat up our cap other than our QB? So, keep the marquee players you do have for positions that the team values. Some have said, an outside LB cannot be paid this much, a guard cannot be paid this much, a right tackle cannot be paid this much etc. etc., but that line of thinking erodes if all you do is peg the value of a player to "your team" and pay him commensurate with the market. 

I trust it will be on a friendly deal that will probably see the guaranteed money front loaded.  I don’t really look at the position as much as the player. I don’t care if a guard, RT and Will are our best players, you pay your best talent.  However, no other reason but a hunch with nothing to back it up, I feel DL will start missing some games bc of injury.  He has already missed 12.5% of possible games in his first three years.  That’s not bad but I just have this feeling it’s going to creep up to 4-5 games a year with maybe a tough injury that cost him half a season. He looks undersize for the position but hopefully the 3T keeps him clean so he can make plays like the defense is designed. 

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15 hours ago, WentzinRome said:

Excellent post, thank you for the comparison!

 

No problem.    I don't think it shows that Leonard is much better, but at least on the same level.   So he will probably top Warners contract by a little bit.

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19 hours ago, stitches said:

Eeek... that's not good. For the Colts. For Leonard this is great and I will be happy for him when he gets the bag because he's worked hard for it and deserves to get paid. We couldn't really have asked much more from him over those 3 years. 

 

I am still not sure it's wise roster construction decision to do it... but... I guess... it's better to pony up for great players than for meh players and Leonard has been great so far. 

 

 In this defense Cato June made the Pro Bowl. It is a stat stuffing position.
DL stops the run and creates turnovers better than June. Probably plays in space about the same. He is WORTH $12M to this D. Such is the NFL. 

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