Tuesday, February 06, 2007

One and Done for Peyton Manning


To all the Colts-haters out there, take solace in knowing one thing. This was a "one and done" situation for the Colts. They won't come close to the Superbowl next year.


John Clayton on ESPN.com has the piece; and it tells quite a story about the Colts salary cap situation heading into this off-season.


The Colts have a dozen unrestricted free agents and only $2.5 million of cap room, but numbers can be deceiving. Manning has a $10 million roster bonus that will be converted into a signing bonus to save cap room. That could save $8 million. The Colts could save a little more by cutting wide receiver Brandon Stokley and defensive tackle Corey Simon. They can restructure some contracts.


Players that are heading into free agency include Cato June, Dominic Rhodes, Nick Harper, Rob Morris, Mike Doss and most important, Dwight Freeney. Now, assuming the Colts don't let Freeney go (They should...he of zero tackles, zero sacks in the Superbowl...but they won't), if they extend him by one year w/ the franchise tag, he eats up 75% of the room that the Colts have available. And this doesn't even take into account the room needed to sign draft picks.


What does this all mean? Well, in short....there are going to be some changes in Indy. Guys will have to restructure, which may happen, but will all of them? Doubtful. So all in all, we're not looking at the next dynasty here folks...we're looking at a one and done.


No wonder the NFL gave the Colts every call possible against the Patriots. They knew this was Manning's only shot.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=558631

Polian's mistakes

Scott said...

this is interesting stuff. when they lose harper and june, they'll lose 2 of their most important players. it sounds like their offense is in tact, but their defense can't take the loss of 2-3 key players. they're just not good enough.

Anonymous said...

Great blog. We are seeing how screwed the Colts are...oh wait

Anonymous said...

"They won't come close to the Superbowl next year."

Heh how's this prediction turning out for you? ANd really... .Harper and June two of the Colts' most important players? Harper was getting old and was never fast to begin with and June couldn't tackle a running back without riding him for 10 yards first if his life depended on it.

The replacements for most of the losses are actually better this year than the guys that left.

"No wonder the NFL gave the Colts every call possible against the Patriots. "

Someone call the wahhhhhhmbulance. Funny how Patriots fans bashed some Colts fans for saying just that a few years ago but now you cry a different tune.

Cato June: Good coverage LB, terrible tackler against the run

Dominic Rhodes: Wow. Good thing we kept him! (Our new backup, Kenton Keith, only rushed for over 100 yards against TB this weekend)

Nick Harper: Slow. His replacement quicker and a better fit for Cover 2.

Rob Morris: Resigned. Important. Now injured which sucks.

Mike Doss: Ummmmmm yeah. Doss didn't start for a good chunk of last year and was always overrated by fans.

Dwight Freeney: Shouldn't resign him my ass. He's fighting triple teams and holds on almost every play which frees up Mathis, Brock, etc.

Have you posted your mea culpa yet, or are you waiting for when the Colts grind the Pats into paste in week 9?

Anonymous said...

Should there be a Salary Cap in English Football?
Personally I think there should be! It’s just getting to be stupid money in football at the top of the premiership!
It’s always the same teams at the top proving that football success is based purely on money which ruins the idea of it being a sport! They’ve done it in rugby, basketball, hockey and American football and it makes the sports more competitive and better to watch!
I do a little Spread Betting from time to time and most matches don’t hold much surprise who is going to win, its boring! I want to see a team at the bottom pulling off an amazing season beating last seasons winners in a close fought battle!
Make things fair! It shouldn’t be about money!
Plus!
All there is all that money in the premiership and barely any of it stays in the UK so it’s not even helping the economy!
From my Spread Betting, if I ever win big (which is never, I’m unlucky) it’s still nothing compared to the average premiership players weekly wage!
This Rant was brought to you by Spread Betting Spike.