This one should be fun. The Colts have over 36M in cap space for 2014. There is a cap floor on how much you must give out in contracts each year so it will be interesting to see how they spend their cash this year. If you put all of your eggs in one basket this year by signing everyone in sight you may run into problems down the road as you must sign 80M worth of total contracts ("new money" not just moving money around) each year or something like that. Think about it. That's one top UFA and re-signing some of your own players and you're there. You can't just spend 300M like the NYY in one year as you wouldn't be able to be under the cap in future years bc you must dish out money each year.
First, you cut Matt Hasselbeck and Samson Satele, which saves 6.25M. I don't believe in old WRs coming off knee injuries either, so I'd cut Reggie Wayne as well, saving another 4M. So, let's call it 46M of cap space and let the games begin.
Franchise tag Vontae Davis or sign him long-term. I guess I'll have to stop sending Vontae to other teams. He's not going anywhere. He could be had for first year cap hit in the 4-6M range, with of course over 10M to sign and rising cap hits throughout the deal. 5yrs/50M should be fair value for a guy of his caliber. Leaning more towards a number lower, than higher than that.
This is what separates the men from the boys. Decisions, decisions. I let Antoine Bethea walk and I sign Jairius Byrd. I imagine the Colts love Bethea for some reason and he's OK and will be re-signed, but I'll pay an extra 3-4M a year to have Byrd over Bethea. That's like going from a C to a B.
They have major league problems at multiple positions on this roster. The OL is terrible. The WR corps is depleted. They have no talented MLB's for their 3-4. The front 3 is very suspect. Well, their front seven minus Robert Mathis is suspect. Didn't like the Bjoern Werner draft pick, maybe he fills in at 3-4 OLB next year. Who will be the RB? Re-sign Brown not a bad idea. Bring back Vinatieri and Mcafee also good ideas.
If you cut Reggie you have T.Y. as the starter and that's a bad look. I think T.Y. is a good 3rd and luckily for them this is an A+ WR UFA and draft class. I think make a move at Jeremy Maclin as he's coming off a knee injury and won't be getting too much cash. Maybe an Eric Decker. Maybe both. They have the cap room. No need to show love to Reggie at the ripe age of 35 going on 36 when you can bring in young talent at the same price or slightly above and have them for 5 more years. They don't have a 1st rd pick but with some solid UFA signings they could be Super Bowl contenders. Still think a guy like Darren McFadden is the perfect guy for this system. I'd trade Trent for a 2nd rd pick, but they won't do that.
Draft Picks?
Davante Adams WR (1st-2nd)
Brandin Cooks WR (2nd-3rd)
Dominique Easley DT (3rd-4th)
Ryan Shazier ILB (2nd-3rd)
Christian Jones ILB (2nd-3rd)
Gabe Jackson G (3rd-5th) PRO BOWLER
Free Agents?
Branden Albert OT
Jeremy Maclin WR
Eric Decker WR
Jairius Byrd FS
LaMarr Houston DL
Jason Worilds OLB
Top Four Needs
WR
ILB
OT
DL
I think the Colts need to bring in 4 top UFA's bc they don't have a 1st rd pick. One will be the choice of Byrd over Bethea. The other three would be Decker, LaMarr Houston DL who is an absolute beast, and Branden Albert OT to protect Luck. I think Decker and Luck could be like two peas in a pod. I'd feel more comfortable flipping Castonzo to RT and having Albert at LT than Castonzo at LT and Gosder freaking Cherilus at RT. Winning the division means tougher schedule and let's see what the great Ryan Grigson can do. Do you think he can beat FST?
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