One thing I don't understand

[sarge]

How do the Colts keep fitting these players under the cap????

They have been signing players like mad!

Everyone says the Pats won't over spend because they don't want to mortgage their future and have to purge the roster.

Here we are 20 million under the cap and our roster is getting purged as if we were over 20 million over! So what the hell is the difference?

And the teams that were supposedly mortgaging there future (ie Colts) would have to purge there rosters are still on a signing frenzy!

This not overspending to avoid mortgaging the future is all well and good in theory, but our roster is getting purged regardless! And the teams that have been overspending, are still spending!!!!! This is why Kraft is really just starting to look cheap!

I don't get it. What am I missing?

Note, if Seymour and Branch get locked up long term, that would go a long way in relieving some of this anguish.

But really, aren't there maybe some players they want to keep?????

I mean you can't let every freaking player walk! Can they???

I'm scared to ask! So far that seems like the master plan!

 

[patsfan13]

The Colts release a lot of players also. They rob Peter to pay Paul. So far it looks as though the Pats will be a younger team;

If a team wants to stay on top they have to decide when to let the vets go. This sort of roster turnover is never easy for us fans. I think in Sept we will se a roster ready to compete for the SB. Hopefully we catch a break and have an average number of injuries rather than the carnage last year.

 

[sarge]

The Colts release a lot of players also. They rob Peter to pay Paul. So far it looks as though the Pats will be a younger team;

If a team wants to stay on top they have to decide when to let the vets go. This sort of roster turnover is never easy for us fans. I think in Sept we will se a roster ready to compete for the SB. Hopefully we catch a break and have an average number of injuries rather than the carnage last year.

I think that will take a tremendous draft!

Please, ohh please, just lock up Branch and Seymour for the next 6 years and this will have been painful, but worth it!

 

[TBC]

Colts lost David Thornton, Edge, and Vanderjerk.

Losing Edge and Thornton will really hurt them.

 

[Miguel]

How do the Colts keep fitting these players under the cap????

As of last week they were $10 million under the cap.

They have been signing players like mad!

Not true. Adam was the 1st UFA from another team that they have signed this offseason.

 

[wrangler]

I agree .......13.

I think it was DeBruinz, in another thread, that said something about quietly rebuilding, or restructuring the team.?

To be totally honest, so far, except for Givens, I see no need to think anything but buisness as usual. BB and company are looking to the future and are going to build a team for Brady to win with in his prime. Not try and scrape together a team to maybe compete this year, and then do the same next yr., and the next. See where I'm going?

Grabbing proven older stars for today does nothing for tomorrow.?

Nothing?.....hmmmmm,....maybe a film at 11, fill the stands to line your pockets, to me the Pats are winners, not money hoars. We shall see?

 

[wrangler]

Miguel sir, money wise, do think my assessment is off base?

 

[mtbykr]

well

The Colts release a lot of players also. They rob Peter to pay Paul. So far it looks as though the Pats will be a younger team;

If a team wants to stay on top they have to decide when to let the vets go. This sort of roster turnover is never easy for us fans. I think in Sept we will se a roster ready to compete for the SB. Hopefully we catch a break and have an average number of injuries rather than the carnage last year.

Actually the last two years! Regarding Givens; it looks like BB made a last minute hard close on him to try and get him to stay--but wouldn't budge on the price so he left. At least they tried to get him to stay!

 

[sarge]

As of last week they were $10 million under the cap.

Weren't they over by like 6-9 million (granted before the new CBA) a few weeks ago while the Pats at that same time sere still 2-4 million under?

Not true. Adam was the 1st UFA from another team that they have signed this offseason.

I didn't say they were signing players from other teams.

But if I remember correctly, they were signing there own players even when the results of the CBA were still unclear!

 

[Miguel]

Weren't they over by like 6-9 million (granted before the new CBA) a few weeks ago while the Pats at that same time sere still 2-4 million under?

Yes.

I didn't say they were signing players from other teams.

But if I remember correctly, they were signing there own players even when the results of the CBA were still unclear!

So were the other 31 teams in the NFL.

 

[sarge]

So were the other 31 teams in the NFL.

While I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, my perception was that if you were to look at the differences between the number of players the Colts resigned as opposed to the Pats, that difference would be huge! And not just in quantity as opposed to quality!

 

[TBC]

While I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, my perception was that if you were to look at the differences between the number of players the Colts resigned as opposed to the Pats, that difference would be huge! And not just in quantity as opposed to quality!

They didnt re-sign David Thornton or Edge.

 

[DaBruinz]

Not only have the Colts lost David Thornton, Larry Triplett, and Edgerrin James, but they also have Rob Morris, James Mungro, Makao Freitas, Robet Mathis, Cato June, Rocky Calmus, and others that are free agents.

Its going to be interesting to see if they can field a decent team.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

June and Mathis were mid and high tendered. Not sure what the deal is with Mungro. The others are mostly filler.

 

[hwc]

To answer a couple of questions:

a) There is no way to stay under the salary cap over the long haul without purging high-priced veterans. You can either purge them as you go or wait and blow up the team all at once. But, you can't avoid it.

b) The Colts stay under the cap in two main ways. Some of their largest marquee contracts are heavily backloaded.

Assuming the Colts and Pats both do the restructures that I think they will do over the next two years, here are Brady's and Manning's cap numbers for the next five years:

Brady:

11,430,470
11,906,720
13,906,720
11,206,720
9,506,720

Manning:


10,567,000
8,200,000
18,700,000
21,200,000
19,267,000

The Colts also play with virtually no veteran depth on the roster. They carry a lot of undrafted free agents on the 53 man squad. Plus, no Rosie Colvin or Mike Vrabel type salaries on defense.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

While I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, my perception was that if you were to look at the differences between the number of players the Colts resigned as opposed to the Pats, that difference would be huge! And not just in quantity as opposed to quality!

After the new CBA was approved they were able to restructure Mannings and Harrisons deals (scrapping the plan to redo them) by converting their roster bonuses to signing bonuses and prorating them. Saved them about $14M on the cap. So if they were over $6M they were immediately under $8M after that. Polian did say on a radio show several days ago that they were $8M under at that time.

Adam's deal won't cost them what you might think. Probably less than $1.5M on the cap this season. They carried Vanderjerk at $2.8 last year, plus a kickoff specialist for a few hundred grand more. He's a bargain for them, as he could have been for us. And they can now ditch the KO specialist and Cortez (the bad Dallas PK Tuna almost strangled) who they had signed as their emergency fallback.

 

[Miguel]

Not only have the Colts lost David Thornton, Larry Triplett, and Edgerrin James, but they also have Rob Morris, James Mungro, Makao Freitas, Robet Mathis, Cato June, Rocky Calmus, and others that are free agents.

Its going to be interesting to see if they can field a decent team.

FYI - Mathis signed his RFA tender.

At the start of free agency the Colts had 5 RFAs, the Patriots none.
At the start of free agency the Colts had 11 UFAs, the Patriots 13.
So the Colts had 3 more free agents than did the Patriots.
Since free agency, the Colts saw 3 UFAs sign with other teams. Since free agency, the Patriots saw 4 UFAs sign with other teams. Both the Patriots and the Colts have retained one of their 1 UFAs. Both the Patriots and the Colts have signed an UFA from another team.

The Colts were a playoff team last year and in great cap shape for this year. I will give odds that they will field a better than decent team in September.

 

[big mike]

Weren't they over by like 6-9 million (granted before the new CBA) a few weeks ago while the Pats at that same time sere still 2-4 million under?

That's why the new CBA has hurt teams like the Patriots - and helped teams like the Colts who struggle to live within a budget. The salary cap was raised so much, it's almost like not having a cap (ok, that's an exageration). Teams that had already been overspending, can now just keep spending more and more.