OT: Darn! There goes my pipe dream! (Colts sign Sanders to extension)

[coltsfan]

As much as I would like to agree, I can't. We have been saying this for 3 or 4 years now. The beginning of the downfall will be when Manning's physical talent starts to errode, which unfortunately is likely to be around the same time as Brady's.

Exactly, the reason why these teams are the best is because of the QBs and the front offices/coaches, it's as simple as that. They will continue to be great too. And really, when you look at the Colts' roster, the best is yet to come because there are few guys that will be free agents over the next two years.

 

[ALP]

hmm, interesting move...

thats ok, i didnt want sanders anywayz....

and i could care less where he went from there, though i would love to see the colts run D without him in there, just to laugh...

theyll keep clark as well, they dont have to pay a 1st round pick this yr...

 

[coltsfan]

On the other hand, the 70 million deal with Freeney was far more than he is worth IMO .

I continue to scratch my head and wonder if you guys watched the Pats-Colts game this year. We almost won that game because of our defense, and had we won and Freeney still be healthy, we would be the favorites for the Superbowl. How soon we forget how your offense played so cautiously for three quarters. The guy will be worth $70M if he just plays in our matchups each year and wreaks havoc, let alone the rest of the season.

 

[Deus Irae]

Well, this continues the Colts tradition of banking on a few stars and keeping the rest of the money only for lower class players. In Polian's defense, it's worked well, since most of the big ticket players have stayed fairly healthy. Things could get ugly, though, with the injury prone Sanders, the aged Harrison and the decreasingly effective Freeney. That's a lot of money tied up into 3 question marks (Manning's been durable all his career, and has played every game except his no-shows in the playoffs).

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

The reason we shutdown your offense for three quarters this year was because of Freeney and Mathis. The Pats could not take the deep drops they do against everyone else. Mathis is also signed up longterm.

Now Brady will have all day to take deep drops. I'm gonna enjoy it like you enjoyed our demise last year.

 

[coltsfan]

Well, this continues the Colts tradition of banking on a few stars and keeping the rest of the money only for lower class players. In Polian's defense, it's worked well, since most of the big ticket players have stayed fairly healthy. Things could get ugly, though, with the injury prone Sanders, the aged Harrison and the decreasingly effective Freeney. That's a lot of money tied up into 3 question marks (Manning's been durable all his career, and has played every game except his no-shows in the playoffs).

As long as we keep drafting guys like Keiaho, Bethea, Pit****, Session, Hayden, Jackson, Giordano, Addai, Hagler, Dawson etc, and get undrafted guys like Johnson, Keith, and Bullitt, the Colts will continue to be at the top of the league with teams like the Pats. The guys you mention are hall-of-fame type players, so it would be foolish to let them go. I'd much rather take a chance on a guy like Freeney supposedly declining, then let go difference makers.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I continue to scratch my head and wonder if you guys watched the Pats-Colts game this year. We almost won that game because of our defense, and had we won and Freeney still be healthy, we would be the favorites for the Superbowl. How soon we forget how your offense played so cautiously for three quarters. The guy will be worth $70M if he just plays in our matchups each year and wreaks havoc, let alone the rest of the season.

So cautiously??? Is that what you call throwing the ball into Hobbs in the endzone and getting cheap PI calls?

Your great defense benefited from a Troy Brown offensive PI call, then a Watson penalty. Without those penalities the game would have been put out of reach by the Pats.

I personally hope the Pats embarass the Colts the next time around. I've never seen such blatant biased scheduling of games and officiating.

 

[tombonneau]

Yeah, the nail in the coffin was re-signing 2 of the top 5 defensive players in football.

The reason we shutdown your offense for three quarters this year was because of Freeney and Mathis. The Pats could not take the deep drops they do against everyone else. Mathis is also signed up longterm.

Bob has been the best safety in football this year and deserves to be paid accordingly. Anyone who's watched the NFL this year should know that the safety play is atrocious in this league right now. When you have the best one, it is a no-brainer to re-sign him.

I love how the Colts make all of these bad moves every year, yet continually win 12-14 games every year. Noone should ever criticize moves that the Colts' or Pats' front office makes. The rest of the NFL is fair game though because the majority of those teams are mediocre at best!

I wouldn't say those two are both top 5. You can make an argument for top 10, but 5 is your white & blue glasses shining through.

Merriman, Urlacher, Bailey, Haynesworth, are four guys off the top of my head I'd rather have than Freeney or Sanders.

Regardless, they DF & BS are the straws that stir the drink that is the Indy D, so it is smart to lock them up, hope they stay healthy, and continue to coach up the other spare parts on D.

Nothing wrong with that strategy, except for when one of the two gets hurt. I'm not outright criticizing it, just saying its a classic high-risk/high-reward cap strategy by Indy.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

This is the beginning of the downfall for the Colts.
Sanders is injury prone, in 4 seasons twice he only played like 5 games each.

This is a lot of money to give a guy who isn't super durable.

Sanders is overrated. Thrilled the Colts are tying up big money on a overrated injury prone safety. Yes he'll make SportsCenter highlights with his hits but more often than not he's out of position and can be exploited as the Patriots did earlier this season.

 

[tombonneau]

I continue to scratch my head and wonder if you guys watched the Pats-Colts game this year. We almost won that game because of our defense, and had we won and Freeney still be healthy, we would be the favorites for the Superbowl. How soon we forget how your offense played so cautiously for three quarters.

This is true for 3 quarters. But I also have to ask if you watched the 4th quarter of that game. Once Pats made blocking scheme adjustments and gave Brady time that Pats put up a quick 14 points and won the game.

And that was with Freeney in the lineup.

 

[Crazyeechrispats1]

I was enamored with Bob Sanders before the draft that year.
He was fiesty had great interviews, played exceedingly well in college.
I was really hoping the Patriots would of drafted him.
He is a difference maker he gives his all on every snap of every down.
A baby Harrison, all that being said.
He misses way too much time to deserve that kind of contract that is the type of numbers most of us visualize for Assante this year.
He is way more durable than Sanders, I know completely different role but still he is a difference maker in the seconday.
Would you hear chants of pay Assante if he missed half that much time.
No people on hear would call him soft and glass and say maybe we can draft a guy more durable.
This is why over the next 5 years as long as the front office stays intact the Patriots will always have greater depth than any other team in the league.
Plus I really like our Sanders he hits hard is getting better reading offenses and covering wide outs every game.
Who knows in 2 years Meriweather might exceed Sanders as a player.
I still wanna trade down and draft Kenny Philips.
Imagine our nickel and dime packages.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

This is true for 3 quarters. But I also have to ask if you watched the 4th quarter of that game. Once Pats made blocking scheme adjustments and gave Brady time that Pats put up a quick 14 points and won the game.

And that was with Freeney in the lineup.

the colts aren't capable of playing a full 60 minutes

 

[coltsfan]

I wouldn't say those two are both top 5. You can make an argument for top 10, but 5 is your white & blue glasses shining through.

Merriman, Urlacher, Bailey, Haynesworth, are four guys off the top of my head I'd rather have than Freeney or Sanders.

Regardless, they DF & BS are the straws that stir the drink that is the Indy D, so it is smart to lock them up, hope they stay healthy, and continue to coach up the other spare parts on D.

Nothing wrong with that strategy, except for when one of the two gets hurt. I'm not outright criticizing it, just saying its a classic high-risk/high-reward cap strategy by Indy.

Bailey and Ulracher have both had down years. Bailey has made no difference on a defense that has been horrible, and Ulracher has been ineffective according to all observers. Haynesworth has had some really great games this year, but it took him five years into his career and he has also been injured for half the year. Merriman has not had the same impact in games against the Pats as Freeney has had.

The guy you don't mention who should be mentioned is Demarcus Ware. Jared Allen is also up there.

As for the strategy. The Colts just happen to have more truly great hall-of-fame type players than any other team in the NFL, so that's why they choose to do the salary cap the way they do. Our strategy isn't better or worse than the Pats', it's just the reality of the Colts' situation. And when you look at it, is this contract bigger than Adalius Thomas'?

 

[coltsfan]

This is true for 3 quarters. But I also have to ask if you watched the 4th quarter of that game. Once Pats made blocking scheme adjustments and gave Brady time that Pats put up a quick 14 points and won the game.

And that was with Freeney in the lineup.

I know. We lost some steam in our pass rush in the 4th quarter. I think it was more that than any blocking scheme adjustments. That will happen sometimes.

If our offense would have put more points on the board, it wouldn't have mattered though. Our defense and Baltimore still played you guys much better than just about every other defense did this year. That's the point I'm making.

 

[Roidney73]

This is a good move for the Colts. He's worth ever penny. They can afford to do this because they have drafted well and have guys like Bethea and Kaeheueho (sp?) playing fairly well and on the cheap.

Really. Hate the Colts and Polian all you want, I do, but you can't deny the facts. Good post, just what I was going to say.

 

[coltsfan]

the colts aren't capable of playing a full 60 minutes

You weren't last year.

Anyway, I was confused in your last post on this thread if you were referring to our game this year, or the playoff game last year?

 

[Deus Irae]

As long as we keep drafting guys like Keiaho, Bethea, Pit****, Session, Hayden, Jackson, Giordano, Addai, Hagler, Dawson etc, and get undrafted guys like Johnson, Keith, and Bullitt, the Colts will continue to be at the top of the league with teams like the Pats. The guys you mention are hall-of-fame type players, so it would be foolish to let them go. I'd much rather take a chance on a guy like Freeney supposedly declining, then let go difference makers.

Most of the Colts players are mediocrities who happen to fit acceptably in a "run real fast to the ball" defense that's geared for playing with a lead and/or benefit from the Manning/Harrison/Wayne trio making life easy for offensive players. There's a former Colt's cornerback in New Orleans who's demonstrated this quite aptly this season. That's why the loss of Sanders, who couldn't cover a dead man if he had 6 blankets to do it with, has such an impact on that team.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not saying this to denigrate the Colts. It's a very successful strategy because most other teams can't afford to employ it since they don't have the equivalent offenses, and that leaves the Colts with their pick of the best players for that system. The Colts have, essentially, designed a hub based/interlocking system with the lesser players revolving around the key 'stars', whereas New England has much more of an independent work station based system when it comes to player acquisition and game planning. Both systems have been working very successfully this decade.

 

[tombonneau]

Bailey and Ulracher have both had down years. Bailey has made no difference on a defense that has been horrible, and Ulracher has been ineffective according to all observers. Haynesworth has had some really great games this year, but it took him five years into his career and he has also been injured for half the year. Merriman has not had the same impact in games against the Pats as Freeney has had.

The guy you don't mention who should be mentioned is Demarcus Ware. Jared Allen is also up there.

As for the strategy. The Colts just happen to have more truly great hall-of-fame type players than any other team in the NFL, so that's why they choose to do the salary cap the way they do. Our strategy isn't better or worse than the Pats', it's just the reality of the Colts' situation. And when you look at it, is this contract bigger than Adalius Thomas'?

I was just rattling off D players OTTOMH, illustrating that there are likely 4 players better than the two of them. I'm sure if I gave it thought and research I could come up with 10 or more you could argue are better.

Point is a D player's value is subjective as his worth is determined by how he fits into the D.

e.g. Freeney is not worth as much to the Pats D as Wilfork, and vice versa.

In Colts D, DF & BS are most likely "top 5" guys in the league; however, if you were to start a new team, I think objectively there are at least 4 guys a GM would pick before those two.

 

[coltsfan]

Most of the Colts players are mediocrities who happen to fit acceptably in a "run real fast to the ball" defense that's geared for playing with a lead and/or benefit from the Manning/Harrison/Wayne trio making life easy for offensive players. There's a former Colt's cornerback in New Orleans who's demonstrated this quite aptly this season. That's why the loss of Sanders, who couldn't cover a dead man if he had 6 blankets to do it with, has such an impact on that team.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not saying this to denigrate the Colts. It's a very successful strategy because most other teams can't afford to employ it since they don't have the equivalent offenses, and that leaves the Colts with their pick of the best players for that system. The Colts have, essentially, designed a hub based/interlocking system with the lesser players revolving around the key 'stars', whereas New England has much more of an independent work station based system when it comes to player acquisition and game planning. Both systems have been working very successfully this decade.

Well, I would agree with you that some of the players I mentioned are mediocre, but guys like Keiaho, Ed Johnson, Bethea are legit talents. And you're right on the players last year like David. I was telling that all off-season on here when Pats' fans thought we'd miss those players, so you're preaching to the choir here. But guys like Keiaho, Session, and Hagler are much more physical than June; and the same with our corners this year compared to last year. And the other guys I mentioned aren't great, but they're very cheap and they give us better depth than we had last year and have allowed us to keep winning.

And no, Sanders can cover just fine. There's still people that say that Rodney Harrison can't cover, so it must be something in the water that causes people to say that these great safeties can't cover. We see Roy Williams and guys like that continuously get exposed in coverage, yet we never see Bob or Rodney.

As for your second paragraph, I agree there.

 

[Fixit]

And no, Sanders can cover just fine. There's still people that say that Rodney Harrison can't cover, so it must be something in the water that causes people to say that these great safeties can't cover. We see Roy Williams and guys like that continuously get exposed in coverage, yet we never see Bob or Rodney.

He's made a name for himself by playing with reckless abandon, making big hits, and being a great run-stopper...but he can't cover.

Admittedly, I'm only judging by what I've seen in games.