PRE-FREE AGENCY NEGOTIATIONS
Technically the biggest signing happened before someone could become a free agent as Andrew Luck agreed to a massive extension that will leave Colts fans happy for years to come. Luck agreed to a 7-yes $225 million deal that should see him spend the rest of his career in Indianapolis, easily the best signing of the year.
Not to be overlooked, but Khalil Holmes also signed a long term deal, although for much less money than Luck, but 6-years for $35.9 million is a good deal for one of the best centers in football. With Indianapolis sporting the best offensive line in the league it made sense to lock up their leader and captain.
OLB Bjoern Werner also agreed to a long term deal, 4-years for $8.8 million, which seems to indicate that management is happy with him for the long run.
Some of Emery's spending was fueled by who the Colts decided not to bring back. A number of players were informed that they would not receive offers, and the Colts roster will look very different this year. FS LaRon Landry, DT Terrance Knighton, MLB Kelvin Sheppard, TE Jacob Tamme, OLB Erik Walden, DE Ricky-Jean Francois, HB Justin Forsett, and HB Marcus Lattimore were allowed to hit the open market.
FREE AGENCY
While Emery came out swinging, he didn't spend blindly or fight for the big names. In fact, the Colts landed a number of deal by laying low and seeing how the market played out. The first domino to fall was SS Johnathan Cyprien, mostly because the market was so overheated for pass defenders, and Emery managed to land him for 3-years and $15 million. That looks great considering that SS J.J. Wilcox (5-year $42 million) was scooped up by Buffalo, FS Tyrann Mathieu (6-year $43 million) went back to Arizona, and FS Kenny Vaccaro (5-year $56 million) landed a princely sum with Washington.
FREE AGENCY
While Emery came out swinging, he didn't spend blindly or fight for the big names. In fact, the Colts landed a number of deal by laying low and seeing how the market played out. The first domino to fall was SS Johnathan Cyprien, mostly because the market was so overheated for pass defenders, and Emery managed to land him for 3-years and $15 million. That looks great considering that SS J.J. Wilcox (5-year $42 million) was scooped up by Buffalo, FS Tyrann Mathieu (6-year $43 million) went back to Arizona, and FS Kenny Vaccaro (5-year $56 million) landed a princely sum with Washington.
Indianapolis also landed MLB Manti Te'o on a very nice deal, 4-years for $8.5 million, that helped give the Colts one of the most solid LB corps in the NFL. The CB market also saw a number of teams fighting fiercely over big names, Darrelle Revis landed in San Diego for a whopping 1-year $10 million deal and Miami went all out on Desmond Trufant to the tune of $58 million over 5 years. This allowed the Colts to swoop in and sign Dee Milliner for a pittance at 4-years $8 million.
The final pieces came on offense near the end of the first week of free agency. With most teams out of cap space, the Colts were free to swoop in on some under appreciated players. The biggest grab was WR Keenan Allen (5-year $25 million), who will provide the Colts with a big body receiver to compliment T.Y. Hilton. Emery also added WR Terrence Williams, Kelvin Benjamin, and HB Ronnie Hillman on cap-friendly deal.
With so much quality spending going on, it looks like there won't be much pressure on management to find starters in the draft. While it would have been good to find a long term solution at DT, this team looks to be so good it won't matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment