2018 State of the Colts Salary Cap

[sherck]

Yeah, a week early but what the heck! Use this as a starting point of discussing and debating our 2018 rebuild plan.

2018 Salary Cap:

$176.000m = Projected 2018 Salary Cap (this is not yet determined but an estimate)
$018.350m = 2017 Unused Rollover Amount
==========
$194.350m = 2018 Indianapolis Colts Salary Cap

$103.277m = Current 2018 Cap Commitments
$001.779m = Dead Cap Money (Phillip Dorsett is $1.044m of it. Zach Banner is $400k)
==========
$105.056m = Total 2018 Cap Commitments

$089.294m = Free Cap Space

$005.500m = Reserved for 2018 Draft Class (picking 3rd is expensive!!)
$001.110m = Spots 52 and 53 on active roster
$001.220m = Practice Squad
$003.000m = In-Season “Churn” space
==========
$010.830m = Infrastructure Roster Costs

$078.464m = Free Cap Space available for signing free agents (our own or other team’s)

2018 Top 10 Teams With Free Cap Space:

(Remember to subtract around $8-10m for what they can spend on free agents except for Cleveland. Subtract $14m from them due to their 2 very high draft picks.)

$118.109m = Cleveland Browns
$117.897m = San Francisco 49ers
$089.294m = Indianapolis Colts
$084.898m = New York Jets
$070.410m = Tampa Bay Buccaneers
$060.513m = Minnesota Vikings
$059.689m = Detroit Lions
$059.598m = Houston Texans
$054.156m = Washington Redskins
$054.021m = Tennessee Titans

Players Who Would Take Away Cap Space If Cut:

- $7.446m = Malik Hooker
- $3.325m = Ryan Kelly
- $1.167m = Quincy Wilson

Every other player could be cut and the Colts would gain cap space for 2018. That is some nice veteran contract construction.

Top 10 Players Who Would Add Cap Space If Cut:

$8.000m = Jonathan Hankins
$7.500m = Jabaal Sheard
$7.000m = T.Y. Hilton
$5.250m = Jack Doyle
$5.200m = Anthony Castonzo
$3.500m = John Simon
$2.200m = Andrew Luck
$2.000m = Margus Hunt
$2.000m = Al Woods
$1.300m = Robert Turbin

We have a tight roster. There are no glaring folks whom we are paying money to that are not living up to their contract. I could perhaps argue that Turbin’s performance could be equaled by a lesser paid guy but that is about it in my eyes. We are not generating more cap space by cutting underperforming players because there are none of our highly paid guys who are underperforming.

2018 Colts Free Agents:

Unrestricted Free Agents:

[No restriction on what kind of contract they can sign or with whom they can sign it.]

RB Frank Gore, 34 years old
FS Darius Butler, 31 years old
PK Adam Vinatieri, 44 years old
WR Kamar Aiken, 28 years old
OLB Barkevious Mingo, 27 years old
QB Scott Tolzien, 30 years old
OG Jack Mewhort, 26 years old
CB Pierre Desir, 27 years old
TE Brandon Williams, 30 years old
OG Michael Person, 29 years old
CB Rashaan Melvin, 28 years old
WR Donte Moncrief, 24 years old
ILB Jon Bostic, 26 years old
DE Caraun Reid, 26 years old

Colts Restricted Free Agents:

[Typically for players who were not drafted in the 1st round and are in their 4th year of credited NFL service (at least 6 games on an active roster to receive credit for the season). Colts can assign an RFA tag that details how much the Colts pay the player. If another team wants to offer a higher contract, Colts have the right to match the offer and retain the player or let the player go and receive draft pick compensation based on what level of RFA tag was assigned. Minimum tag amount for 2018 will be around $1.9m for compensation of a draft pick of the same round that the player was originally drafted in, $2.9 for compensation of a 2nd round draft pick or $4.1m for compensation of a 1st round draft pick.]

OT Tyreek Burwell, 25 years old
ILB Jeremiah George, 25 years old
DE Anthony Johnson, 24 years old
RB Matt Jones, 24 years old
SS Ronald Martin, 24 years old
RB George Winn, 27 years old

Colts Exclusive Rights Free Agents:

[Can only sign with the Colts if the team executes the option. Gets paid a bit more than league minimum but not much more. For undrafted players with less than 3 years of credited service in the league.]

WR K.J. Brent, 24 years old
OT Anthony Fabiano, 24 years old
RB Josh Ferguson, 24 years old
WR Krishawn Hogan, 22 years old
ILB Erwin Jackson, 26 years old
CB Chris Milton, 25 years old
TE Erik Swoope, 25 years old
OG Jeremy Vujnovich, 27 years old

Have at it, Colts fans.

Walk Worthy,

[FatDT]

How do so many teams have so much cap space? I thought the CBA required them to spend a large percentage of it across three years or whatever.

There aren't even enough blue chip free agents available this year for us to come close to the cap. Time to pay down a bunch of Luck's guaranteed money.

[Racehorse]

Unrestricted Free Agents:

RB Frank Gore, 34 years old Reasonable contract only
FS Darius Butler, 31 years old Reasonable contract only
PK Adam Vinatieri, 44 years old One more year
WR Kamar Aiken, 28 years old GTFOH
OLB Barkevious Mingo, 27 years old Re-sign
QB Scott Tolzien, 30 years old Don't let the door hit ya on the way out
OG Jack Mewhort, 26 years old Reasonable contract only
CB Pierre Desir, 27 years old Reasonable contract only
TE Brandon Williams, 30 years old Meh
OG Michael Person, 29 years old The guy is going to get paid, and Kelly is oft injured
CB Rashaan Melvin, 28 years old Have to re-sign
WR Donte Moncrief, 24 years old Reasonable contract only
ILB Jon Bostic, 26 years old Can be replaced
DE Caraun Reid, 26 years old Who?

Colts Restricted Free Agents: None of these impress me at all, but George is young and has played enough to bring back cheaply

OT Tyreek Burwell, 25 years old
ILB Jeremiah George, 25 years old
DE Anthony Johnson, 24 years old
RB Matt Jones, 24 years old
SS Ronald Martin, 24 years old
RB George Winn, 27 years old

Colts Exclusive Rights Free Agents:

WR K.J. Brent, 24 years old
OT Anthony Fabiano, 24 years old
RB Josh Ferguson, 24 years old
WR Krishawn Hogan, 22 years old
ILB Erwin Jackson, 26 years old
CB Chris Milton, 25 years old
TE Erik Swoope, 25 years old
OG Jeremy Vujnovich, 27 years old

Walk Worthy,
It seems that we may need about $40-50M to re-sign a few guys who can help us out. That leaves us with roughly 50M to play with. I wonder how any of the other teams have their own guys who they will have to re-sign. That could change things quite a bit.

[Racehorse]

Okay, so I looked at Cleveland, and they are in great shape because they are paying a rookie QB and have tons of money available. Mostly because nobody wants to go there except to get (over)paid. They would be in cap hell if they cut their highly paid players.

SF is in the same boat as Cleveland when it comes to the QB situation, but Giraffalo will eat up a ton of their space. To answer FatDT's question about how they get cap space, SF ate Kaep's bad contract and a few others this year to give them space next year. The strong finish they made this season will make them aggressive in free agency because they think they are on the right track and their division is not a lock for any of the teams in it.

The Jests are also paying nobody to be the QB. I think they are going to be actively pursuing one via the draft or free agency. I could see them make a play for Eli or Brees if either hits free agency. If not, they will be a trade partner for someone this draft. Maybe we can trade them Brisket if Luck is good to go.

[DrSpaceman]

Good list and good info

two top priorities on our FA list would be AV and Melvin.

This offseason I think we will really see how Ballard views the team and how he wants to build it. Pretty much have some core pieces he/we will keep and the rest he can add or subtract as he sees fit with this type of money.

I like what he did with the DL last year. It was much improved this season. The run D as we have all season is bad at times off tackle and once RBs get past the front line, but there is no more being gashed continuously straight up the middle.

If he continues that success with the rest of the team AND Luck comes back healthy AND they make a good coaching hire AND he drafts smart with the top picks, the future is bright and this will be a bad headache of a season necessary to get back on track

All those things have to happen though. Can't screw up any of them.

This offseason is basically a GMs dream in this league. You have a team that had a bad season due to numerous injuries and a coach the GM didn't want. You get top five picks and a huge FA spending number, plus you get to hire a new coach and again assuming Luck comes back healthy, you have a franchise QB in place and don't have to worry about that most important element of a team.

This offseason I would think is the opportunity Ballard has been working for his whole life and is his best chance to prove his worth at his position.

[njcoltfan]

Good list and good info

two top priorities on our FA list would be AV and Melvin.

This offseason I think we will really see how Ballard views the team and how he wants to build it. Pretty much have some core pieces he/we will keep and the rest he can add or subtract as he sees fit with this type of money.

I like what he did with the DL last year. It was much improved this season. The run D as we have all season is bad at times off tackle and once RBs get past the front line, but there is no more being gashed continuously straight up the middle.

If he continues that success with the rest of the team AND Luck comes back healthy AND they make a good coaching hire AND he drafts smart with the top picks, the future is bright and this will be a bad headache of a season necessary to get back on track

All those things have to happen though. Can't screw up any of them.

This offseason is basically a GMs dream in this league. You have a team that had a bad season due to numerous injuries and a coach the GM didn't want. You get top five picks and a huge FA spending number, plus you get to hire a new coach and again assuming Luck comes back healthy, you have a franchise QB in place and don't have to worry about that most important element of a team.

This offseason I would think is the opportunity Ballard has been working for his whole life and is his best chance to prove his worth at his position.

That last sentence says it all, and it better start around 4pm Sunday with the fireing of the coaching staff!!

[sherck]

Just to piggyback off DrSpaceman:

QB: Check
LT: Check
WR1: Check
TE1: Check

RB1: Needed (or Gore might come back for 1 more season)

OLB[Rush]: Needed (Hey, look. We have the #3 overall pick!)

CB1: Needed ? (Can Melvin or Wilson be CB1 ? )

Pass Covering ILB: Needed

Honestly, some of the hardest pieces to find in the NFL are in place with the Colts.

Add to that:

Rangy young Free Safety.
Good D-Line.
Solid if unspectacular OLB depth.
Young, promising OC.
Solid if unspectacular Secondary as a whole depth.

And you don't need a ton to be a top team in the NFL.

I suspect that if the 2017 Colts roster had 2 changes that we would have been a playoff bound divisional winner:

Change #1: Andrew Luck
Change #2: Competent coaching with intelligence offensive & defensive systems

Our losses this season were by: 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 12, 14, 20, 27, 28, 35.

That is 7 losses by 1 TD or less. If Andrew Luck is not worth 1 TD more per game than Jacoby Brissett....

We are at least a 10 win team with those 2 changes. And guess what?

We get both those potential changes in 2018 PLUS adding some draft picks and free agency to the mix.

This season sucked, Freaks. However, I think that if Ballard can nail this off-season (like he nailed last year) that we could be poised for some great things in the future.

Walk Worthy,

[omahacolt]

Just to piggyback off DrSpaceman:

QB: Check
LT: Check
WR1: Check
TE1: Check

RB1: Needed (or Gore might come back for 1 more season)

OLB[Rush]: Needed (Hey, look. We have the #3 overall pick!)

CB1: Needed ? (Can Melvin or Wilson be CB1 ? )

Pass Covering ILB: Needed

Honestly, some of the hardest pieces to find in the NFL are in place with the Colts.

Add to that:

Rangy young Free Safety.
Good D-Line.
Solid if unspectacular OLB depth.
Young, promising OC.
Solid if unspectacular Secondary as a whole depth.

And you don't need a ton to be a top team in the NFL.

I suspect that if the 2017 Colts roster had 2 changes that we would have been a playoff bound divisional winner:

Change #1: Andrew Luck
Change #2: Competent coaching with intelligence offensive & defensive systems

Our losses this season were by: 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 12, 14, 20, 27, 28, 35.

That is 7 losses by 1 TD or less. If Andrew Luck is not worth 1 TD more per game than Jacoby Brissett....

We are at least a 10 win team with those 2 changes. And guess what?

We get both those potential changes in 2018 PLUS adding some draft picks and free agency to the mix.

This season sucked, Freaks. However, I think that if Ballard can nail this off-season (like he nailed last year) that we could be poised for some great things in the future.

Walk Worthy,

i wouldn't say Ballard exactly nailed last offseason.

[sherck]

i wouldn't say Ballard exactly nailed last offseason.

So, within the constraints that he was not allowed to fire Pagano due to Irsay and he had to use Grigson's scouting staff for free agency and the draft.....

-- His 3 highly paid ($5m+ per year average) free agents (Hankins, Sheard, Doyle) all performed well in 2017 and were good value for what we paid them.

-- Many of his lower paid free agents (less than $5m a year but above vet min) performed well: Simon, Woods, Hunt, Bostic, Mingo, Turbin).

-- He did miss on some of his free agents:
P Jeff Locke but only because he found a UDFA to replace him cheaper.
WR Kamar Aiken. Pure miss.
ILB Sean Spence. Pure miss.

So, in free agency, Ballard pretty much nailed it.

The draft?
Bad luck on Hooker going to IR but he looked like a keeper.
Now that Wilson is being allowed to play, he looks like he is developing.
Mack? Keeper
Banner? Miss.
Walker? Meh, not showing much yet but he is a 5th rounder.
Hairston? Keeper.

The only thing that I can criticize him on is his failure to fix the O-Line sufficiently in 2017. That HAS to be a priority in 2018.

So, what am I missing on Ballard's 2017 off-season that you say that it was not good?

Walk Worthy,

[Colt Classic]

Not sure if this question fits better here or in the head coaching search thread, but with the players who will be back versus what is still needed, is it a given that the defense will stay as a 3-4 or could a coach be considered who would want to scrap that and go back to 4-3?

[omahacolt]

Not sure if this question fits better here or in the head coaching search thread, but with the players who will be back versus what is still needed, is it a given that the defense will stay as a 3-4 or could a coach be considered who would want to scrap that and go back to 4-3?

it doesn't matter what defense we run

[omahacolt]

So, within the constraints that he was not allowed to fire Pagano due to Irsay and he had to use Grigson's scouting staff for free agency and the draft.....

-- His 3 highly paid ($5m+ per year average) free agents (Hankins, Sheard, Doyle) all performed well in 2017 and were good value for what we paid them.

-- Many of his lower paid free agents (less than $5m a year but above vet min) performed well: Simon, Woods, Hunt, Bostic, Mingo, Turbin).

-- He did miss on some of his free agents:
P Jeff Locke but only because he found a UDFA to replace him cheaper.
WR Kamar Aiken. Pure miss.
ILB Sean Spence. Pure miss.

So, in free agency, Ballard pretty much nailed it.

The draft?
Bad luck on Hooker going to IR but he looked like a keeper.
Now that Wilson is being allowed to play, he looks like he is developing.
Mack? Keeper
Banner? Miss.
Walker? Meh, not showing much yet but he is a 5th rounder.
Hairston? Keeper.

The only thing that I can criticize him on is his failure to fix the O-Line sufficiently in 2017. That HAS to be a priority in 2018.

So, what am I missing on Ballard's 2017 off-season that you say that it was not good?

Walk Worthy,

sheard was arguably a worse player than walden. simon was ok but very overrated. our olbers got worse. our ilbers got worse. mingo made a handful of good plays for all the snaps he got.

this defense was atrocious for all these so called good players. explain that one to me.

the offensive line was terrible again. did he bring in anyone to help that situation? no.

brissett fell into his lap. and he wasn't good. otherwise the qb situation was a trainwreck.

i think ballard is going to be ok. i think his 1st offseason was ok. to say he nailed it is pretty much grading on a massive curve.

the only reason i don't say it was a complete failure is because pagano is just that bad.

[omahacolt]

oh and i will say that sheard was undoubtedly worse than walden. his setting the edge at times was simply pathetic.

[sherck]

Not sure if this question fits better here or in the head coaching search thread, but with the players who will be back versus what is still needed, is it a given that the defense will stay as a 3-4 or could a coach be considered who would want to scrap that and go back to 4-3?

Sheard could be a hand in the dirt 4-3 DE. So could Chubb. :)
Hankins, Woods, Grover as NTs.
Anderson, Hunt, Ridgeway as UTs

Simon could be an WOLB.
Mingo? SOLB perhaps.

MLB? At least we would need to find less of them!

Secondary? I don't think it changes much.

So, sure. We could move to a 4-3. Need some more DEs and OLBs along with our ILB/MLB mess but we could do it.

Walk Worthy,

[sherck]

Omaha, all I can say is that you are a glass half full guy. Nothing will ever please you.

You are wrong.

Walk Worthy,

[omahacolt]

Omaha, all I can say is that you are a glass half full guy. Nothing will ever please you.

You are wrong.

Walk Worthy,

we had one of the worst defenses in the league and one of the worst offenses in the league.

we won 3 games. we will struggle to beat 4th string qb of the texans at home without their top 4 players.


i am not wrong at all. we improved one area of the team. the run defense. and that was ranked terrible in large part to that so called stud sheard at the end of games handing the edge away like dam giving away bj's.

i am optimistic for the future, but i will not pretend i didn't just watch this season.

[Coltsalr]

oh and i will say that sheard was undoubtedly worse than walden. his setting the edge at times was simply pathetic.

Sheard was unarguably better at rushing the passer than Walden.

[apballin]

we had one of the worst defenses in the league and one of the worst offenses in the league.

we won 3 games. we will struggle to beat 4th string qb of the texans at home without their top 4 players.


i am not wrong at all. we improved one area of the team. the run defense. and that was ranked terrible in large part to that so called stud sheard at the end of games handing the edge away like dam giving away bj's.

i am optimistic for the future, but i will not pretend i didn't just watch this season.

I'd say the Defense wasn't helped by the offense constantly giving points to the other team

[YDFL Commish]

oh and i will say that sheard was undoubtedly worse than walden. his setting the edge at times was simply pathetic.

Walden was good at setting the edge every year but 2016. He really regressed his last season as a Colt.

[omahacolt]

Sheard was unarguably better at rushing the passer than Walden.

That is false

[indycolts2]

That is false

I think your letting one stat number skew your opinion here. Sheard has been far more successful in creating QB pressure than Walden was last year. Yes Walden had a real nice sack number but basically that was it. Only thing I find problematic with Sheard is not holding the edge but there was another #93 who created some great running lanes himself so we fans are used to it.

[omahacolt]

I think your letting one stat number skew your opinion here. Sheard has been far more successful in creating QB pressure than Walden was last year. Yes Walden had a real nice sack number but basically that was it. Only thing I find problematic with Sheard is not holding the edge but there was another #93 who created some great running lanes himself so we fans are used to it.

It was false that it couldn't be argued.

[Coltsalr]

That is false

Walden sucked, I know you loved him, but he still sucked.

And saying our OLB’s got worse is also idiotic. John Simon overrated or not was substantially better than Trent Cole.

It’s time to let your man crush and apologetics of Grigson’s moves go.

[omahacolt]

Walden sucked, I know you loved him, but he still sucked.

And saying our OLB’s got worse is also idiotic. John Simon overrated or not was substantially better than Trent Cole.

It’s time to let your man crush and apologetics of Grigson’s moves go.

I never loved Walden. I don't think I have ever said anything about him being more than average or a solid player.

Was the olber unit worse last year? If it was it wasn't by much.

And Walden didn't suck. Let's be real here

[YDFL Commish]

I never loved Walden. I don't think I have ever said anything about him being more than average or a solid player.

Was the olber unit worse last year? If it was it wasn't by much.

And Walden didn't suck. Let's be real here

My eyes told me that Walden was a good player 13, 14 and 15. My eyes also told me that Walden sucked in 2016. PFF's grades of Walden also confirm this, as he was ranked 104 out of 109 OLB's in 2016, while receiving passing grades the previous 3 seasons.

Sheard is a more talented player than Walden, but he is very undisciplined. He probably should have been benched here, just like he was in NE.