Great point. People forget that Peyton got rid of the ball fast and his command of the playcalling made the olines look a lot better than they actually were.

Let us not forget who gradually got more control within the Colts organization after the 2006 Championship.

I believe that had more to do with the poor drafting than any other factor.

This is incredible, if anyone missed it today:

https://www.albertbridgecapital.com/...ay-in-the-game

My best friend is basically this guy's kid. Powerful read. I really felt this one. Forever a K-Mo fan.

As a dog lover, I can really relate to this story. I have been through some down times like we all have but my dogs always keep me in the game.

Great post...

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Yeah he did. He drafted Costanzo. He also drafted Charlie Johnson, who played for the Colts and then they lost him in free agency, cap problems.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnCh23.htm


Part of it was the cap, part of it was Howard Mudd. He could work with guys like Llija and ________ and make them searvicable. But he drafted Jake Scott and we lost him to free agency. Polian was working with a tighter cap and he made his own problems when he hit on so many players.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/clt/draft.htm


And remember, all that winning kept putting the Colts at the back end of the draft year after year. He hit on a bunch of late round guys who played long careers. Go look at the list. He had guys who were lost to free agency who played a long time. If there was a "failure", they should have let some guys go sooner than later, and kept the young guys.

Like Jerry Hughes? A douche bag here, and he figgured out if he didn't get his butt in gear he was out of the league after the Colts let him go. Its' a crap shoot on the draft. Antone Bethea is still playing, and he was a 6th rounder?

Every team has to decide what to emphasize. Where to invest the limited resources they have. Polian chose to play to Manning’s strengths - skill position players on O and a D that was designed to play with a lead. On the surface it makes some sense. However the team would have been better off to put resources into areas that would have allowed them to win when Manning wasn’t brilliant. Building a D that didn’t need a two touchdown lead to be at its best would be the best example. A stronger offensive line that could move the pile to get a yard when needed is another.

That change in philosophy needed to be made early in the building process. Once they started drafting at the bottom of every round and the cap space was tied up in the core of skill position players it became much harder to change the teams direction and identity. I’m thankful that, so far, Ballard doesn’t appear to be repeating that mistake (although like a few others I’m a little worried about the size of the interior D line).

Castonzo was drafted by his son and they were on their way out because they couldn’t fill those talent holes that they used to. Also Castonzo was just ok early in his career, not exactly a pass blocking prodigy. I think he was a poor fit for that system. Johnson was serviceable, and really did little once he moved on. Remember Ugoh beat him out initially for the job, Ugoh actually looked pretty good very early on then declined rapidly. Johnson benefited from Manning’s play, and was really on the field because he was the only one healthy.

As for the other stuff, doesn’t really change anything I said.

Polian was in charge, and took the blame.

Sure, he was still getting paid to run the team and the buck stopped with him, but the nepotism is what undid them. Those last drafts were run by his son and they were just not hitting on picks anymore. Of course, a department isn't just one guy when making picks. However, there was a difference in their choices from 2007 on. There were some really bad picks in there. When you use just one method to build your team, you can't have a decline in that area.

Manning propped the team up on his shoulders at the end and it was exposed when he got hurt. People think they sucked for Luck in 2012, not a chance. That team had so little talent. They were really outmatched in games.

Dam?

Who knows, maybe Dam really is CP?

Here are a few more contract details beyond the initial terms reported through tweets.

Sportrac indicates the terms are a 4 year extension worth $33.3MM ($9.0MM guaranteed - all in year 2019).

His original contract for 2019 was $0.645MM - that base salary was revised and bumped up to an even $1.0MM. He was also given a $8.0MM roster bonus in 2019.

Base salaries are:

2019 - $1.0MM
2020 - $5.75MM
2021 - $5.4MM
2022 - $5.5MM
2023 - $6.795MM

There is also a weekly bonus for being Active each week - $15,625 per game in years 2020 -2022 and $46,875 per game in 2023.

Holy shit that is a fucking sweet contract for the Colts, there is no way short of acting like a Chefs star player that Moore is not on the team in '19 and after that nothing lost.

It's the sort of contract that indicates that you want the guy for the entirety of the deal, not just the first couple of seasons. I am sure if he outplays his contract value then the contract will be renegotiated in a few years.

I have always hated the short term contracts that are made to look like a 5 year deal just so that the agent looks good. If you are truly trying to sign a cornerstone player sign him to a deal that you can commit to long term such as this one. I really like the way that Ballard has operated with the contracts that he has handed out throughout his reign.

I also think that if you sign an undrafted street free agent to a 2 year deal (which often happens) then he should be paid for the full two years. If you decide to cut him then so be it...but you pay out his full contract, if that means you actually only give him a 3 month contract with no security just because he is camp fodder then do that, and if he makes the team sign him to a new contract at that point.