I always hated that fucking play

Its option football. The long hand off freezes the linebackers and at least one safety. If its Edge, he will get 3 yards falling down. Pull the ball, its 1 on 1 coverage. Marvin, Reggie, Edge in the flat, Dallas going down the seam. Manning was the perfect QB for that offense.

Think of Richardson the athlete, adding his running skill to that play. The right guy running that system makes the D wrong on their decisions

I know what the play was. Manning was in love with it and it everyone wrote a piece on it. In reality it was a long off tackle boring play I’m happy to see retired. If it was so unstoppable it would still be a staple. It was so slow developing. I love Steichens approach with AR.

Thought this was interesting - Edge had a bit of an assist here.

He helped mediate between the Colts and Taylor to get the ball rolling again.


https://twitter.com/NateAtkins_/stat...47176308015406

Not sure it’s that bad of a precedent. Taylor got no increase in this year’s salary, and the average salary for the following three years (where he was unsigned) is $14 million, with only a little more than 60% ($26.5M) guaranteed. The franchise number (fully guaranteed) for next year would probably have been in the $11M-$12M range). The devil’s in the details, as always, and those aren’t all available yet. Not sure Taylor wouldn’t have done better by waiting until the end of the season to negotiate an extension though.

EDIT: it looks like the projected franchise number for RBs next year will actually be over $13M, per Overthecap
http://https://overthecap.com/franch...nd-rfa-tenders

I loved the play. But in today's NFL most QB's can't run it, because they don't play under center. In fact I'm not sure that Peyton ran it much after 2007. If you remember...after coming back from his knee injury in 2008, the Colts tried to run it with Peyton doing a pitch out. It didn't work.

'Things got off the rails': Colts Jim Irsay on path to Jonathan Taylor's contract extension







The Colts' contract talks with Jonathan Taylor took so many twists and turns that it became hard at times for those involved to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

But that light has arrived. The Colts signed Taylor to a three-year, $42 million extension with $26.5 million guaranteed Saturday, one day before he'll make his season debut against the Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"It has been a journey," Colts owner Jim Irsay said in a call with media. "There was a lot of work to be done to mend the spirit and the heart and look that everyone has their heart in the right place, and it doesn’t always come out that way when people are protecting themselves for their money and their family long-term.


"... Things got off the rails."

The $14 million annual value ranks third among running backs, behind only Christian McCaffrey of the 49ers and Alvin Kamara of the Saints. It's a major shift from Irsay saying that he didn't plan on making Taylor any extension offer this season.

Indianapolis Colts All-Pro running back has signed a three-year extension with the franchise.
MORE:Jonathan Taylor signs 3-year contract extension with Indianapolis Colts

"This is a great deal, a very huge deal for a running back," Irsay said. "It's sooner than I think should have happened, but I was OK with it because of his age and the four-year average."


But the Colts needed a resolution to a relationship with an All-Pro player that had turned rocky. Taylor requested a trade, and Irsay and Taylor's agent, Malki Kawa, traded tweets about the state of the position. Kawa referred to the relationship as unfixable at one point. And Taylor went to the Physically Unable to Perform List to miss the first four games of the season.

General manager Chris Ballard stayed in close communication with Kawa, and Irsay credited former Colts legendary running back Edgerrin James for being a mediator between the team and its disgruntled back.


There was always a compromise available if the two sides could agree on a multi-year contract. Taylor had expected one based on the Colts' precedent with players such as Quenton Nelson, Braden Smith, Shaquille Leonard and Kenny Moore II. It took the Colts time to offer one, but that day has arrived.

"The whole process has been difficult because a player coming off an injury who missed a lot of time – it’s not his fault – for a team that has struggled greatly with that much contract time left from his first contract," Irsay said. "Again, the body of work is great — 2021, just that year alone – but I felt it wasn’t time to address it or have a standoff and battles."


It's not clear what made things shift so dramatically. When Taylor spoke Thursday before his first practice in nearly a year, he did not commit to wanting to be with the Colts long-term. Two days later, he signed the extension.

Meet IndyStar's Colts Insiders: Talking Colts football with reporters Nate and Joel

But it allows both sides to move on to build a team that is currently 2-2 and in a four-way tie in the AFC South. They have an innovative first-year coach in Shane Steichen, the most athletic quarterback prospect in history in rookie Anthony Richardson, an improved offensive line and a complementary running back in Zack Moss.

That setup will allow the Colts to ease Taylor back in after so much time off. Irsay said that it will be three to four weeks before Taylor is built up to his old form. And now that a multi-year extension is in writing, both sides have some incentive to manage the workload and maintain efficiency beyond this season.


They all hope that they can return Taylor to the rushing champion he was in 2021, when he ran for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns.

"His unique speed, ability and everything else, it gives us a unique opportunity offensively to do thing that shifts it in another gear," Irsay said.

"Now you’ve got to be worried about grand slams and 500-foot home runs. This team has changed."

I wasn't referring to the numbers. They seem to be fine. As you point out similar to the franchise tag annually. I'm guessing too that the guaranteed dollars are front loaded so if JT does drop off we can get out of the final year w/out a big cap hit.

The precedent I was talking about was extending him without him proving anything post injury on the field after JT held out, potentially faked an injury, and acting like a giant douche for several months.

IndyNorm, the one thing you forgot to mention on this precedent is the guy doing it is your best player on offense (soon to be consensus second best), so that precedent has already been set decades ago. From Babe Ruth to Emmit Smith great players jobs have always been to push the envelope in any way possible to increase wages for everyone in their sport. If AR keeps getting better you can bet your ass he would do the exact same kind of thing if the Colts wanted to play hard ball (they of course would not do that with a QB-life ain't fair just like we all know).

I get it, but it's always a matter of each side's appetite for risk in comparison to the benefit, right? I mean, if the deal's good enough for the Colts, I'm sure they'd extend any core player even though there may be lots of risk in doing so.

I agree this deal can and will be used by those with an agenda to say the Colts caved, but maybe that's partly the point. The dollar figure lets Taylor save some face after he painted himself into a bit of a corner, but is it really all that great for him? He didn't get anything better for himself this year, and he's locked up his age 25-27 prime seasons at a price which is likely to be undermarket if he plays well. If he plays poorly, then I suppose Taylor's bought himself some financial security that he wouldn't have had otherwise and it will be a bad deal for the Colts, but that's the trade-off. Even then, however, its a relatively short 3-year contract and the Colts appear to have built in some downside protection since only a bit more than 60% of the contract is guaranteed. We still don't have some of the fine details on the contract structure, but even assuming the $26.5M is fully guaranteed in all respects and irrevocable, it doesn't sound like a giant win for Taylor by any stretch.

So, at the end of the day, maybe the Colts caved a little in changing their position on an early extension, but in exchange they locked him up for three years at what they probably believe is a pretty reasonable price. This is no record setting contract ala Quenton Nelson or Shaq Leonard.