I've been anti-Bell signing for the entire time and I am still such. But if we Low balled him a bit it might make more sense. I'm sure you are correct that he would not sign with us as there are 3-4 other teams that will likely pay him what he wants (ARI, ATL, OAK).

So if choice A is unlikely if not impossible, I agree with B, C, D. But I would Not look too hard on B unless there is something out there that is a no brainer.

On colts.com they posted the "unofficial" depth chart for week 15:


— C: Ryan Kelly, Evan Boehm, Josh Andrews


They also have Swoope listed, so who know what this means really.

We need playmakers. Bell is one. He was also considered one of the best if not the best pass protecting back in the league. He was a great pass option out of the backfield. I think Reich could do a hell of a lot with him. I completely agree with Omaha that the amount of money and his past drug use are huge issues. If you can structure his contract that we can financially live with that doesn't strap us going forward (maybe front loaded) and protects us from any loss due to drug issues it could work out. If not put the resources somewhere else, but lets use them (ie spend some of Irsay's money)

Ballard, so far, has structured all of his veteran contracts as:

1. No signing bonus
2. First year guaranteed salary
3. First year guaranteed roster bonus
4. No guaranteed money otherwise

Every contract Ballard has signed, except high round rookie contracts, has been structured so that the team actaully saves cap space by year two if the player needed to be cut (i.e. no guaranteed money left).

For example:

Jonathan Hankins, 3-years, $27.5m total, zero signing bonus.

Year 1, $3m salary (guaranteed), $7.5m roster bonus (guaranteed), $10.5m guaranteed and paid in year one.
Year 2, $8m salary, $500k roster bonus, neither guaranteed
Year 3, $8m salary, $500k roster bonus, neither guaranteed

All guranteed money was paid year one, no pro-rated amount so he was a cap gain of $8.5m when cut in year two of his time with the Colts.

Jabaal Sheard, 3-years, $25.5m total, zero signing bonus.

Year 1, $2.5m salary (guaranteed), $7.5m roster bonus (guaranteed), $9.5m guaranteed and paid in year one.
Year 2, $7m salary, $500k roster bonus, neither guaranteed
Year 3, $7.5m salary, $500k roster bonus, neither guaranteed

All guaranteed money paid in year one. Net cap gain if cut afterwards.

John Simon's contract followed the same pattern.

Denico Autry's contract from 2018 follows the same pattern.

Eric Ebron's contract from 2018 also follows the same pattern (but only a 2 year contract).

Those are all of the free agents that Ballard has signed to a total contract size of $10m or more (spread out over 2 or 3 years). Same pattern in every one.

I would expect most of Ballard's contract to work the same way going forward. If he needs to sign a mega-star contract (Luck, Bell, Hilton), then he I suspect that he will have to guarantee perhaps the 2nd year salary as well in order to hit the right ratio of guaranteed money to total money that players expect but I don't think he will turn to the signing bonus route and push that money cap hit out 3/4/5 years. That just does not seem to be his MO.

Walk Worthy,

I know it will likely come off as crazy, but I think Hines could supplant Mack as our RB1 next year and produce just as well, maybe even better. He seems a bit faster and is a better receiving option.

On a side note, I would like to see Hines in the slot as long as Inman is out, and maybe even after his return.

That's not crazy; Mack is not a RB1.

Reich opened today's presser by saying Ryan Kelly IS practicing today - although on a limited basis.


https://twitter.com/HolderStephen/st...96688757637121

Cox is practicing today also.

Sherck That is the line of reasoning I was thinking. We could pay someone 21 million and still have more cap space than most if not all teams. I’m not advocating this but we can afford him. He is not going to get the money he is asking for and I have to believe he knows this. He’s asking for the moon which is what he should do as a negotiating ploy. My guess is that he does not end up a Colt. It will be interesting how Ballard fills this roster out. These discussions are so much more fun this year. It’s wonderful

Did not want to do threat necro so I will throw this in here:

I love watching him just maul folks when we run....but his pass blocking has come a long way this season as well.

Nelson / Smith / Glowinski, a three headed Colts MVP for this season! :)


Walk Worthy,