Charvarius Ward…through the looking glass
 

I’m not sure that anyone on this board disagrees that the best case scenario is for him to make a total recovery, return to the team, and play.

He is a high-end, shut down, Cornerback. Pair him with Sauce Gardner and the result is transformative. Trevor Lawrence and CJ Stroud don’t look anywhere near as good if they have no one to throw to. Laiatu Latu looks a lot better with an extra half second to get to the quarterback.

But, to be perfectly honest, three concussions. The argument can be made that he should simply walk away. There are more important things than football.

My question, and this is where the discussion turns uncomfortable, is whether he can afford to retire, and if he does, how does that impact the colts financially and cap wise ?

I’ll start up by saying that I’m not a professional capologist. My knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep.

I don’t know how much he was paid in San Francisco, I don’t pretend to know much of anything about his financial resources.

He signed a three year $53 Million contract, which should’ve set him up for life. If the Colts were to cut him, there would be an $18 million cap hit this year. As a result, I don’t expect to see that kind of move out of Chris Ballard.

If Charvarius retires, the numbers become less straightforward. His contract is suspended, and the Colts are off the hook for his $13 million salary.

If Carlie and Ballard are completely mercenary, they can take him to arbitration and wring back the pro rated portion of his signing bonus, $13.2 million.

In theory, that’s $26 million in cap space.

As I said, though, I am no capologist. I don’t have access to the terms of his specific contract, and I haven’t read the collective bargaining agreement, so this is speculation of the rankest kind..

It’s possible that a lot comes down to his retirement status, and whether he retires, or is allowed to retire, due to injury. If he does, it might or might not change the financial equation.

I personally don't think he retires and I don't think money would daunt him if he did. I think he is extremely competitive. I was a two sport athlete in school (NOWHERE near a mediocre level) However, I was competitive. I have had several knee surgeries and an elbow surgery. Every time I said I was going to quit. After the self wollering in what's important, I doubled down on my rehab so I could play again. I knew the consequences, but my inner self didn't care. I pay for it now that I am 60 years old. I get knee injections every 3 months in both knees just to halfway walk normal. I have zero regrets cause I never had to live with what if? Time and lack of substantial talent ended any ideas I had of doing it at another level, but what if never took up space in my thought process.

His statements to the press leave you to believe he is going to take some time to see if the headaches dissipate. If so, he'll probably come back but will be on a really short leash and seemed to indicate if he had ANY indication that a subtle injury brought back the pain, he would call it a day. Hard to imagine being in that position and not constantly having that worry in the back of you head and thus not being at peak performance.

I think he should hang it up. Too much downside risk.

Yeah, I think you are right. Too much future to risk worse brain injuries. I hate it for him, and the team, but he is a human being, and a father, after all.

I'm selfish, I want him out there. That said, I'm preparing for the sting. Three concussions and lingering effects for months on end... especially in an era where dudes leave earlier than they used to. I don't know.

Which sucks because the hype behind a Cross-Bynum-Ward-Gardner-Moore secondary is not overstated.

I didn't get to watch a lot of the games but I don't recall him shutting anyone down. I remember him being a good tackler 20 yards down field after the catch.

My memory isn't so good but I remember there being a huge negative difference in the defense when he first went out. When he came back he wasn't the same player but before that I thought he really improved our defense

He never looked right after missing time.

If they tried to get money back from a player who had to retire due to injury, they’d never get another free agent to come here again.

And I wouldn’t blame any player who refused to sign here.

No doubt. If he decides to retire and we go after the remaining 2 years of his signing bonus then we can kiss ever signing a decent UFA good bye.

As for Kray's original questions:

Ward's career earnings to date are $68M, so as long as he's been at least somewhat responsible with his money then he can easily afford to retire.

Also, his cap hit for '26 is $20M w/ $5M guaranteed salary with the remaining $8M of his salary becoming guaranteed on 3/17. The remaining portion of his signing bonus is ~$13.5M, so as long as he doesn't receive his guaranteed salary the the Colts would save ~$6.5M in cap space.