Kenny Moore Signs 4-year Deal
 

The Colts used a little of that cap space today - making Moore the highest paid slot corner "based upon new money" according to Rapoport:

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1139165883010621441

Good move.

Yes, Moore seems to be well liked around here. GBB is a big fan, if I recall correctly. I'll be curious to see the terms/structure.

The Colts seem to be taking a page from MLB in focusing on early re-signs of their players to buy out a few of their free agent years. Moore's a pretty significant one. I wonder if they're thinking of doing something similar with Kelly, though I know his injury history would be a concern.

The comments left below Rapoport’s twitter post are kind of funny to read. The prevailing response to the Moore news seems to be “Who?”, including a guy who simply says, “never heard his name ever said”.

Then there’s the Texans fans who are basically conceding the AFC South to the Colts.

This is what we discussed on here after they didn't go crazy in UFA. There's a lot of cap space this year that they can put towards extensions. It will create more cap room in 2020-2023 and could help them retain more of their own who would have otherwise hit free agency.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1139168128032751616


https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1139169655447326721

Heh, I remember him making some boneheaded special teams plays a couple years ago and me saying "CUT HIM."

Glad people way smarter than me make the decisions.

Ballard keeps doing what he says he will do. This has to be a positive for the locker room. I really like spending that cap money this way.

It wasn't just ST. He also had some really bad reps in coverage his rookie year. I don't know how much was scheme vs his progression, but he was WAYYYY better in 2018.

Me too

If you tell guys that you will play and pay the best guys, and they win games, you need to back up your talk with paydays.

Bingo

Weird. Moore is great, great energy, good skills. Odd to me That there can be colts fans that haven't heard of him.

Darius' Leonard's mic'd up session has this hilarious bit where he screams "Get off me Kenny!"

Details on the contract:

Per Rapoport

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1139241081826975744

Per Joel Erickson

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...49426327752704

Not odd when you consider it's from the comments section of a Tweet.

Good signing, I was wondering if this was going to happen after Rigoberto.

There is still Castonzo and Ebron as extension candidates as well. I wonder if Ballard are working on them. Castonzo would be a good signing since tackles age well and sometimes have their best years in their 30's.

I was among those who wanted him cut.

To be fair though it was only his first few games that he struggled with the bonehead plays. He did get progressively better after that.

And it sounds like Castonzo is responding well to the new training staff, saying his body is feeling better than it has in years. Of course, that could also just be him angling for a final big contract.

Yeah just ask him--I'm sure he'll tell you he feels like he's 25 again!

Why wouldnt the colts do everything to resign him? Solid left tackles are hard to find. Is there a better left tackle in the conference?

I had assumed the responses were from non-Colts fans, but if Colts fans are saying this it's even funnier. Just the contrast between the report of a record-breaking contract, and the fact the guy has such low name recognition. In any event, good signing and good message to the rest of the team.

Probably Lewan and Villanueva, but it's a good point. He's a solid piece and there's no reason for the Colts to mess around and lose him when they have ample cap room.

It took a decade to get together a good OL for this team

No need to get rid of a key piece now and risk destroying all that

Castonzo should be back

With this offense, with more play action, the guys can attack the opposition, hit them first and make them react. He can play his position, he doesnt need to worry about the guy next to him

Seems unnecessarily early, but good to have him locked up. Will be interesting to see what the exact contract details are.

He just got his braces off and can't stop licking his teeth. Love it.

Gotta get the cap dollars into this year. A signing bonus can help with that.

That is exactly what the Colts did with Rigoberto's contract - I would expect the same here. That is one of the main reasons for extending the contract "early".

Here's an article on the growing importance of slot corners in today's NFL:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/8...lot-cornerback

Contracts keep going up, locking him in now will make the later years look like a bargain if he continues to stay healthy and play at a high level.

Here you go

http://https://profootballtalk.nbcsp...-rest-of-team/

All respect, but it didnt take a decade. It took two years. Fuck polian and fuck grigson.

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So it's a true extension then - he's under contract for five more seasons (2019-2023) following this extension, and we've bought out three of his free agent years.

We had two GMs before Ballard that didnt understand you win in the trenches. Wasted a lot of years with 2 great QBs... should have won a minimum of 4 SBs with Manning.

I dont understand that comment. When Polian got here there was T Glen. He found Diem And scott in the draft' Liljia off the KC pratice squad and pulled Saturday out of his ass.

He drafted linemen, Costanzo for one. He had some misses, like His successor. He drafted two potential HOF DE’s. He found WIL for dungy and two outstanding safties, Sansders and Bethea.

Polian did his job, coaches need to coach and players need to play. You want a legit complaint, Caldwells TO against the Jets

I'm not dismissing the great things Polian did. More could have been done on defense. I just wish we would have won more SBs.. was that all on Polian? Absolutely not. I just feel Ballard is placing more emphasis in that area so far. We will see if it ends in more SBs.

Polian's problem is that he didn't have a successor plan in place for the OL. In the early 2000s it was a great line. Tarik Glenn, Saturday, Scott, Diem, Lilja, DeMulling, all in their prime. By 2010, if not sooner, Lilja, Diem, and Saturday were getting old, Glenn, Scott, Peko and DeMulling were gone - and we didn't have guys waiting in the wings to take over. Hell, it wasn't until Castonzo was picked that they even found a replacement for Glenn. That was about a 4 year gap of failures.
Various starters on that line in the last 5-6 years of Polian's tenure:
Mike Pollack, Charlie Johnson (was good depth but never a true starter), Kyle Devan, Tony Ugoh, Jeff Linkenbach, Joe Reitz (another good depth but never a true starter).
And all these guys actually started. Look at the depth chart:
Seth Olsen, Mike Tepper, Quinn Ojinakka, Michael Toudouze, Jamey Richard, Jaimie Thomas, Jacques Mclendon.
I could go on, but if that isn't a depressing list of O-lineman, I don't know what is.

I don't think Polian put enough emphasis in offensive lineman. Moore was a genius at getting guys to play well together but they just did not have the physicality that you can get with high draft choices. There is a reason everyone considered us soft (we were-if that even can apply to a football team) during Polian's reign and nobody but nobody would say that about this team now. We will see if this philosophy (spend high draft choices in building your offensive line) gets us more championships than the last one. I like it a lot better and have been wanting us to go down this route for decades.

Polian believed in a good center and strong tackles. He treated the guards as recyclable and would use low round picks on them. He did not find a tackle to replace Glenn. Poor left tackle play was mitigated by Manning’s quick release. This was also a different time in oline play, teams could practice longer and work on technique. Today many oline attribute the decreased practice time from the CBA as the reason for decreased oline play across the league. Also may be why teams are spending higher picks for oline because they can’t develop them like they used to.

However, I think Polian’s olines were elevated by Manning. For years Manning was the highest hit QB in the league after release. I think it’s what led to his injury and decline. Too many high picks spent on skill positions. But Polian believed in a design of having a big three on offense and a dominant pass rusher on defense.