Tony Dungy is a great case in point. Jon Gruden takes over from him in TB and with pretty much the same talent wins the superbowl. Dungy then has even more talent at his disposal in Indianapolis. And while they reel off fantastic season after season they cant get it done in the playoffs. What if the same thing happens this year? Are they going to say, this isnt working let's overall the roster and re-build or are they going to fire Dungy and get someone who can coach in the playoffs?
EXCELLENT example..
That really makes me think... damn you, it hurts now
But is their cap situation the same? At the start of this seaosn I think that had like 9 million...
This is very interesting...and it is about the Colts and salary cap issues..
Its a VERY good read
jax ask vic web site
Debbie from Indianapolis, IN: The Colts have been a good football team for seven straight years now. I do not understand why you think they sacrifice the future with all of their signings. They have obviously been good for a long time and I do not see a decline any time soon. Please let me know when exactly you see the big decline coming.
Vic: The Colts have been a good team for five straight years, counting this year. They were 6-10 in 2001. I understand your point, however, because the Colts have been a good team for a long time. Let's start by acknowledging how they achieved that long run of success.
They did it by building for the future. They didn't do it by signing old, worn-out and expensive defensive tackles. They did it by drafting future stars, such as Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison. That's what made the Colts a good team.
Now they've reached the point that those players are so good that they have enormous contracts that are pinching not only the Colts' salary cap but the Colts' purse strings. The salary cap may be about monopoly money, but the check Jim Irsay gives his players is the real thing and the Colts are not a high-revenue franchise.
Look at the players they've had to let go: James, Marcus Washington, David Thornton, Mike Vanderjagt. These aren't guys you wanna lose. They had to let 'em go because the cap is beginning to close on the Colts and it's going to close even tighter on them in the future. It's inevitable.
Manning's cap hit next year is $16.5 million. That means they'll probably re-structure him and push more of his money into the future. Harrison will be $8.4 million, Tarik Glenn will be $8.2 million and Robert Mathis and Corey Simon will each be $7.1 million.
Dwight Freeney would be a free agent so they'll probably have to “franchise” him and that's going to mean a real big bite that will require re-structuring roster-wide to make room for Freeney. Where is all of this money going? Onto future caps.
The Colts are going to be able to keep it together and complete this run,
but when the cards fall, the house is going to collapse. That's exactly what happened to the Jaguars and Titans.