Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Apocalypse Now

It's official...the NFL owners have lost their minds. They don't like giving up 60% of their revenue to the players and will fight tooth and nail to get that number back down. The last contribution of Paul Tagliabue has been wiped off the boards, and we are headed to an uncapped 2010 season in which the Washington Redskins will buy virtually every player in the NFL, leaving the rest of us to watch monkey play linebacker.

I'm not sure if this is a future Colt, or a picture of Ralph Wilson

Ok, so maybe that's a bit extreme, but I can't see how this is good news for the Colts. Yes, Lucas Oil Stadium will help revenues, but as other teams add new stadiums, it will be harder for the small market clubs to survive in an uncapped world. Right now, the franchise tagging system creates an impetus for players to resign with their local clubs, ensuring teams can keep a nucleus intact. That will still be in place for 2010, but beyond that the rule book goes clean out the window. I suppose it will be more important than ever for teams to draft well and coach up players.

The one bright side for the team is that Freddy Keiaho, Bethea, and Marlin Jackson WON'T get to be unrestricted free agents after 09 like originally planned.

The Star is asking the same question that I posed yesterday. What happens to Indy if there is no 2012 Super Bowl? Jimmy isn't worried about it? Great man. I'll take that to heart as I pay an extra $.30 for my cheeseburger at lunch.

In other news, Freeney makes a list of top 10 pass rushers (shocking!)

Lil' Bobby Kravitz (I'm trying it out as a nickname-do you like it?) reviews Indy's seemingly great chances to nail down the Big Show.

Oh by the way...the Kitties are on the market.

Dennis Hopper is pimping Naptown to the NFL bigwigs. Are we trying to land a Super Bowl or a crystal meth convention? I can just hear him channeling his inner Hoosiers: All I know is that no city this small has ever played for a Super Bowl Championship! Wait, I guess that line would work better for Jacksonville. Never mind. The Star is posting a running 'blog' of sorts on the meetings. Great job.

Prisco applies logic to why the Pats are first and the Colts second. He's not wrong. Until we know that Freeney is healthy, we have to worry.

The Super Bowl announcement will be live online sometime after 2:30. Watch it here.

I know the announcement is out, but I'll keep throwing up good stuff like this. I'm telling you, I'm really thrilled. I love Indianapolis and feel like the city is an important part of who I am. This is really just a wonderful day for all of us.

ESPN.com plays the Dungy angle.

6 comments:

Bob M. said...

NFL Football as we klnow it won't end. Some sort of cap will be worked out, but that unrestricted year might be a very ugly problem. I am surprised that it was unanimous. Every owner knows it is in their best interest to have some self-imposed regulation and players and agents should realize it as well, for long-term league health. Maybe they're viewing it as a "tragedy of the commons" situation with short careers--I might as well get mine while I can and the hell with the league surviving another ten years.

Freeney's elite? Didn't somebody on FO just tell us he wasn't. Oh man, now I am confused.

Bob M. said...

Pat Kirwan's piece here indicates that the NFLPA should also have strong interest in reaching an agreement.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80864e15&template=with-video&confirm=true&campaign=ec0005

shake'n'bake said...

One of the main orders of business for the new CBA?

Making sure this doesn't happen again: Matt Ryan gets 34.75 million guaranteed, bigger contract than #1 overall pick Jake Long.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/
2008/football/nfl/05/20/ryan.contract
/index.html?cnn=yes

ok that three line link sucks, how do I make a hyperlink here again?

Anonymous said...

Hyperlink instructions can be found in this thread.

Anonymous said...

I thought the Monkey was more Al Davis than Ralph Wilson personally

I've heard Freeney is being paid over $30 Milion this year, which is great if it is, as that means at least 55%+ of his contract has been paid already.

How much longer does everyone think Marvin has left?

Deshawn Zombie said...

According to the awesome site Coltscap.net (I can't recommend it more strongly)...
Freeney is slated to make 5.75 million this year. The issue with contracts is the proration of the signing bonus. Freeney's contract is a 6 year deal with 30 million guarnateed. That 30 million gets prorated over 6 years and comes out to 5 million a year. His salary is 750k. His bonus money is 5 million. The Colts have basically accounted for 10 of the 30 million. The other 20 will have to be dealt with over the coming years.

It's impossible to know with Marvin. IF he comes back from this, I'd say he has 3 quality seasons in him. He might be done right now for all we know, though