I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming why Earl Morrall, why. I see it clear as day, Jimmy Orr, uncovered, standing all alone at the Jets 5 yard line, no defender within 20 yards, waving his arms, frantically trying to get your attention..and you, you throw into double coverage and see the ball picked off for what seems to be the umpteeth time in a game you should have won by 20.

You drove a dagger into my dreams.

o


Yes, but Chopped Wood made that post 2 days ago ...... that's in the past ...... it's no longer Tuesday anymore, it's Thursday. He wants to talk about NOW, THE PRESNT, not the past. How many times does he have to keep repeating himself ???

o

I threw up after that shithole of a game. First devastation as a sports fan, Colts had the so much better team

Great, both franchises suck, both have been atrocious at making good decisions for decades. Yep, not disputing it.

Right now, both of them are in a position to potentially land franchise changing players and COULD in a couple years be contesting for a playoff run. Note the word COULD.

I know what's in the back of your head- the 7-1 start, the 8-2 after 10, then the injury and then the downfall. We're not that far away, we can be a winner, we can get Dimes back and we can make a big run. Sure, sure, ok!

On the season, we had 2 significant wins, Denver and SD. Other than that, we beat dogshit, and we lost to EVERY other "good" team we played. Oh don't start, don't start- we were "close" in several of those games- don't start, doesn't matter- at the end of the season, we LOST those games.

In every fucking article / engagement since the season ended, the team reps have made reference to a couple of very impactful moments. One, the most frequently mentioned, the inability to stop Seattle from going down the field in SECONDS to win the game. The other, the inability to get a 1st down against KC to ice the game. Yep, two critical failures that definitely could be attributed to the failure to make the playoffs. Both of those, are representative of a coach that has REPEATEDLY demonstrated to us that he struggles enormously against good football teams. But yeah, sure, next year, sure that will all change! Sure, because yeah man, it just will!

Next year, we will have a QB dragging his leg around, our all-world DT will be using toothpicks to keep his head from falling down, and our all world RB who was healthy ALL damn year, will remain that way even though he is now in the yellow zone of 27 years of age, and his fall off at the end of the year is not in any way an indicator that his play is starting to dip. Oh, and our ALL world OG, who again was essentially healthy all year, who will be 30 years old, will stay that way again and his play will not in any way dip from what it also did late in the year.

Yep, all negative indicators, they are meaningless, because we are the Colts by God and we have bad ass Ballard and Super Star Shane guiding us, and their past results do not indicate future performance!

The greatest likelihood is next year is a 6-7 win team. We again are stuck in shitty draft order. All the brass are sent packing. We probably SUCK terribly in 27 as we shed the old guys and go full youth as we chase a real QB.

So, backing up, yes, give me either the Browns or Jets positions---- right now, with a chance to get a couple young stars in the fold and at least attempting to re-build right now, vs what I expect to be a Blah year next year, a terrible year thereafter, and probably 2 more really shitty years as we fully rebuild. So yep, I would rather be them right now than where we are at this very moment. At least they have HOPES of getting things going north vs what I believe is almost certainly an escalator down for the next 3-5 years.

I don't get it, there are some of you who have this weird aversion to accept that what we have seen from the GM for 9 years and the HC for 2, is not at all who they really are. I believe Denny Green man.

Okay, this post isn’t intended to defend Steichen or Ballard or anyone or anything about the organization.

It’s a simple question sparked by the inability of the team to win against Seattle. The Seahawks get the ball with 42 seconds left and 31 seconds later, kick a winning FG.

For most the hundred year history of the league, that would have been inexplicable, considered an epic fail, a two or three time in a season occurrence.

But, has the ground shifted under our feet? Are we living in a new age, crafted by the dynamic kickoff and the league’s incessant drive to extract every last ounce of excitement from the game? How does that combine with the new rules for kicking balls that seem to be driving an explosion of what seems possible on FG attempts?

A few years ago, you would have seen teams blast a kickoff into the end zone. The result, 1st and 10 at the 20. 60 yard field goals were unheard of, anything from 50 out was a prayer. So, you had to move 50 yards in your 40 seconds.

Nowadays, teams are getting starting field position at the 35 or 40. In order to put yourself in position for a 60 plus yard FG, you might have to only move the ball 10 or 15 yards.

In those circumstances, 42 seconds is an eternity.

We saw this play out as early as week 2, when the Giants played Dallas. The Giants take the lead with 19 seconds left, Dallas moves 18 yards and Aubrey kicks a 64 yarder to send it into OT.

I think that it’s changing the way coaches use timeouts at the end of halves. We’ve gone from trying to bleed the clock on D to calling timeouts, trying to conserve every last second. Teams are getting a couple of extra plays, an extra half minute of time to score all because coaches are trying to jockey themselves into a position where they get the ball back with 30 or 40 seconds left.

I think that the result is that the importance of special teams play has just escalated. You need a kick return game that gets you to the 40. You need to stop runners from crossing the 25. You need a kicker who’s money from 60.

Where do you think the cap space to sign a top DE is going to come from? We currently have $34M in cap space, so will probably need to restructure/cut some guys just to bring back Jones, Pierce, Cross, and anyone else we want to keep.

Getting the ball at the 35 is insane! Complete 1 or 2 medium range passes, and you're in this generation's FG range.

The NFL as a league is so stupid.

See if this helps. They can spread this out for 5 years. Maybe Sherck can better explain it. If I am reading this correctly they can pay the player up front and it will only count against the cap so much per yr.

That has been an issue in the past with liquid money from Jim. The girls have sold off a shit ton of Jim's stuff so they could be flush with cash to make thia hapen

From Grok

NFL signing bonuses are included in the team's salary cap, but they are not charged in full immediately. Instead, they are prorated (spread evenly) over the life of the contract, up to a maximum of five years.For example:A $20 million signing bonus on a four-year contract adds $5 million to the cap each year.
On a five-year (or longer) contract, it adds $4 million per year (or less if spread over five).

This proration rule comes from the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and allows teams to manage cap space by spreading the impact, while the player typically receives the full bonus upfront. If the player is cut or traded early, the remaining prorated amount accelerates as dead money on the cap (potentially spread over two years with a post-June 1 designation).This system is widely used for restructures—converting base salary into signing bonuses to create immediate cap relief—and remains in effect as of 2025-2026 under the current CBA. Unlike roster bonuses (which often hit the cap in full in the year earned), signing bonuses benefit from this spreading mechanism.

NFL signing bonuses are typically paid to the player up front—often as a lump sum shortly after signing the contract (within days or weeks), or at minimum in installments with the bulk received quickly.This is a key reason signing bonuses are attractive to players: they get a large amount of guaranteed money immediately, while the team spreads (prorates) the salary cap impact over the contract's length (up to 5 years).In most cases, the full bonus is paid immediately or very soon after signing.
Contracts can include deferred payments or installments (e.g., part paid on signing, the rest within the first year or by the next March), but the CBA ensures significant portions are paid promptly—at least half within 12 months, with the rest by the following March 31 unless otherwise specified.
Rare exceptions exist (like some rookie deals with minor deferrals), but the standard practice is upfront payment to provide player security.

This upfront cash flow is why teams often convert base salary into signing bonuses during restructures—the player gets the money right away, creating immediate cap relief for the team.

I'm no Sherck, but I do know enough to be dangerous. I'm assuming it would take at least a similar type of contract as the one the Texans signed Hunter to which included a $36.8M signing bonus spread over 5 years w/ a year 1 cap hit of $20M.

I'm sure we'll have to pay Jones more than what we paid him this year ($15M cap hit), Pierce will likely get at least MPJ money ($18M cap hit in year 1), and Cross will be looking to get paid as well.

Obviously there's ways to create cap space and lower the initial cap hit from a signing, but I don't see us being able to re-sign our own and bring in a top flight DE without making some really tough cuts.

But isn't one form of a bonus or guarantee something that CIG wil have to have in cash to make the payment? Meaning She pays it ahead of time and that amount is spread out of 4-5 years