Ballard and Steichen are safe

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

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.

Spotrac has the number at $52 Million, which is substantially more than Over The Cap’s 34. Part of that is the fact that Spotrac is counting only the top 41 players. Another part is that they peg the cap in 2026 at a higher number. Another curiosity is that, just a day ago, Over The Cap was saying the Colts had $45 Million in cap space. I’m not sure what changed in 24 hours.

My guess is that the number will end up just a bit over $40 Million, and you’re right that we need to carve out a chunk of cap space.

So, how to do it?

Right now, there are four players on the roster…Buckner, Nelson, Pittman, and Taylor…who count a combined $95 Million against the cap. Inking them to new contracts, each with first year cap hits of $12 Million, would free up $47 Million and give you a certain amount of roster certainty.

There are another three players…Zaire Franklin, Grover Stewart, and Kenny Moore….who count $35 Million. Arguably, they are each past their prime, and cutting them would open up another $29 Million. A less harsh option would be to request that they sign new deals for less money.

If Charvarius Ward retires, we get $25 Million in cap relief if we want to take him to arbitration and wrench back the prorated $13 Million of his signing bonus. Personally, I think that that would send a bad message to the locker room, that if you suffer a catastrophic injury, the team will try to extort money from you.

Alternatively, there are a dozen players on the roster who earn a combined $144 Million in salary and bonuses. If you convert that money to bonuses and extend it over the maximum 5 years allowed by the CBA, you can free up well over $100 Million.