Colts Cap Update – 13 March 2017

[sherck]

$167.000m = NFL 2017 Cap
$006.614m = Colts roll-over from 2016
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$173.614m = Colts 2017 Cap

$121.043m = Colts Top 51 Off-Season Contracts
$001.080m = Spots #52 and #53 on In-Season Active Roster
$006.322m = Estimated Draftee Cap Hit
$006.376m = Dead Money
$003.000m = In-Season “Churn” Space
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$137.821m = Obligations

Jabaal Sheard’s contract has still not been released. Straight line averaging would result in an $8.5m per year cap hit so we will add that number as a place-holder although it is likely that the first year number will be higher if Ballard followed the same format as Doyle’s and Simon’s contracts.

[[ EDIT: While I still don't have complete info, news is now stating that Sheard's first year cap hit will be $9.96m with the 2018 hit being $7.5m and 2019 being $8.0m. No pro-rated signing bonus so all the "guaranteed" money will be in year one. This is becoming the standard Ballard contract structure. ]]

$147.781m = Estimated Obligations (NEW NUMBER)

$025.833m = Available “New” Money Cap Space to sign free agents (New Number)


Top Ten Cap Hits:

$19.400m = Andrew Luck
$12.800m = Anthony Castonozo
$10.250m = Vontae Davis
$10.000m = T.Y. Hilton
$09.960m = Jabaal Sheard (New Number)
$08.000m = Jack Doyle
$07.350m = Arthur Jones
$06.000m = John Simon
$04.250m = Kendall Langford
$03.500m = Frank Gore

To only have 10 guys with over a $3.500m cap hit indicates that we really do not have many “high priced” talents on the team.

Cap Savings Over $1.000m If Cut:

$09.000m = Vontae Davis
$05.150m = Arthur Jones
$04.400m = Anthony Castonzo
$04.000m = T.Y. Hilton
$03.750m = Kendall Langford
$03.500m = Frank Gore
$02.750m = Adam Vinatieri
$02.100m = Akeem Ayers
$01.797m = Donte Moncrief
$01.750m = Scott Tolzien
$01.500m = Barkevious Mingo

Lots of money left to sign one of the ILBs who can cover (Hightower, Brown, Hodges, Minter), perhaps a NT (Johnathan Hawkins, Bennie Logan) although neither are better than NFL average (or below average) and a secondary body if desired.

Why the heck are none of the ILBs moving? Of the top 8 ILBs on the UFA market (Hightower, Riley, Brown, Hodges, Minter, Armstrong, Levy, Spence), only Armstrong is signed. This is the only position in free agency where impact players are still available five days into free agency. Why?

And why have we not signed our pick of them? Were we waiting to see if we signed Poe? If so, that ship is sailing; let’s go to the next priority!

For those of you who are not opposed to Pro Football Focus grades, here are the top twenty remaining 2016 graded Unrestricted Free Agents who are unsigned. Bolded are the ones that I think fit the Colts:

Terence Newman, CB, aged 39 (age)
Don’t’a Hightower, ILB, aged 27
Perry Riley, ILB, aged 31 (age)
Morris Clairborne, CB, aged 27 (zone)
Zach Brown, ILB, aged 27
Lardarius Webb, S, aged 31 (age)
Darius Butler, CB/S, aged 31
Gerald Hodges, ILB, aged 26
J.J. Wilcox, S, aged 26
Kevin Minter, ILB, aged 26
Lorenzo Alexander, OLB, aged 34 (age)
Isa Abdul-Quddus, S, aged 28 (zone)
Bradley McDougald, S, aged 26
Jared Cook, TE, aged 30 (offense)
Jerome Felton, FB, aged 31 (offense)
Nickell Robey-Coleman, CB, aged 25 (zone)
Dwight Freeney, DE/OLB, aged 37 (age)
Jarius Byrd, S, aged 30 (not yet cut but going to be)
Nick Mangold, OC, aged 33 (age)
Darryl Tapp, 4-3 DE, aged 32 (age; wrong position)

Lots of ILB and Safeties that are on the correct side of 30 in that list. Could be positions where we could still sign some help for the defense. We have the room to do so.

Cheers,