** The Official will the Bills go down like Omahas mom vs the Colts Game day thread**

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

It sucks that we didn't take a chance on Montez Sweat in last year's draft. Although if Pittman turns into a top WR then the trade will somewhat work out I suppose.

Rock ya sin as well. Still, you don’t get many shots at a guy like Sweat. They probably really worried about the bad heart diagnosis.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Rock ya sin as well. Still, you don’t get many shots at a guy like Sweat. They probably really worried about the bad heart diagnosis.

I really wanted Sweat, was stunned when he was available at 26, and even more stunned when Ballard traded out. Wouldn't be nearly as worried about all the DL the Colts are losing with him.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Rock ya sin as well. Still, you don’t get many shots at a guy like Sweat. They probably really worried about the bad heart diagnosis.

Ya-sin sucks. The only things he's good for are getting beat deep and at least 1 big PI call a game. The reason why I only brought up Pittman is bc I have no faith that Ya-sin will pan out. Hope I'm wrong.

[Mr. Session]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Ya-sin sucks. The only things he's good for are getting beat deep and at least 1 big PI call a game. The reason why I only brought up Pittman is bc I have no faith that Ya-sin will pan out. Hope I'm wrong.

I was thinking about Rock a little this week.

If he can start making some positive plays and force some TO's like that pick he pulled off against Rogers, we can probably forgive some of the PI's and holding calls.

I like his physicality and he would have helped Indianapolis yesterday. The referees let the DB's play pretty physical and I think he would have been able to contribute more so there.

Next year he needs to start forcing turnovers or making explosive plays one way or another.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

100 million, you can do both.

We have 22 expiring contracts.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Mr. Session

I was thinking about Rock a little this week.

If he can start making some positive plays and force some TO's like that pick he pulled off against Rogers, we can probably forgive some of the PI's and holding calls.

I like his physicality and he would have helped Indianapolis yesterday. The referees let the DB's play pretty physical and I think he would have been able to contribute more so there.

Next year he needs to start forcing turnovers or making explosive plays one way or another.

Agreed. He starts forcing turnovers and making big plays then we can probably live with his penalties. Unfortunately, those have been few and far between in his first 2 years.

He is physical and a good tackler, but I'm not sure if he would have helped or not since he seems to always draw flags no matter how the refs are calling the game. He should definitely work on his holding techniques in the offseason to hopefully get away with more.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

We have 22 expiring contracts.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-age...napolis-colts/

We are only going to resign a handful and none are break-the-bank contracts.

This false narrative that we can't sign anyone because we have rookies coming off contracts needs to end. People have been saying it since Nelson's rookie year. Could have signed people and their contracts would have ended by now. And I am not saying go in debt but spend some of the money just sitting there doing nothing.

Are we a good team pushing the envelope or not? We just took the 2nd seed to the final seconds and they are a SB contender. If we are why not sign a little more talent to push us over. You guys know the pass rush, secondary, and receiving group needs it.

[Dewey 5]

Originally Posted by Mr. Session

I was thinking about Rock a little this week.

If he can start making some positive plays and force some TO's like that pick he pulled off against Rogers, we can probably forgive some of the PI's and holding calls.

I like his physicality and he would have helped Indianapolis yesterday. The referees let the DB's play pretty physical and I think he would have been able to contribute more so there.

Next year he needs to start forcing turnovers or making explosive plays one way or another.

Isaiah Rodgers might end up being a fantastic find by Ballard.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Dewey 5

Isaiah Rodgers might end up being a fantastic find by Ballard.

Agreed. Rodgers looked good yesterday. Too bad he couldn't hang on to that int in the end zone, but you can't fault him for not being able to hang on to a diving catch like that.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-age...napolis-colts/

We are only going to resign a handful and none are break-the-bank contracts.

This false narrative that we can't sign anyone because we have rookies coming off contracts needs to end. People have been saying it since Nelson's rookie year. Could have signed people and their contracts would have ended by now. And I am not saying go in debt but spend some of the money just sitting there doing nothing.

Are we a good team pushing the envelope or not? We just took the 2nd seed to the final seconds and they are a SB contender. If we are why not sign a little more talent to push us over. You guys know the pass rush, secondary, and receiving group needs it.

Which ones do you have the Colts resigning? How much do you think that's going to cost? Also, please see below.

Originally Posted by Dam8610

First, $100 million is an exaggeration by a lot. Counting the 2020 rollover, the Colts have $72 million in cap space against the projected 2021 cap. That seems like quite a bit until you look at the unrestricted free agent list:

QB Philip Rivers
QB Jacoby Brissett
WR T.Y. Hilton
DE Justin Houston
DE Denico Autry
S Malik Hooker
CB Xavier Rhodes
RT Le'Raven Clark
SS Tavon Wilson
CB T.J. Carrie
TE Trey Burton
OT Chaz Green
OC Joey Hunt
DT Taylor Stallworth
CB Tremon Smith
RB Marlon Mack
LB Anthony Walker Jr.
DE Al-Quadin Muhammad
P Ryan Allen
OT Jared Veldheer

That's nearly half of the DL rotation, all of the QBs but Eason, Hilton, Walker, and Rhodes that at the very least you have to consider retaining. I know I'd want Autry, Muhammad, Stallworth, Rhodes, and Hilton back at the very least. I think the team could withstand losing pretty much everyone else without missing a beat. How much will those 5 cost? Conservatively $30 million? If you want the three good backup OLs on that list as well, make it at least $35 million. Now let's look at RFAs, which is a short list:

WR Zach Pascal
S George Odum

Assuming an "original round" (see: only RoFR) tender for both, that's another $4.5 million, so let's call that $40 million.

That leaves $32 million with Jacob Eason as the only QB on the roster. Assuming a roughly $7 million rookie pool, that leaves $25 million. If Rivers resigns for $20 million, there's your $5 million of roster churn space. If you don't resign Hilton and Rhodes, maybe that's another $20 million, so who do you spend that on? You could get a different #1 WR for that money, maybe Kenny Golladay or JuJu Smith-Schuster, but that's going to cost $15 million per year at least, probably more. You could take a chance on Bud Dupree and his torn ACL or Von Miller who hasn't played this year from what I can tell, but either of them will cost $12+ million. Bottom line is there's not a lot of room for the Colts this year. Either they're going to let a lot of their team go or they're not going to have much room for outside free agents, and next year is when guys like Leonard, Braden Smith, etc. start coming due. Nelson is after 2022, so are Okereke and Willis. Then in 2023, Pittman, Taylor, Blackmon, and this year's first rounder if they're any good come due. There will likely be a $40 million jump from 2021 to 2022 cap, but the Colts don't have the monstrous amount of room they used to anymore.

After I wrote this, I started playing around with over the cap and realized that their 2021 numbers seem to at least partially account for rollover amounts, so the Colts may have even less than I thought when I wrote this post. Of course I also think their 2021 estimate is based on the negotiated cap floor of $175 million, and I've heard rumors that it will be closer to $190 million, so the numbers listed above may still be accurate.