Trusting Ballard, as I am merely a fan

[Ironshaft]

Originally Posted by albany ed

At the end of last season, the Colts appeared to have 3 big needs for the coming season, as well as many smaller wants.

1. QB - with Rivers being done, the Colts went and got Wentz. Let's hope we get the good Wentz and not the bad one

2. DE - improve the pass rush with a force at DE. I'm optimistic that Paye fits the bill

3. LT - to me, a very important need. We have what appears to be a great running game, I'd hate to see it fail due to a glaring weakness on the left side of the line.


2 out of 3 major needs have been addressed. Hold on to your hats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride, but it will be fun, and in the end, that's good enough for me.

And with 4 quality veteran left tackles out there on the market whom are all in the same ballpark as Castonzo in terms of quality and performance, there is little doubt in my mind that we will fill the 3rd big hole on our roster as well.

Most rookie draft classes (7 picks) are going to cost around $6m in cap space for 2021. Spots 52 and 53 on the active in-season roster are going to cost around $2m. The 10 person practice squad is going to cost $2m for the season. In season churn space will be around $2-4m.

In total, teams need to have around $10-12m in free cap space just to sign their rookies, fill their roster, pay their practice squad and operate for the season.

Currently, 16 teams (half the league) have less than $10m in free cap space.
Another 4 teams have less than $15m of free cap space.

Ergo:

A) The market of teams with sufficient free cap space that can pay for a veteran left OT in free agency is not big. It is a bit of a waiting game to sign one IF you value all the tackles roughly equally because every day that passes probably lowers that hoped for compensation by agents and players.

B) Veteran cuts are not done yet.

The proof of whether this was a successful off-season will be measured by our week 1 roster and our week 18 record, not what is happening in March, April, May, June or July.

IF Tevi or Davenport are our starting week 1 left OT, I will LEAD the mob with pitchfork raised high when storming the Colts complex searching for Ballard's head.

Be patient, Freaks.