Colts first UFA WR Devin Funchess

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Yep, agreed on the option - I'm surprised there weren't option years attached. That would have made a lot more sense to me. So, while I'm hopeful about this signing, I can't deny that it's puzzling.

As far as your Ebron comparison, I don't think it's really fair. Ballard hasn't really been faced with losing a star player (and yes I'll call Ebron a star - he's high profile, productive and likeable) during his Colts tenure, so we don't know how he'll treat the situation. He's emphasized that he wants to "keep our own" players, and certainly there are less unknowns when you sign one of your own players to an extension rather than bringing in an outside free agent on a big deal. So I think there's reason to think he'd do his best to keep such players around if they are a good fit.

I suppose you could point to Desir, but we don't know what kind of money he was asking for - if it's another Rashaan Melvin situation, it would be hard to fault Ballard in my view.

I think when it comes time to pay top dollar for players that are proven performers on this roster and were drafted by the Colts he will pay to retain them. I’m not 100% convinced he will pay top dollar to retain a non home grown talent, but that remains to be seen. I am however extremely skeptical that he will pay top dollar to retain a player after only one year of high production. Even if that one years was in a Colts uniform. Does one year of production make someone proven to you? Would you make Ebron the highest paid TE in the league right now? I wouldn’t, but if he was on the market there’s a very real possibility that someone would offer it. Plenty of players have outlier years where everything falls into place. It’s a lot harder to sustain high level play. That 2nd year is huge in making sure the production isn’t a fluke. Personally I expect Ebrons number to drop some this year. If Doyle is back healthy, the WR group is improved, and Hines gets used more in his 2nd year those numbers have to come from some where and Ebrons outlier season is a likely victim.

So as conservative as Ballard is with money I doubt Ballard would have retained Ebron this year if he signed a one year contract and I doubt he re-signs Funchess next year if he has a similar break out. We will see I guess.