I waited until I could see Freeney on the NFL Network before I posted to see what he had to say, and what he said were all the right things. Freeney has a cool and a comfort in interviews that behooves his confidence and maturity. He is a better interview that Manning (offensive captain) or Gary Brackett (defensive captain) and his sense of humor rivals that of Center Jeff Saturday. Freeney's place on the team is a obvious on gameday. He is as disruptive as he is effective. When asked if he was nervous about performing with such a high pricetag he said no. He said that even if the sack numbers are down, which they were this year, that if he keeps his effort level up he can effect games by drawing double teams and forcing quarterback away from his side of the field. He also said that if he can change games that way he will be just as effective as when he gets the sack himself. I liked that.
For the Colts, this sends a few messages. First, it tells the team and their fans that they are committed to going back to the Super Bowl and maintaining talent on the defensive side in the wake of so many defensive players leaving in the offseason. It tells players that a high level of play will be rewarded. There are also some goodbyes to start thinking about. This move, in addition to the draft of Tony Ugoh, almost certainly means the end of Tarik "Skeeter" Glenn's tenure in Indianapolis. While the move frees up a little cap room, with more room to come after the expected release of Corey "Bitchtits" Simon, I would think that room will applied elsewhere.
As I claimed in another post, the signing of Dwight Freeney, will prevent the Colts from handing out other large contracts like the one Glenn would expect. Probably something in the neighborhood of 4.5 to 6 million a year is what he will be looking for in terms of salary which will put him with or above Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, and Jonathan Ogden all of whom he outperformed statistically in the last two years. In the next offseason, though, the Colts will use the extra cap and money saved by n
ot having a first round draft pick to secure the future of Bob Sanders (if he stays healthy) and Dallas Clark (if he can start catching passes more consistently). Glenn, who I had originally thought might be aggravated by the open way the Colts are planning for a future without him but embraced it (and Ugoh) with almost no animosity, will be asking for money the Colts have spent on younger players at the end of next year. It may also spell doom for any fans hoping to see the Colts chase a free agent linebacker or defensive tackle in the next year or two.
Don't think your Colt's have handcuffed themselves, though, because they aren't in as bad a place as you might think. Many of their defensive starters will be young players or second year guys still playing at bottom dollar. The cap will be going up again at the end of this season, and with long-term deals securing almost all of the offensive keys, the only place to spend money will be on the defensive side of the ball in 2009 and 2010. AND as I watched Freeney's interview I was elated to find that Jim "PLAYOFFS?!" Mora actually believes the same thing I do, that the players the Colts lost this offseason are not as important to their coming year as the sports world would have you think. He then began to rattle off the list of players that were injured last year and didn't contribute that are now gone and he spoke admiringly about the play of Antoine Bethea, the rookie safety who replaced Mike Doss following his knee injury. I can't believe
that hothead actually saw something the same way I did. The closer we get to camp the better I feel about the Colt's chances of repeating as Super Bowl champs, and the better I feel about the future of the club. Sniff, sniff. Is that dynasty I smell or is it Charlton Heston's aftershave?
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Yeah, but Corey Redding is the richest DT in the NFL!
Beat that Colts! You may be able to actually make it the superbowl but you don't know how to overpay for your low level talent!!!
yes, but we know how to pay a guy like Simon and watch him eat his way to a diabetic fit and sit out an entire season. We can do that. thankfully the addition of Booger Mcfarland filled the gaps Simon couldn't. redding's situation is interesting given that his emergence was at the hands of Shaun rogers' injury. If rogers stays healthy and keeps his head straight throughout the season i find it hard to believe that detroit would have spent that kind of money. he also wanted out, if i remember, as many detroit players do when their contracts come up, so I would initially guess that you may see something very similar to corey simon where a guy gets his bones and then lets himself go. I guess we will see. Colts fans aren't really afraid of that happening with Freeney, though, and I will be very surprised if his performance drops. His season was disappointing until the last two games, when he really started to turn it on, particularly in run support pursuing plays to the other side. His playoffs were huge, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a captains nod for his efforts this season.
FYI - Articles like this are precisely why we negotiated so hard to get Bruce Paine to write on Cobra Brigade. Very well done.
boney - now that I am thinking more about it I am starting to think that Detroit is a team on the rise. position by position they have players, maybe not premiere guys, but they have promise. I believe Millen is an idiot, but then again, I couldn't find fault with his draft this year except that they need a tailback. I am going to keep my eye on Detroit.
Everyone else - It should have made it into the post but one thing that folks should realize when they are looking at Freeney's contract is that it is a prime deal for a really gifted athlete who is becoming very experienced and savvy at his position. After the Colts got Sanders back late in the season, you really started to see the development of the defense. Freeney is improving every down at run recognition and pursuit. his acceleration is so extreme that fast backs cannot outrun him when he reaches his top gear and runs them down from the backside. Ask Larry Johnson, Everyone on the Ravens, Thomas Jones and in particular Cedric Benson. Freeney specializes in terrorizing the bigger enveloping tackles that sit amongst the elite in the league. Jonathan Ogden has nightmares about him. Ogden has been dominated by Freeney for the last three years. Freeney can bullrush a bigger man because he has low leverage and tremendous lowerbody strength, he is too fast for everyone on the outside, and his shoulder dip and spin move get better as he recognizes the proper situation to employ each. I watched all of their playoff games this weekend and was really surprised, not just at his impact, but his reads and assists. Though he struggles at times against smaller, more agile tackles, it is only a matter of time before he figures them out as well. I would suggest everyone watch a little freeney this season, you will get to watch a good player develop into greatness.
Jack - evidently my incessant whining on your posts is the exact reason why I haven't been allowed to post on your site either... that, or I am a bumbling idiot when it comes to actually piecing 2 thoughts together in a coherent enough manner that the public can possibly enjoy what I'm trying to say!
Bruce - I'm keeping an eye out for the Lions this year too. I'm hoping they finish ahead of the Packers and Vikings! The talk of them needing a tailback though is kind of weird because, well, they've spent some money on TJ Duckett and they acquired Tatum Bell (who I think can be a poor man's Faulk in the Martz scheme). I think they'll be alright, especially considering they don't run it that much to begin with.
The success Martz has had in the league kind of makes me wish I had become an offensive coordinator. Some of the plays I saw them run last year were straight out of the dirt that we used to draw up on the pickup field during our neighborhood bowl games.
Awesome... that's the second whirling dervish reference I've seen in a post in the last two weeks! One more and it's official a trend. Whirling Dervishes are this close to getting legitimized.
Nice post Bruce. You definitely know your football, even if you are a Colts fan.
Boney, the reason why we don't have you post here is because you have your own site that's full of lions and tigers.
Sorry, that last comment was mine...
BONEY - you have to listen to me, man, I am just trying to help. You really need to hear what I am saying.
DON'T TRUST MIKE MARTZ
he is much like the flashy receivers that Detroit likes to spend 1st round picks on. He looks better than he is because he makes the highlight reel occasionally, but he doesn't impact the game every down. Martz tenure at St. Louey was successful due to many things that weren't Mike Martz. They had talented, experienced receivers. They had a solid O-Line. The team had been glued together by one of the great player coaches in Dick Vermeil and their Defensive Coordinator was the best of Tony Dungy's many successful students. The 99 team made Marts look good after he took over the reins, but his performance during the 2001 Super Bowl is a testament to his shortcomings. yes they had a lot of good seasons in the early 2000's, but that completely stopped with the loss of Lovie Smith and the decline of Faulk after 2001.
TJ Duckett is not the answer at tailback and I woulnd't trust anyone from the Denver system outside of it. Duckett was a always considered a stud at State, but I stood on the sidelines at Ross-Aide Stadium and heard State's current coach Dantonio (he was an assistant in 2000 when I heard this) say to Purdue's Jim Chaney (then Boiler offensive coordinator and renowned table muscle) that they had effort issues with Duckett. that was a long time ago, and he has stuck in the league for 6 years now, but Duckett was a 1st round pick in 2000 and lost the starting job to a midget. I stand by my earlier statement that I worry about the tailback position in Detroit. I still think Jones is their best option.
Oh, and for ESPN fans, on first take this morning Skip said that Detroit was his sleeper team. That's right, he is a day behind me and Boney. Granted, it is more special because I said it and I am not a detroit fan, Boney HAD to say it. Still, he did his part and here we are, on the cutting edge of sports reporting.
Well, I was going to say that the Lions were my sleeper team whether or not Fruitcake Bayless said it too.
The problem with the Lions is the problem they had back in the "Silver Streak" days:
1. Weak defense
2. Poor offensive line
The main difference between those year (the Fontes era) and this year is that they don't have a great RB to fall back on. But then again, like I said before, they do not run the ball that much. TJ Duckett is the short yardage back, I really only meant what I said by the fact that they signed Duckett as the 3rd stringer behind KJ and Tatum.