http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3RocbkSz3c
For people who happen to read Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk, you should already know that he thinks the Colts are going to be passed by the Jaguars. He backs up this ridiculous thought with bad information and the twisting of facts. On the link posted above, you can see Mike Florio spouting off his usual “The Colts are doomed. There time is up.” crap that he has been saying since the offseason started. He pretty much gives us three reasons on why the Colts are doomed: There are a bunch of injuries, the Colts give out big contracts which causes a lack of depth, and the Jaguars spent a lot of money this offseason.
True, the Colts do have a lot of injuries. They also have said and shown that everything is fine. Bob Sanders has said that he is almost at 100%. Dwight Freeney has been running in practice, which gives me the right to assume that he is around 90 to 100%. Peyton Manning had an infected bursa sac which is not a big deal at all. Marvin Harrison is 110% and is only missing tomorrow night’s game just to be careful that he wouldn’t reinjure them.
The contract comment was ignorant and stupid. If the Colts have bad depth, then teams with good depth should have multiple Pro Bowlers on the bench. Here are all of the players that were projected starters or contributors going into training camp that missed multiple games:
Marvin Harrison
Anthony Gonzalez
Tony Ugoh
Ryan Diem
Dwight Freeney
Anthony McFarland
Raheem Brock
Robert Mathis
Rob Morris
Freddy Keiaho
So we didn’t have 9 starters and our first round draft pick for multiple games, and still went 13-3 losing to the 2 teams who played in the AFC Championship Game by a combined score of I think it was 7 and a game where we rested the starters.
That comment was made out of pure ignorance to what happened last year. He chose a little fact, and he ignored the other facts to make it seem like it was a problem. Jeff Saturday will get a big contract this offseason or at least the franchise tag. It won’t hurt the team. Sure, Tyjuan Hagler might have to leave, and some players might be cut, but it won’t affect the team.
Throw in Cato June, Nick Harper, Jason David, and Dominic Rhodes, all of whom started in the Super Bowl season left, and we had a better playoff seed this time around.
Also, his comment about the Jags spending money was another dumb one. In that case, I guess the Redskins should win the Super Bowl, the Knicks should win the NBA Championship, the Yankees should win the World Series, and USC should win the BCS National Championship Game. The teams that spend the most money don’t always win the most games. It’s not how much money you spend. It’s how wisely you spend it. The Colts signing Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Dwight Freeney, and Bob Sanders to big contracts is better than giving players like Jerry Porter big contracts. These players are proven stars. Jerry Porter hasn’t done anything recently to deserve that contract.
Good teams don’t spend money in the offseason on big name free agents. Look at the Patriots. They have drafted well over the past 8 years and made smart trades to get Welker and Moss, and they did great last year. The Chargers did well drafting LT, Luis Castillo, Shawne Merriman, Antonio Cromartie, and signing Antonio Gates as an undrafted free agent. The Giants drafted Corey Webster, Justin Tuck, Brandon Jacobs, Gibril Wilson, Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Ahmad Bradshaw, and made a draft day trade for Eli Manning. All of these guys were key to the Super Bowl victory.
My point is, signing big name players in free agency does not make a winner. Sure, the good teams all have some players that were acquired through free agency. The Colts have Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots have Rodney Harrison. The Giants have Plaxico Burress. However, none of these teams have been out signing every big name free agent that comes their way. That’s what the Raiders do. They get players like Javon Walker and suck. Free agency is not the way to build a team. Drafting well and making smart personnel moves is.
So to sum it up, Mike Florio is as knowledgable as a five year old in Pakistan about the NFL and the game of football in general.