Money, It’s A Hit

Coltscap.net, one of the most useful websites on the Internet, has updated the Colts contract list.  The Colts never have too much cap space because of the large contracts given to Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark, Bob Sanders, etc.  Here are some of the facts about the Colts cap this season.

~Currently, the Colts have $3.82 million in cap space.

~The 10 highest paid players on the team are:

1. Peyton Manning (18.7 m)
2. Marvin Harrison (12 m)
3. Bob Sanders (8.7 m)
4. Robert Mathis (6.8 m)
5. Reggie Wayne (6.6 m)
6. Ryan Diem (6.3 m)
7. Dwight Freeney (5.75 m)
8. Jeff Saturday (5.2 m)
9. Raheem Brock (4.7 m)
10. Dallas Clark (3.0 m)

~Mike Pollak is making $507,000 this season, which is more than Antoine Bethea and Ed Johnson.

~Jordan Senn, Gijon Robinson, Curtis Johnson, Eric Foster, and Buster Davis all are making the league minimum (295K)

~Here are the Colts players on their contract season:

Jeff Saturday
Tyjuan Hagler
Josh Thomas
Matt Giordano
Darrell Reid
Kelvin Hayden
Dominic Rhodes
Keiwan Ratliff
Dan Federkeil
Ed Johnson
Daniel Muir
Buster Davis
Eric Foster

~An estimated $20.7 million will be off of the cap with the contracts expiring and the dead cap running up.  That would give us around $24.5 million in cap space for next offseason.  With my estimation that the draft will cost $5 million, we will have nearly $20 million to resign players.

~In my mind, Matt Giordano, Darrell Reid, Kelvin Hayden, Dominic Rhodes, Ed Johnson, Daniel Muir, Buster Davis, and Eric Foster are the only ones who will get resigned during the free agency period.  Right now, it looks like we could have enough cap space to sign a decent free agent defensive lineman.

I don’t want to overlook this season, but for the first time in a while, we will have cap flexibility this offseason.  I know I am excited to see if we pick up a veteran or keep the extra money to resign some 2009 contract year players like Gary Brackett, Marlin Jackson, or Antoine Bethea.  We are looking at a bright future as Colts fans.  This team will bounce back from the Bears loss and be a top contender in the AFC for years to come.