Indianapolis Colts Approach Big Free Agency

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Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts are approaching the Free Agent deadline today with some pretty big names still hanging in the wind. Probably the two biggest names are Adam Vinatieri and Vontae Davis.

Vontae Davis

Supposedly the Colts were far from a deal with Davis about a week ago. Two nights ago reports started coming out that they should have a deal by Monday. That obviously didn’t happen. Last night, or rather early this morning, ProFootballTalk reported that Davis is close to getting a deal done but probably with another team. That seems a likely conclusion since the Colts have failed so far to get a deal done and Free Agency begins at 4:00 PM ET today.

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This deal has taken some time for multiple reasons. First of all, Davis isn’t the only player that the Colts have been trying to wrap up. They’ve been looking at many players and trying to get deals done. Such as acquiring D’Qwell Jackson and sealing the fate of Pat McAfee.  They’re not done making deals and they’re also looking at the free agent market to see who they’ll be able to sign in the days to come.

The Colts were hoping to get a good deal on Davis, but Sam Shields tipped the scales for Davis. The Green Bay Packers recently came to a deal with Shields that put him at nearly $10 million a season. Davis is better than Shields and no doubt wanted his paycheck to reflect that.

There wasn’t much doubt of a deal between the two parties. Chuck Pagano came out and said that the Colts had a “plan in place.” The only question that remained was what plan? And we still don’t know the answer. If Davis goes with another team we may never know the answer. It could be that the Colts see a more cost effective answer somewhere else. It could be that they want a bigger name, like Darrell Revis. At this point we can only speculate.

Adam Vinatieri

The Colts haven’t lined up anything with the future hall of fame kicker. There hasn’t been a lot on the rumor mill either which isn’t surprising. Vinatieri is a more mature and quiet player. There are other good kickers who are hitting the market today. It is very likely that the Colts want to go with a younger and cheaper option. Names like Dan Carpenter have been floating around and that’s a very possible option at this point.

Questions did arise after Pat McAfee did an interview on ESPN 1070 the Fan out of Indianapolis. While answering questions about his deal with the Colts, McAfee stated that they did talk about him kicking as well as punting. This is something that Pat has been vocal about for some time. During practices he kicks on the days Vinatieri doesn’t. He never said he wanted Adam’s job. He said that he wanted to be ready when Adam left or retired. The fact is that the Colts may have some options for longer down the road and Adam Vinatieri might not fit into those plans.

No matter what happens, expect an exciting Free Agent season. Teams are on the hunt and at 4:00 PM today they can finally pull the trigger.