Colts: Debunking every reason that argues against trading for Julio Jones
1. “The Colts don’t have the cap space to make a deal.”
Please. PLEASE. Just stop. The salary cap is never a reason to not put your team over the edge. It’s merely an excuse. Look at the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints. They’re pressed up against the cap every single year. They manage to make it work, don’t they? They’ve been perennial contenders for a while, right?
Convert salaries into signing bonuses. Restructure contracts. Backload deals. There are endless possibilities. That’s proven to us each and every offseason, yet fans still make the cap space argument. “Oh, we’re going to use ALL our cap space on this guy? Get out of here. No chance.”
Jim Irsay is the Colts owner. He’s worth $3 billion. You don’t think he’ll dish out the dough to make this happen? Cool, make $10 million of Jones’ $15.3 million base salary and the Colts can still have almost $10 million in cap space for the 2021 season. Why not? Restructure Jones’ contract and back load it. What will it matter paying him $20-plus million in 2023 when more money will probably be coming off the books and the cap will be even higher?
It’s money. The NFL is the most profitable sports league. Throw around duffle bags. The owners can afford it.
