Freeney signs 72 million dollar deal (30 million signing bonus!)

[body88]

Freeney, the Indianapolis Colts' franchise player, signed a six-year, $72 million contract with the team Friday that includes a $30 million signing bonus. He becomes the highest paid defensive player in NFL history 

Freeney is a good player, but one dimensional. He is a very effective pass rusher, but cant do a thing against the run. He wont be batting down any passes or stopping the run. That is a lot of coin for that type of skill set. His small size and speed make him great when he rushes, but he can dissapear and be a non factor at times also. Only 5.5 sacks for him last year to boot.

Either way good for him.

[Al-Gebra]

Indy's GM = The Stupid.

[body88]

Indy's GM = The Stupid.

They have guys like Bob Sanders and Dallas Clark up for free agency next year. Not sure how there cap will look next year.. This year they were in cap trouble.

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

Sets a mighty high precedent for some upcoming free agent pass rushers next offseason.

Body88---isn't Seymour up for free agency? If so, I have no doubt the Pats will pay up for him but that Freeney contract will greatly impact the negotiations and mess with your cap.

Terrell Suggs is a free agent after the '07 season. He's only 24 years old and already played four NFL seasons and has never missed a game so far in his career. His best football is definitely in front of him and I have no doubt the Ravens will lock him up to a long term extension sometime early this season. The Ravens have a reputation of shelling out big dollars for their franchise players and Suggs will carry on that example.

The Ravens decided to let Adalius Thomas go this past offseason to the Patriots. They knew they would not be able to afford both he and Suggs to long term extensions. I personally feel that Thomas' career reached the pinnacle last year with the Ravens and age wise, it made better sense to keep Suggs and let Thomas go.

I'm shocked over how much money Freeney signed for. Shocked. To say he's one dimensional as a defensive lineman is an understatement.

[body88]

Sets a mighty high precedent for some upcoming free agent pass rushers next offseason.

Body88---isn't Seymour up for free agency? If so, I have no doubt the Pats will pay up for him but that Freeney contract will greatly impact the negotiations and mess with your cap.

Terrell Suggs is a free agent after the '07 season. He's only 24 years old and already played four NFL seasons and has never missed a game so far in his career. His best football is definitely in front of him and I have no doubt the Ravens will lock him up to a long term extension sometime early this season. The Ravens have a reputation of shelling out big dollars for their franchise players and Suggs will carry on that example.

The Ravens decided to let Adalius Thomas go this past offseason to the Patriots. They knew they would not be able to afford both he and Suggs to long term extensions. I personally feel that Thomas' career reached the pinnacle last year with the Ravens and age wise, it made better sense to keep Suggs and let Thomas go.

I'm shocked over how much money Freeney signed for. Shocked. To say he's one dimensional as a defensive lineman is an understatement.

No, Seymour is locked up through 2009.The only notable free agent the pats will have is Ty Warren in 2008. Everyone else is locked up.  Seymour makes big time coin, but he can do so many things on the field. He is arguably the top de in football. Well behind peppers of course! Freeney on the other hand is a pure pass rusher. He has a nice move, and can be very effective in the cover 2, but he cannot stop the run. You wont see him batting down many balls, and he only netted 5 sacks last year. Freeney can (at times) be a non factor in games. He is small so injury might be a concern. That would be a pretty expensive injury. I am also shocked how much Freeney got. If Freeney can get this much, how much can the top guys get?!

Giving 4 guys most of the entire cap space on your team is not a smart move imo. The colts are going to pray they stay extremely healthy like last year. No idea where they are going to get the $ for depth.


The pats have been very effective at managing the cap. After all the moves they have made this offseason they still have 8 million left. If they untag Asante they will have 16. No idea how much of that 16 would go to Samuel, but I know they will plan for the future if they can reach a long term deal like the rumors say they are trying to do. I am sure asante will get more then he is worth. They had 28 to spend this year. I believe they will have about 29 milllion to spend next year.


Suggs is a monster.

[thisiskeith12]

The Colts have spent way too much this offseason already. Freeney is only a good pass rusher, last year he had a mediocre season, but had a great season in '05.

[headhuntersix]

True but he was not the sack leader for the Colts in 05', I can't stand Freeney and believe he's way overated. He had a poor 06' campaign but they did win the SB. Some facts about Freeney in the 05' season courtesy of the folks from THE COLD HARD FOOTBALL FACTS......Let's look at some Cold, Hard Football Facts regarding the so-called elite defensive end. Freeney last year registered a paltry 34 tackles (29 solo, 5 assists). This number is way down behind other Pro Bowl defensive ends such as Strahan (81), Taylor (74) and Umenyiora (70). In fact, of the top 30 sack leaders, Freeney had the lowest number of tackles. In my mind, an upper-echelon end can play the run as well as the pass. From watching Freeney play, twinned with his tackle numbers, you can conclude that Freeney is a liability against the run and always looking to get his hands on the quarterback. But he registered 11 sacks last season and was just ninth in the category. In fact, he trailed his teammate Robert Mathis in both sacks (11.5) and tackles (54).
 
It gets even worse for Freeney when you look behind the numbers: 8 of his 11 sacks came in six games against Houston, Tennessee, San Francisco and Cleveland. All poor teams with poor offensive lines. He registered three of his 11 sacks in the third game of the season against Cleveland. He had just seven sacks in the final 13 games of the season. Freeney has had the luxury of playing Houston’s porous offensive line twice every year to rack up his sack totals. He has had considerable luck facing Tennessee and Jacksonville's less-than-stout lines also. In 2004, Freeney racked up a career best 16 sacks: 6 of these sacks came in back-to-back games against Houston and Tennessee. He failed to record a sack in 7 of 16 games in 2004. Freeney likes to rack up his sack totals in spurts against weak opposition. A liability against the run and his effectiveness greatly reduced when not facing a revolving door of an offensive lineman, it is my opinion that Dwight Freeney is the most overrated defensive player in the NFL. Not from just watching him, but also backed up by Cold, Hard Football Facts. –

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

Couldn't agree more, dude.

It's ridiculous contracts like these that are going to set the bar for negotiations for the other soon to be free agents in '08(d-linemen). I personally feel that Freeney is no where near as good or as complete a player than Julius Peppers. This guy had a mind boggling 10 fumble recoveries in '05 and a career high in sacks with 13.5 in 2006. You can argue that he deserves more than Freeney, but to give him a bigger contract will have major implications on the Panthers salary cap for years to come.

I'm sure Freeney is very happy but they have a large chunk of their cap money tied into 3 players.....Manning, Harrison, and now Freeney. One of those three will be asked to restructure their contract very shortly to free up cap space.

[body88]

Couldn't agree more, dude.

It's ridiculous contracts like these that are going to set the bar for negotiations for the other soon to be free agents in '08(d-linemen). I personally feel that Freeney is no where near as good or as complete a player than Julius Peppers. This guy had a mind boggling 10 fumble recoveries in '05 and a career high in sacks with 13.5 in 2006. You can argue that he deserves more than Freeney, but to give him a bigger contract will have major implications on the Panthers salary cap for years to come.

I'm sure Freeney is very happy but they have a large chunk of their cap money tied into 3 players.....Manning, Harrison, and now Freeney. One of those three will be asked to restructure their contract very shortly to free up cap space.

Take a look at Ty Warrens numbers in the 3 / 4 last year. He is going to cost a pretty penny after 08.The pats spend big bucks on the lines. I believe they will retain Warren. Although Kareem Brown was an intersting pick up for the pats in this draft. Hmmmmmmmmm?

[headhuntersix]

The thing is, they sorta had to sign him. What else where they going to do. The contratct won't be worth the paper its printed on in 3 years but he gets a ton of up front money.  For the record...I hate the Colts worse then i could ever hate the Yankee's so any chance to rip em I will. Last year was my worst nightmare. Polian is finding it very tough to keep a SB contender together. The nutlickers on ESPN have called this a smart move but thats alot of cash ion 3 guys. They drafted well for offense this year but should have tried to go defensive in the early rounds. I think they will have to go back to outscoring folks again. Their D showed up big in the playoffs...except against NE. In any event its a new year. You guys had to make sure u have enough to sign a young guy like Suggs next year. Thats why u parted with Thomas. With the cap the way it is, you just can't keep everybody.

[headhuntersix]

Folks think he might be better then big Sey....we'll see. BB and Pioli put alot of stock on the big three up front so they could sign him. It looks like there is hope on the Asante front as well. Todays the deadline. if u here anything in Boston please post.

[body88]

Folks think he might be better then big Sey....we'll see. BB and Pioli put alot of stock on the big three up front so they could sign him. It looks like there is hope on the Asante front as well. Todays the deadline. if u here anything in Boston please post.

You will hear about it as soon as it happens. I am smack in the middle of the city right now. Talk had them close, then far apart. I think he will sign the tender if the pats agree not to franchise him next year. We shall see.

Warren was underrated big time last year.

[headhuntersix]

The Globe had the agent saying he was hopeful etc...usually they crush all hope. So maybe they can get something done. The Pats won't break the bank but after last year we've seen them offer pretty good deals to their top guys. Branch's deal wasn't to bad if he'd signed.  I think it cost us another SB but maybe we're stocked for a few years with the FA's we picked up.

[thisiskeith12]

 
It gets even worse for Freeney when you look behind the numbers: 8 of his 11 sacks came in six games against Houston, Tennessee, San Francisco and Cleveland. All poor teams with poor offensive lines.

Great reporting!

Bill Polian put the Bills into huge cap problems when he left. With the Colts spending as of late, they may be headed for the same problems.

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

The thing is, they sorta had to sign him. What else where they going to do. The contratct won't be worth the paper its printed on in 3 years but he gets a ton of up front money.  For the record...I hate the Colts worse then i could ever hate the Yankee's so any chance to rip em I will. Last year was my worst nightmare. Polian is finding it very tough to keep a SB contender together. The nutlickers on ESPN have called this a smart move but thats alot of cash ion 3 guys. They drafted well for offense this year but should have tried to go defensive in the early rounds. I think they will have to go back to outscoring folks again. Their D showed up big in the playoffs...except against NE. In any event its a new year. You guys had to make sure u have enough to sign a young guy like Suggs next year. Thats why u parted with Thomas. With the cap the way it is, you just can't keep everybody.

Very true. The Ravens knew that long before last season started that they wouldn't be able to keep AD and Suggs. I love AD and I'm curious as to how Belichek will use him in the same way Rex Ryan used him. Personally, I feel he reached the pinnacle of his career with the Ravens last season but Belichek has a reputation of getting a lot of mileage out of older players so we'll see.

Isn't Seau coming back for one more year for you guys?

On paper, the Pats have their best team ever during the Belichek era.

I repeat......on paper.

[body88]

This is going to be a very talented team. If they can get Asante on the field eve more so. People forget last year the secondary allowed the fewest passing td's in the NFl all while the secondary was decimated with injury.

There is always a fav. Last year is was the Chargers, for consecutive years before that it was the colts. Imo a lot of people are hoping the pats fail due to the amount of winning they have done over the last 7 years. Frankly people are sick of em. Which is unfair because the players tend to be a damn good squad behavior wise.

[headhuntersix]

Yeah on paper. Seau is coming back and I think thats great. i don't know how he'll be used because we need the big body in the middle but he's an edge guy and we already have Vrabel so AD might be the Mike LB, which is not his natural position. I advise anybody to hit the Cold Hard Football facts site. They started out as a Pats site but have morphed into a great national site with plenty of info, based purely on facts, to win any argument. Plus great beer info as well.

[headhuntersix]

I think we're the most hated team in the NFL. The Colts get all the ball washing from ESPN...its nauseating. I like when we fly under the radar, we rolled right into the AFC championship game and came one drop away from the SB. Nothing is better then a disrespected Rodney Harrison.

[body88]

I think we're the most hated team in the NFL. The Colts get all the ball washing from ESPN...its nauseating. I like when we fly under the radar, we rolled right into the AFC championship game and came one drop away from the SB. Nothing is better then a disrespected Rodney Harrison.

I agree, They barley covered them last year at the start of the season. So many people hoped they would fade away. The sad part is now people are saying anything they can to discredit the pats. They go all the way to the AFC title game AGAIN last year and the entire season is a failure in many haters eyes. Apparently one play away from the sb = washed up. The pats are going to have 2 first first round pics, 2 third round pics, comp picks + there normal picks next year for the draft. Plus 29 million in cap space! They are set up to be good for a long longggg time.

[headhuntersix]

Which pisses everybody off.  People used to laugh that I was a Pats fan, since I've spent so much time out of Mass. Not anymore. I've got a Pats vanity plate, windsock, my Gf has a Pats tire cover on her jeep. I've got one on mine. I wouldn't have any of this crap if I was in Mass, but I'm up to may ass in Chiefs crap here in KC, i thought I would fight back. 

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

Yeah on paper. Seau is coming back and I think thats great. i don't know how he'll be used because we need the big body in the middle but he's an edge guy and we already have Vrabel so AD might be the Mike LB, which is not his natural position. I advise anybody to hit the Cold Hard Football facts site. They started out as a Pats site but have morphed into a great national site with plenty of info, based purely on facts, to win any argument. Plus great beer info as well.

No way AD plays middle linebacker. He's outside/edge guy who plays over the tight end or drops back in zone coverage on the weakside. Those are his main areas of strength which exploit his versatility as a pass defender. The dude even plays a little cornerback on some obvious running downs. AD is awesome and you guys are going to reap some major benefits on the defensive side of the football this year. Hell, the guy has even made the pro bowl as a special teamer in '04.

I know I keep saying that he's career has already peaked but the truth is, I wish I still had AD on my team. I can't sit here and say that the Ravens defense will be better this year without him.

Fucking Patriots......I'm jealous of your team's success. Can't wait until we play you guys on Sunday night football here in Baltimore. Randy Moss HAS NEVER played a good game with Chris Mcallister on his ass and Stallworth doesn't scare me just as long as Samari Rolle isn't covering him. Rolle is washed up bigtime as a cornerback. Dude needs to start playing some nickel.

[Camel Jockey]

Couldn't agree more, dude.

It's ridiculous contracts like these that are going to set the bar for negotiations for the other soon to be free agents in '08(d-linemen). I personally feel that Freeney is no where near as good or as complete a player than Julius Peppers. This guy had a mind boggling 10 fumble recoveries in '05 and a career high in sacks with 13.5 in 2006. You can argue that he deserves more than Freeney, but to give him a bigger contract will have major implications on the Panthers salary cap for years to come.

Julius Peppers is an absolute freak of nature..

As for Freeny, he's kinda undersized for a pass rusher. Way to overpay.. 

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

I agree, They barley covered them last year at the start of the season. So many people hoped they would fade away. The sad part is now people are saying anything they can to discredit the pats. They go all the way to the AFC title game AGAIN last year and the entire season is a failure in many haters eyes. Apparently one play away from the sb = washed up. The pats are going to have 2 first first round pics, 2 third round pics, comp picks + there normal picks next year for the draft. Plus 29 million in cap space! They are set up to be good for a long longggg time.

Maybe. That is of course unless Terrell Suggs hits Tom Brady so hard his future grandkids feel it.

[body88]

Maybe. That is of course unless Terrell Suggs hits Tom Brady so hard his future grandkids feel it.

True, but that is to be expected if any hof qb goes down.

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

haha! I'm messing with you, bro. Got nothing but respect for Brady and the Pats. There's a lot of haters out there because the Pats ALWAYS FUCKING WIN. They're like the Yankees of football, you know that. Expect the hate and revell in it. When you're on top, everyone wants to see you fail. Could be worse, at least you're not a Detroit fan, right? Your head coach went to high school about 30 seconds from where I was raised as a child.

Mad respect for those guys, not hate. But I'll be damned if I'm respecting them on 12/3! I'll be there in Section 127, row 10 spewwing the hate during their warmups!

Go Ravens!