Breaking Down Colts Key Veteran Contracts
Brett Mock takes a close look at the salary cap implications of veteran players who may be subject to early termination in the case of a full-scale team rebuild.
Since Colts Owner Jim Irsay held a press conference on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 -- announcing the end of Bill and Chris Polian's tenures -- it has become increasingly clear that Indianapolis is about to make some very difficult decisions regarding the team's short- and long-term future. The details of the options facing the Colts were broken down by Colts Authority's Greg Cowan here.
One of the primary considerations for a rebuilding process is deciding which of the team's veteran players to retain and/or re-sign. One of the best ways to do that is to dive into the details of each player's contract and settle on the best option when cap savings and dead money are both considered.
One of Colts Authority's readers took the time to confirm with online sources and IndyStar.com writers the exact details of meaningful contract and cap numbers for the following players:
| Player Name | 2012 Base Salary | 2012 Cap Number | Signed Through | 2012 Savings If Cut | Dead Money |
| Dwight Freeney |
14,035,000 |
19,035,000 |
2012 |
14,035,000 |
5,000,000 |
| Peyton Manning |
7,400,000 |
17,000,000 |
2015 | ||
| Dallas Clark |
4,530,000 |
8,003,333 |
2013 |
1,056,667 |
6,946,666 |
| Gary Brackett |
5,000,000 |
7,400,000 |
2014 |
200,000 |
7,200,000 |
| Antoine Bethea |
5,025,000 |
6,850,000 |
2013 | 3,200,000 | 3,650,000 |
| Joseph Addai |
2,900,000 |
4,760,000 |
2013 | 1,040,000 |
3,720,000 |
| Melvin Bullitt |
2,400,000 |
3,735,000 |
2013 |
1,065,000 |
2,670,000 |
| Adam Vinatieri |
1,400,000 |
2,600,000 |
2013 |
200,000 |
2,400,000 |
| Jerry Hughes |
636,000 |
2,322,250 |
2014 |
(846,500) |
3,168,750 |
| Donald Brown |
865,000 |
1,880,000 |
2013 |
840,000 |
1,040,000 |
| Antonio Johnson |
1,250,000 |
1,750,000 |
2013 |
750,000 |
1,000,000 |
| Zac Diles |
1,000,000 |
1,000,000 |
2012 |
1,000,000 |
- |
| Justin Snow |
890,000 |
950,000 |
2012 |
890,000 |
60,000 |
| Fili Moala |
565,000 |
850,000 |
2012 | 565,000 | 285,000 |
Additional cap considerations for 2012 include a $1.25MM hit for Kerry Collins and a $5.4MM remaining from Kelvin Hayden's contract. Also remember the June 1 rule. If a player on a typical contract is cut before June 1, 2012, his remaining signing bonus money will be placed on the team's 2012 cap. If a player on a typical contract is cut after June 1, 2012, his remaining signing bonus money can be split in half and put on 2012 and 2013.
John Clayton of ESPN indicated that teams have the option of using three $1.5 million player contract exemptions, potentially increasing 2012 cap space by $4.5 million -- the cap hit would be pushed forward to future years.
Because Joe Baker has already taken the time to break down Peyton Manning's contract implications, this story will consider which of veterans still under contract in 2012 are legitimate cut targets for salary cap relief, and which are not.
There are 6 veterans still under contract in 2012 who, if cut, could free up over $1 million in cap space next season. The outlier is Dwight Freeney, who would free up just over $14MM in cap room. On the other end of the spectrum, Zac Diles is set to receive $1MM in 2012 but cutting him does not carry a penalty, meaning that the team can save $1MM straight out if they wish.
The four remaining veterans are Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai, Melvin Bullitt, and Antoine Bethea. All four players are under contract through 2013.
Cutting Antoine Bethea would yield the most savings but would make the least sense. Bethea is only 27 years old and is one of two solid veteran members in the secondary. He has stayed healthy and been one of the most productive defenders in Indianapolis throughout the vast majority of his career.
Cutting players like Clark, Addai, and Bullitt is possible but with the three contract exemptions available to the Colts, the team could save more money against the cap by using the exemptions in 2012 than they would actually save if they cut the players. In short, the only reason to cut Clark, Addai, or Bullitt (from a financial standpoint only) is to clear them from the books in 2013.
The reasons to cut Clark and Bullitt, specifically, are easier to gather when their performance and health issues are taken into consideration. Clark is an aging tight end who has suffered through two injury-riddled seasons and, if cut, would generate an immediate savings of $1MM and $8.8 million in 2013. With Jacob Tamme looking to sign his own long-term contract, future cap room could be important.
Strong safety Melvin Bullitt has been dealing with shoulder issues throughout much of his career and it wasn't until 2010 that he finally succumbed to them. That he was unable to remain on the field in 2011 is not a good sign, and the Bob Sanders experience should have had an impact on decision-makers in the front office. Cutting Bullitt will save the team $1MM in 2012 and $3.4MM in 2013.
At this point, one has to think that the Colts are looking to either develop one of their young safeties to take over Bullitt's role, or have their eye on players available in the draft or free agency to provide stability to the position. Freeing up $3.4MM in 2013 gives the team greater license moving forward pick up a contract.
Joseph Addai is the perfect running back in the Peyton Manning offensive scheme but may make less sense if Andrew Luck comes to town and starts immediately. Cutting Addai saves the team $1MM in 2012 and nearly $5MM in 2013.
Cutting Gary Brackett makes sense for the franchise because large sums of money will be saved in 2013 and 2014, to the tune of approximately $7MM a year. Cutting him prior to 2012, of course, does very little to save cap room immediately.
The totals are as follows:
*Assume keeping Dwight Freeney and Antoine Bethea.
Cutting the remaining players yields a cap savings of ~$3.2 million in 2012 and ~$24MM in 2013.
But wait, remember the June 1 rule. These numbers change, and the implications on team cap space changes, if the player is cut before or after June 1.
The above numbers are all pre-June 1 cuts where the entirety of the remaining dead cap money will roll into the current season. If the team waits until after June 1 to cut the veteran players, more cap room is created in 2012 by splitting the dead money between 2012 and 2013.
In that case the totals are as follows:
*Assume keeping Dwight Freeney and Antoine Bethea
Cutting the remaining players yields a cap savings of ~$13.6MM in 2012 and ~$14.9MM 2013.
While the team has not made it clear which way it plans to go about preparing for the future, the two players who are probably in the worst position regardless of direction are Clark and Brackett. Cutting both players can yield significant cap space in the 2012 and 2013. Both are coming off of injuries and have young players behind them who have proven successful when called upon.
There is going to be a great deal of salary cap jockeying going on in Indianapolis over the off-season. This should give fans an idea how flexible the CBA is for teams who wish to make big transitions softer or more abrupt.
*note that numbers are not exact, and should only be used to get an idea of where the team will be (though we think we're pretty close)
Veteran linebacker, formerly with the Texans. 7th round draft pick 2007 NFL Draft. @JoeLoveless
Nice article. I love Colts Authority. Provides great insight into the Colts.
PacersCenter.com
Are these additional cap considerations confirmed?
Hayden had 7.1 million bonus remaining, so it all goes into 2011 or if cut in half, it's 3.55 for 2012.
Also, the Collins contract is not simple. Some sites have a 1 year 4 million reported and when he retired he also renounced some money.
Also, if Freeney were to sign a 3 year contract with a 8 million base in 2012 and 6 million SB, so he doesn't really take a paycut, would his bonus from the previous contract count against the cap?
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Another wonderful, much-needed post. Thanks, Brett. Regardless of what happens in the offseason concerning all the major areas of doubt, I´m pretty certain Bethea will be retained. I think it would be incredibly ill-advised to cut Freeney, but I´m a bit more worried that it could happen. Seeing how much money the Colts will have by releasing other players calms my fear.
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Wow, love this! I feel like this is a crystal ball on the biggest changes to expect and when, roughly, to expect them.
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Brett rules. Joe rules. Colts Authority fucking RULES.
This info is even more impressive when you consider it was never offered up by the front office. Excellent detective work here. Keep it up!
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Great job, here and by Greg and Joe in the previous articles. It's going to be the most interesting off season ever. I'm almost looking forward to getting that silly SuperBowl over so we can get on to the important stuff!
Does anyone know if Grigson is getting a Cap guy or not? Its kinda scary when the first couple of things you hear about are all the cap jockeying that needs to go on and that your new GM has little/no experience manipulating the cap.
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Guessing the team already has a cap guy.... and if bloggers can figure it out at least half way then I bet the team will be in a much better position to massage the cap that we fear.
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Good work. Best part is that you kept it concise and mainly fact-driven. It's annoying to read a long cap article that focuses on the writer's opinions without putting the numbers in an easy place to digest. Just from an editing/writing standpoint, I think this is great.
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This is REALLY informative. Thanks for all the work to everyone involved in putting this together!
