Last week, I started to break down the Colts' cap situation, starting with the offense. 

Now, we move to the defense and special teams, to finish out this review. 

Editor's Note: This guest post comes to you from Jacob Lewin, who we are excited to work with. Enjoy his first post at Colts Authority!

Both Austin Collie and Donnie Avery are free agents and the Colts front office must decide what to do with these veteran receivers.  Avery assumed the role of the Colts’ #2 receiver after Collie ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee against Jacksonville on September 23, 2012.  

Although Avery had the most dropped passes this season, he was a serviceable replacement and even made some of the most memorable plays of the 2012 season. Because Collie should be ready for the 2013 season and since there is some skepticism about re-signing Avery, the Colts have no reason to keep both players.

Between the two, Collie has more versatility: he’s a great route runner, possesses underrated quick speed, has excellent hands, and fearlessness running in the middle of the field (could be related to his four concussions). Collie’s numbers as a Colt in three seasons were pretty exceptional – 173 Receptions, 1845 yards, 16 TDs, only 1 fumble – and in one of those seasons he was being targeted by a Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky. He also had a memorable game against the Jets in 2009 AFC Championship.

Collie developed a great connection with Andrew Luck in the small amounts of film I saw – especially in the 8/12/12 game against the Rams – where they seemed right on the same page.  Reggie Wayne and Luck shared a great connection this past season and if Luck and Collie connect in the same way, we could certainly see pro-bowl numbers in 2013.

With the draft and free agency quickly approaching, Colts fans (including myself) are already predicting and speculating on who could possibly join Indianapolis in 2013. 

But before we start predicting and wondering where the Colts will go, we need to understand exactly what the Colts are already paying for, and what the team's needs are. If you've been reading Olly Dawes' excellent pieces, you should already have an understanding of the holes the Colts have on both offense and defense. 

With that at our disposal, let's take a deeper look at the cap breakdown for 2013 (brought to you by Spotrac), finding out exactly what the Colts are paying for next season, and where improvements can be made. 

Nov. 04, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) hands off to teammate Vick Ballard (33) during first half action against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Every year someone makes the mistake, a common and quite forgivable one.  You may even hear it from the broadcast booth of an NFL game, possibly even a Colts game: “Well, Bob, their schedule is going to be a lot tougher this time around because they won a lot of games last year.”  While there was once some truth to that assumption, many of you well-versed football fans are quite aware that it’s no longer the case. 

The idea that NFL teams face weighted schedules in the name of parity has become a bit of a myth.  Indianapolis’s strength of schedule last year, coming off an oppressively bleak 2-14 finish, ranked 14^th before the season, at 128-128; hardly a murders’ row, but certainly not the soft schedule many believe is afforded to a team that finished last in the league.

Having looked at what the Colts need on offense last week, it's now time to take a look on the defensive side of the ball.

General Manager Ryan Grigson drafted just two defensive players last year – nose tackle Josh Chapman and outside linebacker Tim Fugger – and neither saw playing time in 2012. Chapman ended the year on injured reserve whilst Fugger didn't even make the 53 man roster.

And whilst defensive coordinator Greg Manusky did a good job with a lack of talent, the emphasis will be on building a strong defense for Chuck Pagano to work with.

The transition to a 3-4 defense featured some players that weren't natural scheme fits, so the recruitment policy on defense will revolve around bringing in players familiar with the 3-4 alignment, and here are plenty of positions on defense where the Colts need help.

Join Colts Authority Radio as Scott Kacsmar and Kyle Rodriguez hold the final ITWB show for the 2012-2013 season, recapping Super Bowl 47. 

Want your youngster to learn how to be better at your favorite sport? Or, more likely, want to use your child as an excuse to see an Indianapolis Football legend sort-of-up-close-and-personal? Well here's your opportunity to put those kids to work for you!

Dwight Freeney's Football ProCamp will kick off Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 at 4:30pm at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis. On that first day of camp, Freeney is scheduled to be joined by the quarterback of your Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck!

Here's our video from last year's camp -

Interested?  Of course you are.  Head over here for more details and to register now!

Update: Fresh in from the event coordinator, a $25-off discount for Colts Authority readers. Go here: http://www.procamps.com/dwightfreeney and enter the code Colts Authority for your discount. :)

With the Superbowl wrapped up and the 2012-13 season now in the books, it's time to look ahead to the future, and in particular, free agency. The $46m figure has been thrown around regarding the Colts' cap space, and as such it's bound to be an exciting time to be a Colts fan. I'd argue that our current position allows us the freedom to aggressively pursue free agents and players we desire to an unprecedented extent when historically assessing the league.

(AP Photo - MIchael Conroy)

When the rookie wage scale was introduced, the most obvious benefits were to provide a greater pool of money for veterans who deserved it given cap limitations - no more 6 year, $80m deals in the style of Sam Bradford in 2009 - the #1 overall pick has been limited to $22m over 4 years, or something thereabouts.

Combine the new salary parameters with the uniquely prodigious talent of Luck, and I'd argue that the Colts are in completely uncharted territory when it comes to the upcoming three year period.

Put it like this - no other team has had this amount of cap space with a quarterback this talented, at a bargain basement price. He will remain a bargain for the next three years guaranteed - you can't modify rookie contracts, as agreed in the CBA.

As a result of this, I want to see Ryan Grigson amidst a whirlwind of activity, showing aggressiveness the likes of which we haven’t encountered from the Colts in recent years. Moves like Darrelle Revis can be considered through the filter of a three year window - provided the contracts we do move forward with are negotiated appropriately when it comes to duration, allowing us the flexibility to re-sign or franchise Luck when the time comes.

A smooth operator

Reggie Wayne, despite being the elder statesman of a young football team, is still one of the smoothest receivers in the game. That reputation for smoothness prompted Gillette to ask Reggie for help solving an age-old dilemma: do women prefer to kiss a guy with or without facial hair.

Gillette and Reggie hosted an event in New Orleans as part of the Super Bowl festivities which invited couples to pucker up in an attempt to get to the bottom of this issue:

WHO:                   Pro football player Reggie Wayne will get the sparks flying as he asks local couples to pucker up for a live national social experiment all about the kiss!

WHAT:                 Research shows that people are kissing less than ever and that 1 out of 3 women have avoided kissing a guy because he had facial hair. With Valentine’s Day on the horizon and signs showing that the kiss may be on the decline, Gillette is asking couples across America to help determine if stubble could be the trouble.

The results of the experiment will be revealed on Valentine's Day. You can view pictures of the event here, follow the event and Reggie's involvement on KissAndTellUs.com or on Facebook.

With the NFL’s official AP awards being announced on Saturday, all of our speculating and debating comes to a close. Each winner was deserving with multiple fantastic and historic seasons throughout the league.

The winners were as follows:

MVP/Offensive Player of the Year- Adrian Peterson

Defensive Player of the Year- J.J. Watt

Comeback Player of the Year- Peyton Manning

Offensive Rookie of the Year- Robert Griffin III

Defensive Rookie of the Year- Luke Kuechly

Coach of the Year- Bruce Arians

As I stated before, each of these individuals had fantastic seasons, and I applaud each of them. They all had very good arguments for the final result.

That being said, I still have a few thoughts on the final results.