07-23-2014, 11:12 AM
Quote:Think about how Indianapolis kept Manning, Harrison, Wayne, and Clark all on the roster.
WOW ... GOOD POINT .... THIS ONE GOT ME THINKING AS WELL.
2004 Article Below:
The Colts named Manning their exclusive franchise player in February to ensure that he would stay off the free-agent market, then completed a seven-year, $98-million extension with him and agent Tom Condon on March 2, the day before the market opened. The deal included a $34.5-million signing bonus -- $14.5 million more than the previous NFL record, the $20 million that the Philadelphia Eagles gave quarterback Donovan McNabb in 2002.
The Colts were desperate to save salary cap space for the 2004 season by completing a long-term deal with Manning and Condon. If they hadn't, Manning would have counted $18.429 million against this season's salary cap as the franchise player. But were the Colts too desperate? Team executives had said throughout the negotiating process that they wouldn't make Manning the highest-paid player by too wide a margin. Yet they ended up giving a 73-percent increase over the previous record signing bonus to a player who never has reached a Super Bowl.
Condon is a tough negotiator, and he clearly wanted to hit a home run with the Manning contract. He had a bit of leverage because of his ability to handcuff the club from a salary cap perspective if he rejected a long-term deal and made the Colts pay Manning as the franchise player. But the Colts also had some leverage. When they made Manning their exclusive franchise player, it meant that no other team could negotiate with him. So if Manning wanted a long-term contract, it had to come from Indianapolis.
The contract calls for Manning to pocket all $34.5 million of the signing bonus by March 5, 2005. It begins with modest salaries of $535,000 for the upcoming season and $665,000 in 2005, but has roster bonuses of $9 million in 2006 and $10 million in 2007 to go with salaries of $1 million for each of those years. Its salary cap value jumps to $17.766 million in 2006. At a time when many NFL owners are fretting about the sport going the way of baseball, with growing revenue disparities between "have" and "have-not" franchises, will Manning's contract give the have-not Colts enough remaining cash and salary cap space to put a competitive team around their quarterback in 2006 and beyond? It's doubtful, and the Colts have four key members of their offense -- wide receiver Marvin Harrison, tailback Edgerrin James, guard Rick DeMulling and tackle Ryan Diem -- eligible for unrestricted free agency next offseason.
The more immediate question, of course, is how competitive the Colts will be this fall after Manning got them to last season's AFC title game. They still have their Big Three on offense -- Manning, James and Harrison -- but have enormous holes to fill on defense after the offseason departures of linebacker Marcus Washington and cornerbacks Walt Harris and David Macklin. Harris and offensive tackle Adam Meadows were among the Colts' salary-cap cuts, and Washington and Macklin left as unrestricted free agents.
Team president Bill Polian, as usual, focused on keeping the club's own free agents, as best he could. He ensured that Diem and DeMulling wouldn't leave as restricted free agents by giving them one-year contract tenders -- for $1.368 million apiece -- that would bring a first-round draft selection as compensation if either player signed elsewhere.