Frank Gore & Andre Johnson to Sign With Colts

Apparently after being released yesterday, Andre Johnson got a call from Frank Gore, close friends and former teammates at "The U" (Miami Hurricanes). They started talking about how cool it would be to play together in the NFL. Next thing you know they are on an airplane to Indianapolis to sign with the Colts

brimsalabim":2rjtu3fn said:

So is the league going to exempt Andy Luck from the cap? How else can they make him the heist paid player in history and still bring in those three (Johnson, Gore, Vilfork) ?

Click to expand...

Stole this quote from the other thread that is locked.

To answer your question, the Colts had appox 41 million in cap space. Which is a lot more than the Seahawks who are also facing a top QB contract of their own. All three are over 30 years old and not looking for record breaking contracts.

Playmaker21":1pv0opxy said:

Apparently after being released yesterday, Andre Johnson got a call from Frank Gore, close friends and former teammates at "The U" (Miami Hurricanes). They started talking about how cool it would be to play together in the NFL. Next thing you know they are on an airplane to Indianapolis to sign with the Colts

Click to expand...

Saw that they were flying to Indy today. Makes a lot of sense. I thought Frank would be a Colt from the start.

Their offensive coordinator at Miami was Rob Chudzinski. Hate to lose Frank but I think that's a good spot for him.

This will make Indy one of the top teams in the NFL next year for sure. I really like what they did (from an unbiased perspective) this FA.

They need to improve their O-line but they will be dangerous this year

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/575327752179617792[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/LanceZierlein/status/575314645713428480[/tweet]

Marvin49":au2xvyq1 said:

Playmaker21":au2xvyq1 said:

Apparently after being released yesterday, Andre Johnson got a call from Frank Gore, close friends and former teammates at "The U" (Miami Hurricanes). They started talking about how cool it would be to play together in the NFL. Next thing you know they are on an airplane to Indianapolis to sign with the Colts

Click to expand...

Saw that they were flying to Indy today. Makes a lot of sense. I thought Frank would be a Colt from the start.

Their offensive coordinator at Miami was Rob Chudzinski. Hate to lose Frank but I think that's a good spot for him.

Click to expand...

Yep. Good for them (sincerely, I don't mean that sarcastically), and pretty cool that in the twilight of their careers they'll get to give it a go together with their college coach.

Nice moves by Indy.

Gore's offer from Indy is out:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/575330879783985152[/tweet]

More confirmation of the Johnson/Gore reunion story:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/575331660629086208[/tweet]

I'm also hearing that the Colts are signing Trent Cole as well. I think someone in Indy REALLY wants to stick it to Philly

[tweet]https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/575329126116159488[/tweet]

damn...who is left at receiver?? might have to sign Brian Walters....looks like they want to get neck beard a title shot this year!

This makes sense, but it bums me out because I dig Andre, and hawks are so thin at receiver. Colts looking better on paper for sure.

kidhawk":4c2jqr3u said:

I'm also hearing that the Colts are signing Trent Cole as well. I think someone in Indy REALLY wants to stick it to Philly

[tweet]https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/575329126116159488[/tweet]

Click to expand...

And now this.....

[tweet]https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/575336167509508096[/tweet]

Following twitter is going to be very entertaining today

Bummer about Johnson if true, but it's awesome to see Chip Kelly getting screwed out of Gore. It's obvious he was counting on Gore to replace Shady.

HawkMeat":1qup9z6q said:

This makes sense, but it bums me out because I dig Andre, and hawks are so thin at receiver. Colts looking better on paper for sure.

Click to expand...

I guess we'll see what happens with the Trent Cole signing (which I'm not in love with), but for Gore and Johnson, these are the type of low risk/high reward signings that usually translate to working off paper as well.

They're not looking for either of these guys to be saviors, and want from them the exact things that they provide.

Is it possible that Gore will be WORSE at being an inside the tackle runne to pair with Bradshaw than Trent Richardson was, or worse protecting Luck in pass-pro than Richardson was? Nah, not really. If you need an inside the tackle runner to pair with Bradshaw and an RB to pick up the blitz in pass pro, Gore is your guy. It's a great signing, as they'll only be asking him to do what he ALREADY does well.

Likewise, Is it possible that Andre Johnson will be worse than an injured and 36 year old Reggie Wayne was last year if he's asked to play the same role (keep the chains moving while Hilton creates space over the top)? Nah, not really. If you need a player with sure hands who can outmuscle DBs on third downs and has high field awareness to find space in zones on short and intermediate routes, Andre Johnson is your guy. Like Gore, they're only asking him to do what he ALREADY does well.

Teams get in trouble with big FA hauls when they sign players with the expectation that they'll do MORE than they've done (e.g. "Vick will stay healthy", "Maxwell can be a #1 CB", "Julius Thomas" has the ability to become the focal point of a passing attack and stay healthy and motivated finally", etc.)

Totally agree Popeye. This would seem like the type of signing that would work well for them. They would have Johnson, Hilton, Moncreif, Gore, and a good TE on Offense.

Popeyejones":300w045y said:

Teams get in trouble with big FA hauls when they sign players with the expectation that they'll do MORE than they've done (e.g. "Vick will stay healthy", "Maxwell can be a #1 CB", "Julius Thomas" has the ability to become the focal point of a passing attack and stay healthy and motivated finally", etc.)

Click to expand...

Yep.


Indy is doing what Denver did last year, getting impatient and spending a ton of money..............and we all know how that turned out.

Sgt. Largent":3ngiksg0 said:

Popeyejones":3ngiksg0 said:

Teams get in trouble with big FA hauls when they sign players with the expectation that they'll do MORE than they've done (e.g. "Vick will stay healthy", "Maxwell can be a #1 CB", "Julius Thomas" has the ability to become the focal point of a passing attack and stay healthy and motivated finally", etc.)

Click to expand...

Yep.


Indy is doing what Denver did last year, getting impatient and spending a ton of money..............and we all know how that turned out.

Click to expand...

Oh, no sorry, we disagree. I don't think Indy is getting impatient or spending big money that will have long term consequences. They're signing mid-money older guys to short term contracts that don't have long term ramifications, and to do things that these guys ALREADY do well (and not more).

FWIW I'd also disagree with a negative characterization of Denver's FAs last year. The team went 12-4 and made it deep into the playoffs. They got 10 sacks out of Ware (which nobody thought was possible anymore), more out of Sanders than anyone thought was possible, a much more solid season out of Ward than what they had at safety before, and PFF graded out Talib as a Top 10 CB in the NFL last year.

What's not to like about that? It's MUCH more risky than what the Colts are doing, but it absolutely worked out for them, even though it didn't result in a Super Bowl (which is pretty flukey).

If the colts want a running game that isnt trash they need o line improvement. Also their defense sucks.

Popeyejones":2qqxhejq said:

Oh, no sorry, we disagree. I don't think Indy is getting impatient or spending big money that will have long term consequences. They're signing mid-money older guys to short term contracts that don't have long term ramifications, and to do things that these guys ALREADY do well (and not more).

Click to expand...

Gore's deal is reported as a three year deal with almost 8M guaranteed. That's not mid-money IMO for a 31 year old, that's got some risk.

As far as Denver goes, sure they got some production out of their big signings, but now they have ZERO money to address the positions of need this year, and in 2016.

See, that's the thing when you spend a bunch of cash in FA, it might be a good thing for THAT year, but it seriously hamstrings your franchise for 2-3 years down the road when you need to replace lost players.

Crap.....I had a good feeling we would sign him, but it's like that feeling when you like a girl really bad but she doesn't like you. She sees you only as a friend, her friend just set them up on a double date, and your outside the restaurant watching them eat....