Colts Gab

The Colts and tight end Dallas Clark have come to terms on a six-year deal according to team President Bill Polian.  The move to lock up Clark comes just one day after the team taggd him as their franchise player.  “Mr. Polian and I had engaged in ongoing conversations since the fall with the intent desire to keep Dallas with the Colts till the end of his career,” said Neil Cornrich, Clark’s agent. “It’s been close for quite a while and we just refined it.”

The deal will make Clark the highest paid tight end in NFL history.  As the franchise player, he would have made $4.55 mil this season, but the new deal will pay him quite a bit more.  He was the teams first round pick back in 2003, and this past season caught a career-high 58 passes for 618 yards and 11 TD’s.  The numbers were franchise records for tight ends.“He’s a very unique player,” Polian said. “He gives us a lot of flexibility we otherwise would not have.”

The Colts avoided one of their own going the free agency route on Tuesday, as they came to terms with guard Ryan Lilja. Terms of the deal with Lilja were not known. Lilja has been a big part of the Colts line the past few seasons, as he has started 43 of the last 50 games for the Colts. With bringing him back it likely means that fellow guard Jake Scott will go free agent once the signing period starts next Friday.

In a totally expected move the Colts on Tuesday named tight end Dallas Clark as their franchise player. Clark caught 58 passes for 616 yards (10.6 YPC) and a career best 11 TDs in 2007.  He becomes the sixth player to be franchised so far this offseason.  The two sides can continue to talk up until July about a long-term deal, but for now, no team in the league will give up two first-round picks for Clark, who during an injury filled season for the Colts was truly Peyton Manning’s go-to pass catcher.

The city of Indianapolis today announced their “official” bid for the 2012 Super Bowl.  The city has the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium set to open this August, and with the new retractable-roof the stadium would be the perfect site for the big game.  “It’s not just another stadium, it’s a very special facility,” said Colts owner Jim Irsay.  The city had tried for 2011 Bowl, but lost to Dallas’ new stadium by a vote of 17-15.  The deadline to throw your hat in the ring for the game is April 1st.  Three other cities, Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans are cities that are expected to try and land the game.

Former Dolphins LB Zach Thomas is a free man, being let go by the Fins on Thursday. While a number of teams have already contacted the linebacker, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus has stated there are a few teams that Thomas would be interested in playing for. Among them are the Cowboys, Pats, Colts, and the Chargers. Thomas missed a lot of last season after suffering a series of concussions, and there is going to be some risk in signing him expecting a lot out of him at this point in his career.

The Colts are still trying to recover from a variety of injuries, and today President Bill Polian said that a couple of those players that were hurt in 2007 may not be ready to go for training camp in 2008.  Those players include Pro Bowl wide out Marvin Harrison, safety Bob Sanders, and defensive standout Dwight Freeney.  All three of those players have had surgery, and Polian said they won’t be back until they are 100 percent.

Harrison continues to be the biggest question mark, as he had had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last month and has been rehabilitating the inflamed capsule in his left knee.  He was first hurt in the teams early season win over the Broncos on September 30th.  He missed 11 games during the season.

Sanders had left shoulder surgery and was at the Super Bowl with his right arm in a sling.  Polian said that the Defensive Player of the Year may start the season on the physically unable to perform list.  Sanders was a stud this past year on defense for the Colts, with a career high 3.5 sacks, two picks, and 132 tackles.

As for Freeney, he had surgery on his left foot in November.  The good news is that Polian feels that he will be ready to go for opening day, but may miss time in training camp.  In 9 games in 2007 Freeney had 18 tackles with 3.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.