Colts Gab

Free agent center to be Jeff Saturday is going nowhere. The Colts have re-signed Saturday, this just a few hours before he would have hit the market. There was talk by Saturday of his desire to play for the Steelers, but instead he will stay protecting Peyton Manning in Indy.

Here is the tidbit about Saturday coming back from the Indy Star:

The Colts agreed to a new three-year contract with center Jeff Saturday tonight, averting losing a longtime offensive cornerstone. Consider it a case of beat-the-clock negotiations. Saturday, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, would have become an unrestricted free agent and hit the NFL’s open market at 12:01 Friday morning.

It was a tough day as a Colts fan, or a fan of one of the most prolific passing combos in the history of the game. Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison is no more. The greatest receiver in Colts history is now looking for work.

The Colts today made the release of Harrison official, as the eight-time Pro Bowler was shown the door after speculation that he would not take a pay cut to stay with the team that saw him make so many huge plays over the course of his career.

Reports say that the Colts tried a last ditch effort to keep Harrison, but could not come to an agreement with Harrison’s agent, Tom Condon, on a restructured contract. Condon said Monday the Colts agreed to release his client after the two sides could not agree on a restructured contract. But Colts owner Jim Irsay was hopeful a deal could be struck Tuesday.

Alas, there was no agreement and Harrison, the franchise’s touchdown leader (127), is without a job.

“You know this day is coming, but it’s not a day you look forward to,” Irsay said. “It’s very seldom that retirement lines up with the team and a player goes out at the same time. I wanted to make sure I had a chance to talk to Marvin one last time this afternoon and really thoroughly go through a lot of things together. I know he wishes to go forward and pursue opportunities in the National Football League still, something we are doing in our granting his release.”

Harrison set the single-season receptions mark with 143 in 2002. With that though, Harrison’s best years are behind him, and the 36-year-old is scheduled to make $9 million in 2009, clearly too much money for a team with Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez.

Cutting Harrison saves Indianapolis nearly $7 million. Irsay did say that given the salary cap, Harrison’s release is something that has become status quo this time of year.

“He’s an individual who most of you did not have a chance to see how hard he worked,” Irsay said. “His connection with Peyton Manning, how those guys hooked up in ’98 and began the journey and together, set records that will be talked about many many years from now.”

The Colts today reportedly made a tough decision, as they have decided to cut their all-time leading wide out, Marvin Harrison. Reports say that the agent for Harrison said that his client is being released after not taking a pay cut from the Colts. Tom Condon told the AP that the team has agreed to let go of Harrison, although an official announcement is not expected until tomorrow or Wednesday.

“Basically, we were not able to come to any kind of agreement, it was not contentious and the Colts have agreed to release him,” Condon said in a phone interview.

The Colts will save about $6 mil with the move, but they would still be charged for prorated bonuses from the $66 million deal he signed in December 2004. The 36-year-old is coming off a rather down season, one of, if not his worst, as in 15 games he caught just 60 passes for 636 yards with five touchdowns.

Harrison ranks second in NFL history with 1,102 receptions. He was the teams first pick of the 1996 draft, and combined with Peyton Manning for more completions, yardage and touchdowns than any duo in league history. He made eight Pro Bowls, won a Super Bowl ring, and his 14,550 yards rank fourth on the NFL’s career list. He is No. 5 all-time with 128 TD catches and holds all major single-season and career receiving marks for the Colts.

A report is out there stating that WR Marvin Harrison wants to be released from the Colts. Today’s Indy Star says that the team has not made up their minds for sure that they want to get rid of Harrison, and that they aer still talking about what to do about his large cap number:

Colts president Bill Polian said the team still is discussing whether it will bring back wide receiver Marvin Harrison for a 14th season. The team’s all-time leading receiver would count $13.4 million against the 2009 salary cap, and Indy is dealing with significant cap issues. The team might terminate Harrison’s contract if he does not agree to a pay cut, which would be unlikely on Harrison’s part. “Hopefully we can find a way to work through that, and we’re trying,” Polian said.

The talk about Marvin Harrison being let go by the Colts continues, and today AP wrote that a pay cut may be the reason why in the end, Harrison will be a Colt no more.

Marvin Harrison’s reluctance to take a pay cut could mark the end of his career in Indianapolis. Earlier Sunday, Colts president Bill Polian told reporters at the NFL’s annual scouting combine that the team was trying to rework Harrison’s deal to lower his salary cap number from approximately $13.4 million, the highest number of any receiver in the NFL. “I don’t want to characterize discussions in any other way other than to say we’re having discussions,” Polian said.

“We’re working on two fronts. On the one front, we are impacted by the salary cap for the first time in 11 years because of the new rules that come in this year as the last capped year. That is not something, quite honestly, that we planned for. So, we are impacted by that. As a result, that creates issues with any number of players. Marvin is one of them. Hopefully, we can find a way to work through that and we’re trying to.

I don’t have any answers beyond that other than we’re trying to work through it.” But a person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team has not made an announcement, said Harrison “probably would not be interested in” taking a pay cut.

The Colts appear to be ready for life without one of their big players on the O-line, center Jeff Saturday. The Indy Star reports that Saturday, who will be a free agent on Friday, will be allowed to test the free agent market.

The Indianapolis Colts won’t attempt to re-sign Jeff Saturday, their starting center the past nine seasons, before the start of the league’s free agent signing period, according to his agent. In an e-mail to The Indianapolis Star late Saturday, Ralph Cindrich said “discussions and events this past week” confirmed the team will allow Saturday to “test the free agent market,” which opens Friday. Saturday, 33 and a three-time Pro Bowl selection, is one of eight Colts who will become unrestricted free agents at the end of the week.

Saturday, despite being 33, will be looked at by a number of teams that could use a center, and if the Colts are serious about not making him an offer, he’ll likely not be back with the Colts in 2009.

In a rather stunning move, a report says that the Colts are going to release all-time leading wide out Marvin Harrison before the start of free agency next Friday. The report came Thursday from NFL Network, which if true would end the more prolific passing combo in the history of the league with Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison being no more.

Manning and Harrison have the following NFL records together – most completions (971), yards (13,090) and touchdowns (110) of any quarterback-wide receiver duo. The 36-year-old’s release would save the Colts about $7 million against the cap in the 2009 season.

Harrison played in just five games in 2007 due to a knee injury. Last season, he caught 60 passes for a career-low 636 yards five touchdowns in 15 games. He was the Colts first-round pick in 1996, and has a career 1,102 catches for 14,580 yards and 128 touchdowns in 190 games with the Colts.

New head coach Jim Caldwell said that even he was not sure what the future would hold for Harrison with the club. “We’re not quite certain what’s going to happen,” Caldwell said. “But we hope to have him back.”

The Colts inked free agent-to-be cornerback Kelvin Hayden to a five-year deal worth $43 million. The move was the first by the team to make sure they don’t lose him or some of their other bigger name players in free agency, which starts in eight days.

The team had been thinking about putting the franchise tag on Hayden, but instead of having to do that, he gets the new five-year deal that will pay him about $8.6 mil per season. If they would have put the tag on him, it would have cost the team about $9.9 million.

Hayden intercepted three passes each of the past two seasons. The team is still looking at options for center Jeff Saturday – a thee-time Pro Bowler, running back Dominic Rhodes, linebacker Tyjuan Hagler and punter Hunter Smith.

It looks as if the Colts are going to allow punter Hunter Smith to go the free agency route according to the Indy Star. Here is the story from today’s edition:

Hunter Smith’s 10-year relationship with the Indianapolis Colts might be nearing an end. The team has informed its veteran punter it won’t offer him a new contract, allowing him to hit the NFL’s free-agent market Feb. 27. Smith voided the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the month. “The door isn’t closed for him to return, but they are not going to keep him off the market,” Tom Mills, Smith’s agent, said Tuesday afternoon. “When we chose to void the final year of Hunter’s contract, we certainly knew this was a possibility. “Hunter was prepared for this eventuality and he’s OK with it.”

Pro Football Weekly reports that the Colts might have a hard time finding room to pay center Jeff Saturday, which would greatly upset QB Peyton Manning. Here is the report from the source:

It’s beginning to appear that for the second straight year, the Colts might very well opt to let one of their O-line stalwarts depart in free agency. Last offseason, Indy chose not to extend OG Jake Scott, and in 2009, C Jeff Saturday could be on his way out of town. The Colts’ limited salary-cap maneuverability makes it incredibly difficult to re-sign the three-time Pro Bowler to the type of deal Saturday would warrant on the open market.