jatfly
AKA:Burgraider
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COLTS, SIMON TO PART WAYS
The Indianapolis Star reports that the Colts and defensive tackle Corey Simon are close to working out a deal that would result in Simon becoming a former Colt, and an unrestricted free agent.
"I foresee us basically coming to a settlement in terms of moving forward and him pursuing his opportunity if he chooses to someplace else," owner Jim Irsay said. "We're moving forward and he wants to move forward. It's better to get it resolved instead of have it linger. I see it happening in the next day or two."
Though the hometown paper says that coach Tony Dungy has been kept in the loop, we think that based on Dungy's quote on the matter that's a generous interpretation.
"I didn't know how far along they were,'' Dungy said, "but I knew [a settlement] was a direction we were going.'''
Simons, according to the Colts, failed a physical on Friday, and was sent home.
The Star, further showing its colors as a cheerleader for the local NFL team, speculates that a settlement could include Simon agreeing to pay back part of his signing bonus.
But why in the world would Simon pay back any signing bonus money? What has he done wrong? He was placed on the non-football injury/illness list last year while rehabbing a knee injury, and the team refused to pay his salary. Simon filed a grievance, and we're not sure how the grievance was resolved, or even if it has been resolved.
The team tried to force Simon to reimburse an $8 million option bonus paid to Simon last year, but failed. Since the Colts apparently believed that Simon was in some way in default last year when trying to recover his option bonus, the Colts probably should have likewise attacked the signing bonus, too. By apparently not doing so within 45 days after the commencement of the default, the Colts have likely waived their ability to do so now.
If anything, then, the Colts need to be paying Simon, if they want Simon to leave. They can try to put him on the non-football injury/illness list again, but would be subject to yet another grievance in the amount of his $3.955 million base salary for 2007.
The mere fact that Irsay acknowledges that Simon would have an opportunity to play elsewhere strongly suggests that the team didn't flunk Simon on his physical because he can't play, but because the team doesn't want him around. So if they want to wash their hands of their mistake, it sure as hell doesn't sound to us like a situation where Simon should be paying them any money at all.
And as to the boo-hooing that Simon was paid $14 million for playing in only 14 games, that's life in the NFL. Whether it's by drafting a Ryan Leaf or signing a Corey Simon, sometimes that investment doesn't match the performance. In fact, we think it's odd that the Colts would be whining so much about this publicly, since it merely highlights their stoopidity for giving Simon so much money, especially when he obviously was out of shape and overweight when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2005 after the Eagles removed the franchise tag from him.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the Colts and defensive tackle Corey Simon are close to working out a deal that would result in Simon becoming a former Colt, and an unrestricted free agent.
"I foresee us basically coming to a settlement in terms of moving forward and him pursuing his opportunity if he chooses to someplace else," owner Jim Irsay said. "We're moving forward and he wants to move forward. It's better to get it resolved instead of have it linger. I see it happening in the next day or two."
Though the hometown paper says that coach Tony Dungy has been kept in the loop, we think that based on Dungy's quote on the matter that's a generous interpretation.
"I didn't know how far along they were,'' Dungy said, "but I knew [a settlement] was a direction we were going.'''
Simons, according to the Colts, failed a physical on Friday, and was sent home.
The Star, further showing its colors as a cheerleader for the local NFL team, speculates that a settlement could include Simon agreeing to pay back part of his signing bonus.
But why in the world would Simon pay back any signing bonus money? What has he done wrong? He was placed on the non-football injury/illness list last year while rehabbing a knee injury, and the team refused to pay his salary. Simon filed a grievance, and we're not sure how the grievance was resolved, or even if it has been resolved.
The team tried to force Simon to reimburse an $8 million option bonus paid to Simon last year, but failed. Since the Colts apparently believed that Simon was in some way in default last year when trying to recover his option bonus, the Colts probably should have likewise attacked the signing bonus, too. By apparently not doing so within 45 days after the commencement of the default, the Colts have likely waived their ability to do so now.
If anything, then, the Colts need to be paying Simon, if they want Simon to leave. They can try to put him on the non-football injury/illness list again, but would be subject to yet another grievance in the amount of his $3.955 million base salary for 2007.
The mere fact that Irsay acknowledges that Simon would have an opportunity to play elsewhere strongly suggests that the team didn't flunk Simon on his physical because he can't play, but because the team doesn't want him around. So if they want to wash their hands of their mistake, it sure as hell doesn't sound to us like a situation where Simon should be paying them any money at all.
And as to the boo-hooing that Simon was paid $14 million for playing in only 14 games, that's life in the NFL. Whether it's by drafting a Ryan Leaf or signing a Corey Simon, sometimes that investment doesn't match the performance. In fact, we think it's odd that the Colts would be whining so much about this publicly, since it merely highlights their stoopidity for giving Simon so much money, especially when he obviously was out of shape and overweight when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2005 after the Eagles removed the franchise tag from him.
