David, Saints meet

An Indianapolis Colts defense that has lost four notable players this offseason might face the prospect of losing a fifth.

[thomas lusk]

i would hate to see the colts lose another quality player but i think the "brain trust" on 56th street will see what happens and will make the correct decision based on all the factors we, as fans, are aware of combined with all the facts that they, as professional franchise builders, are aware of.

[i wuvmycolts]

What a load of crap. The Saints are our first opponent this season, go figure?

Oh well, looks like Marlin Jackson and Kevin Hayden will cover the corners with Tim Jennings playing in the nickle package.

[Amie]

come on, don't let him go! Losing harper wasn't as devastating since hayden and jackson have stepped up but if you want to cover wr's, especially the new corps in ne, you must keep this guy! how can the office not want to keep the guys who won the sb??

forgive no caps shift key broken

[Jim]

It's all about salary cap, people. You know that they hate to lose so many, but these players are super bowl winners and coaches want SB winners on their rosters to guide their teammates and they will pay them big money to get them. The Colt's can't do that with the big salaries they give to a few. It's not like they wanted to get rid of these guys. We will get good to great new players in the draft to continue to get youth. Polian will also find, because he always has, true diamonds in the rough in the late round and undrafted free agent pool...remember Dominic Rhodes and Clarence Wilkins? It's not about 2007 season fully. It is about the 2011 season as well.

[Jeremy]

Is he worth a 4th Round Pick? I think the Saints believe he is...and they seem to be right a lot lately. Welcome to N'Awlins!

[BC Realtor]

Amie wrote:

come on, don't let him go! Losing harper wasn't as devastating since hayden and jackson have stepped up but if you want to cover wr's, especially the new corps in ne, you must keep this guy! how can the office not want to keep the guys who won the sb??
forgive no caps shift key broken

Most computers have 2 shift keys. One of the left and one on the right...

Just joking.

Anyways, I would hate to see yet another defensive player go, but we had a couple guys stand up and make plays behind David so it would be a loss, but not a substantial one.
Either way I hate to see him go.

[Larry W]

This is the same defense that couldn't tackle my mother at mid-season. If we can get a 4th round pick for this guy, Polian has done very well with 4th round picks.
The COLTS have a good schedule next year and won't lose more than 4-5 games even with a rebuilding effort on defense. Tony will have them playing as a top team by Thanksgiving and that is when this season really begins.

[Larry W]

Jeremy wrote:

Is he worth a 4th Round Pick? I think the Saints believe he is...and they seem to be right a lot lately. Welcome to N'Awlins!

The post Katrina hoopla for the saints is over. Get ready for a return to the 7-9 seasons and one and out in the playoffs.

[George Reul]

If the Colts lose Jason David and only get a 4th round pick they have no one but themselves to blame. He's a midget, but he's our midget. I think he's grown in to a solid nfl corner so it really bothers me they didn't tender him higher.

[Joe]

David isn't that great of a player anyway. Undersized guy with decent speed.... It is an even trade for a 4th rounder. With the league trend of taller, more physical WRs I am not upset if he leaves. You may or may not believe this, but this is the opinion in the front office- from someone who knows.

[franchise]

Hey Joe in Fishers Ind., since you have the inside scoop what's going on with Corey Simon? Does anybody know?

And as far as Jason David goes, well you can never have enough corners on your team but David Macklin Jr. can go if we can get a fourth rounder

[Cheryl Lynn]

I don't see the COlts letting David go. They will match NO offer if he gets one.

[Tom]

David can be aliability against tall recievers.. he does well given his size. If he was 4" taller, he may be a pro bowler, but he isn't. When you're 5'7 and you're covering a 6'4 reveiver.. well. that's 9".

I don't want to see him go, but a 4th rounder for him is a steal!

New Orleans won't do as well this year against a more difficult 1st place schedule. They have a good shot at the playoffs, but I'm not sure that David really helps them.

I want to remind everyone of how New England won their last super bowl with their entire backfield injured... dragging people off the street the week before to play, and using Troy Brown as a DB?

The Colts DB's look better than they are for several reasons... 1- everyone runs against us... 2 - when they do pass they're under pressure. A good pass rush can make any secondary look good, and a bad one can make the best look bad. Football is a team game. David wasn't even supposed to be drafted because of his small size(so the experts say).

[Veiw Fm Up Here]

When the team tendered Jason david at $850,000 or a forth round pick, That like a retailer putting his price tag on a product, that what they figure his worth is. NOw if oakland would pick him up, their 4th round pick is a lot better than N.O's
so everything is relative and they can match an offer if they want to keep him. It's just like a poker bet
let see if N.O. will call polain's opening offer.

[lukybob]

Saints are desperate for a starting corner. Saints also have three 4th round picks and a lot of cap room. I think there's a better than good chance he's wearing black and gold for Indy's home opener.

[john]

The Colt Defense played great in the playoffs but lets not forget this is the same defense that was average to mediocre in the reqular season. The players who have left on their own are not great or impact players. They played well in Dungy's system. Over paying is not the way to go. The core players remain the ones who have left are replaceable.

[RaleighColtsFan]

Joe wrote:

David isn't that great of a player anyway. Undersized guy with decent speed.... It is an even trade for a 4th rounder. With the league trend of taller, more physical WRs I am not upset if he leaves. You may or may not believe this, but this is the opinion in the front office- from someone who knows.

That may be true but it takes 3-4 years to get a CB up to speed to play in the NFL.(In most cases) Hayden, Jackson and others have not been consistent enough to unseat either David or Harper. I think that in itself speaks volumns.

Don't get me wrong, I think two of Indy's backup corners will be good starters in a year or two but are we really willing to sacrifice a year? Manning and Harrison aren't spring chickens.

Oh and by the way lets face it the Colts got lucky with the D in the playoffs and I bet thier ego (Bill Pollian's ego) is still a mile high thinking they can get away with it again.

I bet they won't and we will all be typing asking how the defense could have possibly gotten worse than last seasons defense. Mark my unfortunate words.(unless we get some DTs, LBs and keep David)

[paul brooklyn]

For the life of me ,why doesn't Polian like the free agent system?

[anonymous]

paul brooklyn wrote:

For the life of me ,why doesn't Polian like the free agent system?

id say because you could invest and tie up a lot of money in a high priced free agent that may turn out to be a bust. but you could take the same dollars and spread them around young players to develope. but the money is being used wisely because we have freeney to get signed and then comes bob sanders. its all business

[Walter Skinner]

Okay. It seems to me that since the Colts freed up cap room and with the yearly cap increase, they've got plenty of room to deal with this sort of thing.

While we all know that Polian is something of a genius or, at the very least, very astute, at picking players. So with our Beloved Colts losing Harper, Doss, Reagor, and the possibility of David leaving, we have to ask ourselves, Why?

Harper, I don't believe is that big a deal. Reagor? I'm not tickled by his departure and the same goes for Doss. David? If he signs with the Saints then NO must believe him worthy of that 4th round pick (per the league agreement). What sort of value can the Colts get in that round? Plenty of fourth, fifth and sixth rounders have made it. I don't believe these lower round picks carry the high expectations and risks of failure that the first and second rounders do. Any doubts? Take a look at where Tim Couch, Ryan Leaf, Jeff George and ton of others are now as compared to the mid to lower rounds.

Better values can be found there and Polian has no equal when it comes to finding gems.

David will not be that big a hole to fill as far as I'm concerned. He had his moments, but when he got burned, he really looked bad.

As for the poster who said the Colts D got lucky in the playoffs - what the he** are you smoking?

Lucky would be one game.

Two games would raise some eyebrows.

Three games is a trend.

And four games equals a team that knew all along it could play defense - did it and wound up Champions of the football world.

The comments, too, about Manning and Harrison getting old - if they remain healthy then there isn't any reason either or both of them couldn't play another 5, 6, 7 or more years.

I think Mr. Polian has something up his sleeve.