http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3230346 The Colts just signed a 32-year old Marvin Harrison to a 7 year $66 million dollar deal. With a 22 million signing bonus. My Analysis: This is a BIG mistake, to sign a guy at his age to a huge contract like that is not a good move. With a team that needs help on defense, and just spent ton of money on a QB cannot afford to spend that kind of money on a WR. And now when they give James a huge contract, they will not have enough money left for the other side of the ball. Harrison is getting paid 2 - 3 million per year more then Owens, who happens to be 2 years younger. (Owens signed a 7 year contract worth ~46-48 mil with a 10mil signing bonus). I just dont understand why the Colts spent this much in signing bonus. These are the types of moves that doom a franchise for years to come. There is NO WAY in hell, he would have gotten that much money in free agency. It's like when the Rangers gave a shitload of money to A-Rod, where they were basically bidding against themselves. I am very puzzled with this decision.
It is a puzzling decision....the only logic I can come up with is that its a reward for what hes done in the past instead of what they expect in the future....Maybe Manning made it clear that Harrison was the most important aspect of the team to him....Whatever the reasoning, its a mistake....No WR is worth that kind of money....I dont see how they retain Egde now, it seems unlikely....They better win soon, because this move is going to sapp their ability to compete down the road....
Some of these deal are deceptive in thier announcements, the bulk of the money could be year 5,6,7 and tehn they plan to cut him after year 4. If they win one super bowl, it was worth it.
the number of the overall deal means nothing to me($66 million), its the $22 million signing bonus thats potentially devastating if they have to let him go before the end of the deal....
It's apparently $9.6million per year... http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/200811-6166-036.html I agree. This is a mistake. I admire the owner's loyalty for Harrison's past performance, but for that kind of money, they could lock up Wayne and Stokley for five or six years each and find a #3 receiver this off season cheap. Coupled with Manning's mind boggling contract, this is going to cause cap problems for the Colts for the next several years.
Those that think Manning isn't that great should think this was a good deal for the Colts then. I am on the other side and think Harrison is a good receiver...but nowhere near $66 million good.
I think the world of Marvin Harrison, but that contract does seem to be way too large. It sounds to me like they don't plan on bringing James back, but they still need some cap room to replace him, if that's the case.
Indy's offense is great and fun to watch, but if they spend half of their cap money just to retain Manning, Harrison and James, they're never going to the Superbowl. I'm not cap-ology expert. Maybe the front office knows exactly what it's doing. But somehow I doubt it.
