Oehser examines the idea that signing Bethea means there’s a new defensive emphasis. Or it just means there’s no salary cap. Or it just means that they never had home grown talent worth signing before. In the early 00s, the Colts didn’t have anyone worth singing except maybe Washington, but he was a LB. Drafting well means there’s plenty of talent to sign. I’m not sure this is a change in philosophy.
It was once assumed by many the Colts didn’t re-sign linebackers to big deals, just as it was assumed that if they re-signed a member of the secondary it would be Sanders and not much else.
Those days are over, and what’s notable is that they’re not over as much because of a change in front-office philosophy, but because the players merited that the days be over.
The Colts didn’t just decide a year or so ago to start re-signing defensive players. Hayden being a potential Pro Bowl corner meant he merited it, and Brackett being the leader of a defense and a playmaker beyond his physical stature merited the Colts giving him a long-term contract earlier this off-season.
The same is true of Bethea. While the Colts liked him immediately in 2006, and while he contributed quickly, few early in his career likely envisioned him being a potential core player beyind his first contract. Yet, Bethea – like Brackett and Hayden – played his way into being a core, franchise-level player, and while that has forced the Colts to alter their salary structure quite a bit in the last few seasons, they have done so with the obvious benefit of suddenly having more must-keep defensive players than they could have imagined having early last decade.
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