Bill Polian fired!

[Mailman]

Breaking news, just heard on Sirius XM NFL Radio.

[Showtime100]

So, who is Polian?

[srrono]

http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88462

[stingray]

Originally Posted by Showtime100

So, who is Polian?

GM of the Colts.

[Showtime100]

Cool. That's why I didn't know.

[IDEXAN]

It's not April 1 is it ? If true, this is surprising !

[Wolf]

maybe pay-me-a-ton can move into the OC/GM slot

[Heath Shuler]

huge news. 23 months ago in superbowl. wow.

[ObsiWan]

Irsay is still yakking about it on NFLN.
No word yet on whether Caldwell goes or stays. Said he'd hire a GM before making a decision on the coaching staff...

Wonder if Major Forehead still wants to come back to the Colts...

Actually, it may not be up to him. Isn't there a clause that gives the Colts a week to back out of his contract? The new braintrust may decide that they'll take their chances with Luck and sweep him out with everyone else associated with Polian.

[GP]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

Irsay is still yakking about it on NFLN.
No word yet on whether Caldwell goes or stays. Said he'd hire a GM before making a decision on the coaching staff...

Wonder if Major Forehead still wants to come back to the Colts...

Actually, it may not be up to him. Isn't there a clause that gives the Colts a week to back out of his contract? The new braintrust may decide that they'll take their chances with Luck and sweep him out with everyone else associated with Polian.

My first thought: What GM would want to be saddled with Caldwell? I wouldn't.

Colts are in a pickle. This is their own Brett Favre-Green Bay Packers moment, IMO.

Do they hold onto Manning or do they end the marriage and get a new QB in Andrew Luck? Do they shock everyone and go with RGIII...totally re-working their offense style and the way they play ball????

I think Luck is good, but I don't see him necessarily being AS good as Manning was. Manning was something special altogether, folks. An epic QB who will enter the HOF easily on the first ballot. Do we think this of Luck? I don't.

I would go with RGIII. Big, mobile, smart, and a marketing department's dream. I think he fits the personnel they've got on offense. The offensive line is not great anymore, but it's still good enough to pass off as decent. They have a knack for finding good receivers in one form or another, whether it's "tweener" WR/HB-type guys like Collie, bigger WRs like Wayne and Garcon, Dallas Clark, etc. They could give RGIII a lot of weapons.

With Luck at QB, you're getting more of a pocket passer and I don't know if the o-line will age with him as well. RGIII can get out of trouble and bail his o-line out a lot more than Luck can. Not saying Luck ISN'T mobile, just obviously more of a pocket passer by nature.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by GP

My first thought: What GM would want to be saddled with Caldwell? I wouldn't.

Colts are in a pickle. This is their own Brett Favre-Green Bay Packers moment, IMO.

Do they hold onto Manning or do they end the marriage and get a new QB in Andrew Luck? Do they shock everyone and go with RGIII...totally re-working their offense style and the way they play ball????

I think Luck is good, but I don't see him necessarily being AS good as Manning was. Manning was something special altogether, folks. An epic QB who will enter the HOF easily on the first ballot. Do we think this of Luck? I don't.

I would go with RGIII. Big, mobile, smart, and a marketing department's dream. I think he fits the personnel they've got on offense. The offensive line is not great anymore, but it's still good enough to pass off as decent. They have a knack for finding good receivers in one form or another, whether it's "tweener" WR/HB-type guys like Collie, bigger WRs like Wayne and Garcon, Dallas Clark, etc. They could give RGIII a lot of weapons.

With Luck at QB, you're getting more of a pocket passer and I don't know if the o-line will age with him as well. RGIII can get out of trouble and bail his o-line out a lot more than Luck can. Not saying Luck ISN'T mobile, just obviously more of a pocket passer by nature.

It's worse. The Pack had a year or two to get Rodgers up to speed and determine his readiness. Unless Orlovsky is the future - and we all know he isn't - then Indy is sort of stepping into the unknown compared to where the Packers were when they showed Favre the door.

Yeah, Luck and RG3 look promising; VERY promising... But neither of them have played NFL ball. There will be a speed adjustment to be sure. And there will be growing pains.
I love it

And worse, they have no clue who the offensive braintrust will be; let alone can either of those two guys work in whatever that turns out to be.

Could be total disarray.
I'm sorry but I love it...

....okay, I'm not sorry

[Hagar]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

Irsay is still yakking about it on NFLN.
No word yet on whether Caldwell goes or stays. Said he'd hire a GM before making a decision on the coaching staff...

Wonder if Major Forehead still wants to come back to the Colts...

Actually, it may not be up to him. Isn't there a clause that gives the Colts a week to back out of his contract? The new braintrust may decide that they'll take their chances with Luck and sweep him out with everyone else associated with Polian.

The talking heads on the NFL channel said that the Colts had to pay him a $23MM bonus in March if he's still on the team.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Hagar

The talking heads on the NFL channel said that the Colts had to pay him a $23MM bonus in March if he's still on the team.

That's true. But they also have a clause that gives them a week - and I cannot find a link that says when exactly that week is - to make that call.

I just wonder if the newguys - who likely won't have any ties to Manning - will want to be saddled with that big a hit to their salary cap? Especially looking at all the other aging stars they need to replace or re-sign...

[TEXANRED]

Damn. Polian was a terrible GM that got bailed out every year by Manning's play. Now the Colts may hire someone competent.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by TEXANRED

Damn. Polian was a terrible GM that got bailed out every year by Manning's play. Now the Colts may hire someone competent.

Polian was a tremendous GM both in his early tenure with the Colts, and before he ever got there. I think he just got lazy, complacent, bored, or some combination of all three. But no doubt that the last four or five years with the Bills have been bad.

[stingray]

Originally Posted by TEXANRED

Damn. Polian was a terrible GM that got bailed out every year by Manning's play. Now the Colts may hire someone competent.

Hmmmm terrible huh? With the Bills he signed Jim Kelly from the USFL. Drafted the following players: Cornelius Bennet, Thurman Thomas, Nate Odomes. They went to four straight super bowls with these core players.

Colts era: Peyton Manning, Edgerin James, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeny, Robert Mathis, Bob Sanders.

And the Peyton Manning pick was not an easy decision. Many people thought that they should have drafted Ryan Leaf over Manning. It wasn't a slam dunk.

I wish the Texans had a GM this terrible.

[BetaV1]

All but certain this firing was due to Peyton Manning. Irsay and Manning are as close to a father-son pair as Peyton and Archie. Polian has reportedly stated on a local Indianapolis radio show sometime ago that he wasn't as optimistic about Peyton's recovery as many others were. Manning had to come out and refute some of those statements, so apparently Polian's candidness caused a bit of a behind-the-scenes uproar.

Now this is me speculating here, but I'm going to guess Polian and Irsay met Sunday night to discuss plans on what to do now that they had the number one pick. Polian said Colts take Luck and have them both, or if Manning is going to be upset by that idea, then it is time to cut Manning loose. Irsay said "Sorry bub, but I think Peyton's got at least three more good years in him. See ya."

I can understand the argument that the Colts need to look to the long-term future and draft Luck. Problem is drafting Luck does not guarantee a successful long term future. A bust with this kind of pick at the quarterback position can easily set your franchise back three, four, even five years. Life is short, and you only have a shot at so many superbowls. Let's all be real here too: the first step towards winning a superbowl each year is just getting into the playoffs. Once you're in, you just to win four, or even as little as three, to be world champions. Tons of teams enter the wildcard role with a 10-6 record to win the whole thing. The Cardinals just a few years ago should come to mind (if you allow it to).

The point is that the AFC South can be won with a 10-6 record, and the Colts with Manning are a 10-win team. Reggie Wayne is getting old, so what about Blackman? A wide-out of that caliber with a quarterback like Manning would be extremely dangerous. I'm not much of a college football fan, so I won't continue to play armchair GM since I don't know much about many other players.

It should also be brought to attention that perhaps Manning and Irsay have already discussed Peyton's successor. The guy is a first ballot HOF quarterback and has one of the highest IQ's in the game. If I were an owner of a football team and he came up to me and said, "Listen, I know everyone is clamoring for Luck, but there's this guy out there who can be had in the second round, or we could even trade back up into the late first round, who I think is the real deal." You best believe I'll listen.