If Colts switch scheme, Freeney, Mathis may go

One of the surprises of the week following Super Bowl XLVI has been how many team personnel executives/coaches have phoned to inquire about what new Colts general manager Ryan Grigson and owner Jim Irsay had to say in interviews that we attended about the futures of defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis in Indianapolis.

Franchises certainly are conducting their pre-free agency due diligence about the pair of elite pass rushers. Mathis is a pending free agent, and the Colts could be hard-pressed to retain Freeney, who is due a $14.035 million base salary and has a $19 million-plus salary cap charge, in the franchise facelift to which Irsay and Grigson appear committed.

If the Colts switch to a 3-4 front - a transition that could be dicey given their defensive personnel, but one with which new coach Chuck Pagano is most familiar - Mathis and Freeney are poor fits. Neither has the bulk to play 3-4 end, and neither has played much in space, so the conversion to 3-4 linebacker would be tough.

Indianapolis could reduce Freeney's cap hit with an extension, but he's going to be 32 later this month, and how much can a club commit to a player of that vintage, and one who might not fit very snugly with future plans?

Of the team's pending free agents, Irsay specifically cited Mathis and wide receiver Pierre Garcon as priorities, although he later mentioned Reggie Wayne, but Mathis is going to have options if he gets close to free agency.

There are at least two teams, Miami and Buffalo, switching to the 4-3 in 2012, and both will need ends. Many pro scouts in the league feel that Mathis, who will be 31 in about 2 1/2 weeks, had a stronger performance than did Freeney in 2011. Mathis had 9.5 sacks, his eighth season in a row with at least seven.

Beyond a casual introductory and congratulatory phone call, there has been no contact yet between Grigson and Mathis' agent, Hadley Engelhard. Then again, Grigson has had a lot on his plate, with hiring a head coach and a staff. Freeney notched 8.5 sacks - his fewest since 2007, when he played in only nine games because of a knee injury - but the sentiment seems to be that he lost some intensity as the Colts' long season dragged on.

--QB Peyton Manning says there is no competition with his younger brother, Giants quarterback Eli Manning. "Eli and I don't play that game," Peyton Manning told the Indianapolis Star. "The relationship of Eli, (older brother) Cooper and I is not about trying to rub it in or anything like that. It's about love, nothing but love."

--Manning to the Indianapolis Star about unnamed sources discussing his future: "I've always wanted to meet 'sources.' 'Source' and 'they' seem to know an awful lot, but they aren't always accurate. I haven't had many discussions with (agent) Tom (Condon). I told Tom all I want to do is continue to rehab."

--Irsay on how Indianapolis plans to approach the team's 2012 salary cap situation: "We were cash over cap last year. We have a real challenge there where the cap stands period. We're going to have to be thoughtful in terms in how we go about that. There's just not that much room this year. In a couple years, particularly even next year, it will probably look better. But this year there's not a lot of room."

--Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was asked recently about the idea of replacing Manning as the Colts' starting quarterback.

"You don't ever replace someone like Peyton Manning. He is the best. From what I understand, he means so much to (Indianapolis). Not just for the football stuff, but what he's done off the field. You don't ever replace guys like that," he said, adding that he would embrace being the first overall pick in the draft.

--As to the possibility of being a Colt in 2012, Luck said, "I just want the chance to play NFL football. Growing up, that was the dream. The chance to play professional football would be totally, totally awesome."

--Keeping free agents such as defensive end Robert Mathis, wide receiver Pierre Garcon and wide receiver Reggie Wayne in Indianapolis remains a work in progress.

"I know there's tremendous affection for all those guys. Those are three great players, guys that have been so productive here. Those three guys are three great players. We'd love to have all of them," general manager Ryan Grigson said, but added that there will be some tough decisions.

"I have to make decisions that are best for this franchise to move forward. That's my job. To help (Jim Irsay) steward the franchise. I'm going to do everything with an honest approach. There's hard decisions to make in organizations. If you don't divorce yourself some from sentiment, you're going to make bad decisions. You can't do things where you're going to hurt the whole franchise. It's a tough deal at this business."

--Coach Chuck Pagano on hiring Greg Manusky as the Colts' new defensive coordinator: "It's great to have Greg Manusky aboard. Greg's been a player and a coach in this league for a long time. I think his resume speaks for itself. He'll bring great leadership, passion and energy to our organization and to the defensive side of the ball. It's great to have Greg aboard."

--According to Pagano, Manusky will call the defense, with imput from the rest of the Colts' coaching staff.

"Greg will. Collectively as a staff, whoever ends up being in that defensive room, we'll put a system in, we'll put a scheme in," the Indianapolis coach said.

--No decisions have been made about any of the players currently on the Colts roster. That will come in time.

"Between Ryan, myself, Mr. Irsay and everybody else involved, the scouting staff, we've got to take a close look at our roster and see where we're at there," Pagano added. "We all understand guys are out there, free agents, there's all that stuff that's going on. So as a team and as a group, we will put together a great 53-man roster."

--Twelve years after leaving the Indianapolis organization, Bruce Arians is back as the team's offensive coordinator. Interestingly, the situation that he is now entering with the Colts closely mirrors the last time he was on the team's coaching staff as the quarterbacks coach.

"It's kind of like deja vu. It's scary. New general manager, new head coach," Arians said.

"It's exciting. I walked into the (Colts offices) two days ago and I've never been greeted better in 37 years of coaching. A lot of old friends. I'm really excited about putting that Horseshoe (logo) back on and being part of Irsay's organization. He's picked two great guys as general manager and head coach. Just looking forward to it."

--Arians will have an opportunity to work with his third No. 1 draft pick (Manning in 1998 and Cleveland's Tim Couch in 1999) after the Colts select either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III in April.

--The Colts promoted Tom Telesco to vice president of football operations. Telesco has spent the last six seasons as the team's director of player personnel.

"He has been a valuable member of the Colts organization over the last 14 years and this promotion is well deserved," Grigson said.

--The Colts waived linebacker Zac Diles, guard Jaimie Thomas and tackle James Williams. Diles was claimed off waivers on Dec. 5, 2011. He saw action in four contests on special teams. Thomas was originally a seventh round draft selection by the Colts in 2009. Williams was signed by Indianapolis on Dec. 14, 2010.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think we can (sign free agent Robert Mathis). We'd like to get something done there. We have the (franchise) tag if we don't, but I think we'll get something done. We'd like to have Pierre back for sure. We want to get something done along those lines. You could tag either Robert or (Garcon), but the goal would be to get something done sooner than later on those guys." -- Colts owner Jim Irsay on the team's plan to try and retain free agents Robert Mathis and Pierre Garcon.

Copyright (C) 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.