Colts expect to sign Freeney long-term

[tonyr0802]

The Colts locked up defensive end Dwight Freeney for at least one more season by designating him an exclusive "franchise'' player last month. Owner Jim Irsay has more far-reaching intentions.

 

 

 

 

win-win: A long-term deal would give Dwight Freeney financial security and lower the Colts' salary cap number. - Sam Riche / The Star

 

"I expect to get a long-term deal done in the spring,'' Irsay said. "It would be a very rare situation for him to play for the tag. Whenever we've determined that we're going to sign one of our nucleus players to a long-term contract, it's always gotten done.''

Freeney could not be reached for comment, and his agent, Gary Wichard, declined to comment.

The exclusive franchise tag is a guaranteed one-year contract that prevents Freeney from seeking offers from other teams. Its value is the average of the top five defensive ends as of April 22, which is the end of the initial phase of the current veteran free agent signing period. That figure could approach $9.5 million.

Freeney, 27, will earn at least $8.644 million, which is the value of the nonexclusive franchise tag.

Outside of the obvious reason to hold onto Freeney -- he's the Colts' defensive cornerstone -- there are two others. One is that a long-term deal would likely cut Freeney's 2007 cap number in half. Also, as long as he is not under contract, he is not required to participate in team activities. That includes the offseason conditioning program that begins April 16, minicamps, summer school and training camp.

A franchise player, leery of injury, frequently waits until the end of training camp before signing the one-year deal and reporting to his team.

Coach Tony Dungy noted that a long-term deal benefits both Freeney and the Colts. "The player has an incentive because he doesn't want to work on a one-year deal because of the injury factor, and the team has incentive to get the deal done because of the (salary) cap number."

The Colts have used the franchise tag in four of the past six years, on Marcus Pollard (2001), Tarik Glenn ('02), Peyton Manning ('04) and Edgerrin James ('05). Only James did not eventually sign a long-term deal with the team.

 

 

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