Which positions do the Colts spend the most money on?
The salary cap has become arguably the number one most important thing that a front office has to manage. It is one thing to acquire talent, which is the most difficult thing to do, but managing a salary cap and ensuring that you keep the best talent on the roster has become the most important thing in today’s NFL.
How do the Colts split up their money? Where do they spend more than other teams and is the money well spent or poorly spent?
The tables below will go by annual average value, as it’s a more accurate representation of how they spend their money whereas cap hit differs greatly year to year, so it doesn’t give you a better picture.
Figures courtesy of Spotrac and Over the Cap
Quarterbacks
Total Amount Spent: $24.40M
Percentage: 8.3%
League Median Average: $46.10M
League Rank: 21st
Unsurprisingly, the Colts are below the league average in terms of quarterback spending as they have one on a rookie contract and his competition on a cheap prove-it deal at $14M. When teams find their guy, they pay them handsomely and the Colts have not found their guy yet, so the low amount makes sense.
Running Backs
Total Amount Spent: $19.68M
Percentage: 6.41%
League Median Average: $13.80M
League Rank: 4th
The Colts rank amongst the highest in the NFL for money spent on running backs with the contract of Jonathan Taylor. Since running back money spending is purely dependent on the #1 guy, when teams have a true star running back, they’ll throw big money at him. The Colts have a star in Jonathan Taylor and made him one of the highest paid running backs in the league.
Wide Receivers
Total Amount Spent: $39.64M
Percentage: 12.80%
League Median Average: $41.65M
League Rank: 18th
The Colts spent a lot of money on Michael Pittman Jr, who has been underwhelming since he signed his new contract. Luckily, the Colts have two good receivers in Josh Downs and Alec Pierce who are still on rookie deals, which puts the team below the league average. So overall, you could argue the return on investment is good as this unit is likely better than 18th in the league, but I would still argue that the Pittman contract, to this point, has been a bad one.
Tight Ends
Total Amount Spent: $13.11M
Percentage: 4.23%
League Median Average: $17.02M
League Rank: 20th
The tight end group was arguably the worst in the entire NFL, but the addition of Tyler Warren could make them a top 10 unit by year’s end. So while it’s tough to evaluate this unit with the arrival of Warren, up to this point, this group has been so poor that it’s clear the money is not being spent well, even if it’s a small amount. It has been neglected and it’s obvious.
Offensive Line
Total Amount Spent: $52.16M
Percentage: 16.84%
League Median Average: $58.84M
League Rank: 18th
The Colts offensive line has been one of the more consistently good units in the NFL over the past few seasons, led by Quenton Nelson. The rise of Bernhard Raimann has also been key in their good play. The team is introducing two new faces to the starting unit next season, both of whom are on rookie deals, so those contracts help keep the Colts below the league average. Nevertheless, the Colts get tremendous value from their offensive line, which you could argue is a top 10 unit. So spending the 18th most for a top 10 unit is great value, however, the new starters do create some questions.
Defensive Line
Total Amount Spent: $66.73M
Percentage: 21.55%
League Median Average: $60.56M
League Rank: 10th
The Colts have built themselves a quality defensive line over the years, led by DeForest Buckner, who the Colts gave a big contract on top of using draft capital to get him. He has been a real star and the backbone of the defense. Grover Stewart has been a great complimentary player to Buckner and he was given a fair contract last season. Those two lead the way in terms of defensive line spending. Behind them are Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam, two players who have failed to live up to their contracts for different reasons. Paye is wildly inconsistent and Ebukam dealt with an Achilles injury. Overall, there’s an argument for the Colts defensive line being a top 10 unit, but there are definitely some inefficiencies in their spending.
Linebackers
Total Amount Spent: $19.35M
Percentage: 6.25%
League Median Average: $37.37M
League Rank: 28th
Linebackers’ value in the NFL is not what it used to be, and the Colts don’t put a lot of money into this unit. Nevertheless, while I don’t believe Zaire Franklin is an All Pro, he is definitely a quality starter and keeps this group’s head above water. Considering his cap hit is $7.5M and he’s due just over 6M in cash, it’s hard to argue that he’s not a valuable player for the Colts. Him alone gives the team a good return on their small investment in the group.
Secondary
Total Amount Spent: $60.37M
Percentage: 19.49%
League Average: $51.22M
League Rank: 8th
The Colts’ secondary has been a pitiful unit over the past few years, and was one of the groups that Colts did not spend much money on. This past offseason, Ballard and the front office made big investments in this unit, mostly on Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum, so this group jumped into the top 10 in the NFL. It’s tough to evaluate whether the money is being spent efficiently when the two big new pieces haven’t played a snap yet, but Chris Ballard has finally thrown money at one of the biggest problems on the Colts over the past few seasons.
Overall Team Analysis
Overall, the Colts are pretty efficient in their spending, getting good returns on investment in many groups and never getting terrible value in any. The front office took some big steps this past offseason, throwing big money at their weakest position and based on their spending history, they should get good returns from those big money free agents.
What’s unfortunate is that the lack of quality play at the quarterback spot has overshadowed all the quality spending the front office has done. Their skill position players have a ton of talent and their spending ranks around average in the NFL, so that’s a good return. Their offensive line is clearly an above average unit in the NFL, but they spend less than the league average. The Colts’ front 7 is probably a top 10 unit in the league and they don’t spend a top 10 amount.
A team is driven by it’s quarterback and while the car’s performance is strong, the driver just isn’t up to par and hopefully that changes this season, otherwise the smart investing will once again be overshadowed.