Could we land Bob Sanders or Antoine Bethea?..........

[John Lydon]

Let me preface this by saying I group myself in with the "fix the O line" crowd. However, every once in a while an oppurtunity presents itself that makes your mouth start to water. Parousing the internet yesterday, one such case popped up.

With the increasingly inevitable uncapped year looming, Indianapolis is in a tricky spot. Under the uncapped rules, they fall under the final eight plan. That means they are basically limited on the number of free agents they can sign. I'm not going to pretend to understand all the rules of the uncapped year, but my conspiracy theory is this:

Antoine Bethea, the Colts stud FS, has a contract that expires this year. The Colts are left with a decision; allow Bethea to become a RFA or resign him. If they choose to resign him, this brings up an interesting situation with Bob Sanders whose large contract eats up a lot of cap space.

Bob Sanders has 3 years left on his contract which is backloaded for a big payout in 2011 and 2012. If the Colts cannot restructure Sanders contract (which they've already done once) they will be hard pressed to pay the bills in 2011 and 2012. With the emergence of Melvin Bullit, this makes the uncapped year the prime time to shop Sanders around.

My theory is one of these two top tier Safeties is going to get shopped around this offseason.

Here's some links to speculation surrounding Bob Sanders contract:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/268262-time-to-trade-bob-sanders

http://joehatcher.mywnde.com/2009/08/11/what-will-bob-sanders-cost-the-colts/

You can view Bob Sanders' contract, along with the rest of the colts here:

http://www.coltscap.net/futures

I know this is all rumors and speculation and hoping against hope, but I would be all for picking up Bob Sanders even with his injury issues. Let me hear what the rest of you think.

[SWFLSkins]

I wished we would all put down the safety position and back away slowly. I want to see Landry and company play for Haslett. No more playing prevent on every down. I bet our safeties are one reason that Jim was dying to come here.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

bob sanders is 100% worthless. he plays 2 games a season then goes on IR, and his goal is just to hope to show up when the colts are in the playoffs. no thank you.

bethea id be fine with if hes not expensive but he probably would be.

[Hitman21ST]

We are solid at safety, but nothing spectacular. That being said, I don't really want to get Sanders or Bethea, their price would be too high and they have too many miles on them. We can hold serve with our current crop until one falls to us in a draft at a reasonable position (2nd, 3rd round or so). We're not going to find another Sean Taylor anytime soon, and we need to stop looking.

THAT being said, whatever the FO does, I'm in support of.

[John Lydon]

bob sanders is 100% worthless. he plays 2 games a season then goes on IR, and his goal is just to hope to show up when the colts are in the playoffs. no thank you.

bethea id be fine with if hes not expensive but he probably would be.

It's true about Sanders injuries but I think a lot of that has to do with the defensive scheme Indianapolis employed in the past. An undersized line meant they had to bring Sanders up to help with run support. Needless to say a 200 lb. guy slamming into 300 pound lineman is going to take some lumps. I think he would remain relatively healthy in washington's scheme.

As for Bethea, his salary this year was 552,000. I know he'll expect a bump in pay for next season but even doubling his salary still makes him an affordable pickup.

[ST is my boy]

It's true about Sanders injuries but I think a lot of that has to do with the defensive scheme Indianapolis employed in the past. An undersized line meant they had to bring Sanders up to help with run support. Needless to say a 200 lb. guy slamming into 300 pound lineman is going to take some lumps. I think he would remain relatively healthy in washington's scheme.

Yeah but then you are going away from what he does well.....

We already do that with one of our safetys......you see how that works out.

[SWFLSkins]

It's true about Sanders injuries but I think a lot of that has to do with the defensive scheme Indianapolis employed in the past. An undersized line meant they had to bring Sanders up to help with run support. Needless to say a 200 lb. guy slamming into 300 pound lineman is going to take some lumps. I think he would remain relatively healthy in washington's scheme.As for Bethea, his salary this year was 552,000. I know he'll expect a bump in pay for next season but even doubling his salary still makes him an affordable pickup.

We don't even know the scheme yet. I think Landry will move closer to the line and be able to throw a shoulder in there and benefit. It was obviously a problem with how Blache played him the last two years. And yes I think Landry needs to develop, but I want to see him in a new scheme before officially calling him overated.

[SWFLSkins]

We are solid at safety, but nothing spectacular. That being said, I don't really want to get Sanders or Bethea, their price would be too high and they have too many miles on them. We can hold serve with our current crop until one falls to us in a draft at a reasonable position (2nd, 3rd round or so). We're not going to find another Sean Taylor anytime soon, and we need to stop looking.

THAT being said, whatever the FO does, I'm in support of.

I think the snowmegedon is starting to give people up north a brain freeze.

[John Lydon]

Yeah but then you are going away from what he does well.....

We already do that with one of our safetys......you see how that works out.

I think Sanders is a far better coverage safety when compared to Landry. And if your comparing Landry and Bethea's coverage skills, thats not even a question. The picture I had in my mind would be to secure Sanders or Bethea, keep them deep in coverage with the occasional blitz, then you're free to drop Landry in the box, where we all know he excels at.

[mattsb84]

Bob Sanders;

6 seasons, 47 games played. No.

[SWFLSkins]

I think Sanders is a far better coverage safety when compared to Landry. And if your comparing Landry and Bethea's coverage skills, thats not even a question. The picture I had in my mind would be to secure Sanders or Bethea, keep them deep in coverage with the occasional blitz, then you're free to drop Landry in the box, where we all know he excels at.

Better than Reed at this point in his career?

[LD0506]

Why just talk about this player or that? In an uncapped year TheDan could hire EVERY SINGLE PRO PLAYER IN THE COUNTRY!!!! Haha, then we would definitely win a SB since all the other teams would have to forfeit!!

Every time I try to get rid of this sig, they drag me back in

[Wild West]

Bob Sanders;

6 seasons, 47 games played. No.

and only 6 INTs...

Also he's a SS more than the FS we need. Bethea on the other hand I'd love to see in B&G.

[Dead Money]

Bob Sanders;

6 seasons, 47 games played. No.

The voice of reason is above.

Great player on the field but when I looked up "Injury Risk" on Wiki it had a picture of Bob Sanders.

No Thanks!

[SWFLSkins]

and only 6 INTs...

Also he's a SS more than the FS we need. Bethea on the other hand I'd love to see in B&G.

What if Horton could get back to his ball-hawking style and Landry could start blitzing and banging RB's in the head? Blache did not use these guys right, good gravy :beatdeadhorse:

[Hitman21ST]

We don't even know the scheme yet. I think Landry will move closer to the line and be able to throw a shoulder in there and benefit. It was obviously a problem with how Blache played him the last two years. And yes I think Landry needs to develop, but I want to see him in a new scheme before officially calling him overated.

Agreed. Landry is still a project, but he definitely is better in the box, near the line, where he can make plays in the backfield like when we had Sean Taylor (R.I.P). When we have a safety who can ballhawk like Taylor did, we can see how much of a beast Landry is.

[Wild West]

What if Horton could get back to his ball-hawking style and Landry could start blitzing and banging RB's in the head? Blache did not use these guys right, good gravy :beatdeadhorse:

Sure, and in a perfect world Portis works hard in the offseason and wins the rushing title, the light goes off for Campbell and he throws 30 TDS, Devin Thomas catches 100 balls, and Haynesworth remembers how to dominate and gets 10 sacks.

Sure, it's possible, but we can't go into the offseason with prayers. We need to shore up our positions of need and add talent wherever we can.

[Chump Bailey]

I think it's a joke we did not draft Bethea beforehand. He should have already been a Redskin.

[NewCliche21]

I wished we would all put down the safety position and back away slowly. I want to see Landry and company play for Haslett. No more playing prevent on every down. I bet our safeties are one reason that Jim was dying to come here.

I am right there with you.

Landry + Haslett = Landry of late '07.

[boobiemiles]

I can't believe I can't post a thread, but this dumby can. Bob Sanders?????!!!!! If we need a safety to place on IR, he's the guy. Unbelievable. Bob Sanders....really? He's at his best close to the line, which is a problem when you are 5'8 195 pounds. Unbelievable. The guy can't stay healthy in the rugged AFC South. Come on! To the powers that be, "can I post stupid threads when ever I feel like it?"

[scotlandtech]

We are solid at safety, but nothing spectacular. That being said, I don't really want to get Sanders or Bethea, their price would be too high and they have too many miles on them. We can hold serve with our current crop until one falls to us in a draft at a reasonable position (2nd, 3rd round or so). We're not going to find another Sean Taylor anytime soon, and we need to stop looking.

THAT being said, whatever the FO does, I'm in support of.

Bethea is only 25 and he would an upgrade at FS. He is a solid tackler and good in coverage. Granted he plays in a cover 2 scheme, but he is better than any FS currently on the roster.

[Wild West]

Bethea is only 25 and he would an upgrade at FS. He is a solid tackler and good in coverage. Granted he plays in a cover 2 scheme, but he is better than any FS currently on the roster.

This.

We do not need a Strong Safety. We have Landry, Moore, and Horton who can do that job. Bob Sanders would be a waste of money and roster space.

We DO need a Free Safety. Landry showed that he doesn't really fit in there, and Kareem Moore isn't a long-term answer IMO. Bethea would be a wonderful addition and possibly the missing link in our defense.

Another option might be Antrel Rolle if he is cut by the Cardinals. If they keep him he'll cost $12 mil this year.

[MumboSauce]

bob sanders is 100% worthless. he plays 2 games a season then goes on IR, and his goal is just to hope to show up when the colts are in the playoffs. no thank you.

bethea id be fine with if hes not expensive but he probably would be.

^^^ That says it all.

we're fine at safety though..sure a whole lot of areas of a 4-12 team can use an upgrade but safety is far from the worse part of it.

[skinzwiz]

Bob Sanders plays like Troy Polamalu when healthy, but he is almost never healthy. Landry needs to step up though because he is beginning to look like a bust for a top 10 pick.

[darrelgreenie]

I know this is all rumors and speculation and hoping against hope, but I would be all for picking up Bob Sanders even with his injury issues. Let me hear what the rest of you think.

Bob is a SS and we have 2 good SS in Horton and Doughty.

I would much rather have Bethea.