Indianapolis Colts Are Getting the Most Out Of Their Bargain Basement Offense

The Indianapolis Colts have become synonymous with the image of offensive prowess in the NFL. Throughout the Manning Era the Colts were among the league leaders in offense and since Andrew Luck has taken over the trend has continued, but with one major exception.

They are getting a whole lot without really having to pay for it.

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Through Week Nine of the season the Colts are leading the league with 451.2 yards of offense a game (Steelers second with 413.6). What's really interesting though is how they are going about it--with a bunch of guys they are not paying a whole heck of a lot.

In fact, the Colts use less cap space on offensive players than other team in the league ($45,620,464; Raiders are second lowest with $46,466,951). Andrew Luck's base is just $2.4 million this season. Reggie Wayne's is $4 million, Coby Fleener $875K, Dwayne Allen $660K, and T.Y. Hilton $575K.

Of the team's top 10 highest paid players only Luck and Wayne are on offense.

This is in direct contrast to the Manning Era when the offense would take up around $70 million in cap space--and that was with a smaller cap.

The green lining to the situation is that it will change in the very near future. The reason why the offense is costing so little is that the Colts have built it primarily through the draft.

So guys are still working through their rookie contracts. Many of them will be up for extension soon though, and when that happens Jim Irsay is going to have to pay.
[Sporttrac]

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