Amid reports that negotiations between the Indianapolis Colts and pending unrestricted free agent Robert Mathis have "warmed up considerably," this dose of cold reality: the talks couldn't even be characterized as tepid as of Thursday night, because there hadn't been any negotiations, substantive or otherwise, to that point according to Len Pasquarelli of the Sports Xchange. That might have changed later on Thursday night -- neither side could be reached as of this writing -- but even that might have been a big stretch, and would have required a major escalation of the dialogue. Beyond a couple casual, get-acquainted conversations between new Indianapolis general manager Ryan Grigson and Mathis' camp, there had been no serious talks about a potential contract extension. No proposals had been exchanged. Mathis earned $30 million on the five-year extension he signed in 2007, the bulk of the money in the first three seasons of the deal. Source: The Redzone
this story appears to be innacurate. schefter is reporting that the colts have already tagged Mathis and a long-term deal is almost done. it makes absolutely no sense that a horrible, rebuilding young ballclub would pay a veteran like Mathis $40 million dollars or more (his open market value) but maybe Mathis is giving them a discount.
