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Blueprints for the Super Bowl contenders

EDDIE LEE
NFLPosts.com Editor

Want to build a sure-fire NFL winner? Start by getting insanely lucky in drafting Peyton Manning or signing Drew Brees to a free agent contract. The rest, as they say, is in the pudding.

In rebuilding the Colts from their Super Bowl title just 3 years ago (there are 14 new starters), Colts president Bill Polian has outdone himself, no small feat when you consider he also orchestrated Buffalo’s 4 Super Bowl teams in the ’90s.

Since taking over GM duties in 1998, Polian has simply been money in the bank. No one has done a better job at the draft table.

His first round success is ludicrous, both with early and late picks (Manning, 1, Edgerrin James 4, Dwight Freeney, 11, Dallas Clark, 24, Reggie Wayne 30, Joseph Addai, 30).

His ability to mine mid- to late-round gems – the kind that separate contenders from pretenders – has also been uncanny, with Robert Mathis (138), Antoine Bethea (207), Clint Session (136), Pierre Garcon (205), Austin Collie (127), and the list goes on an on.

The rebuilding reloading has continued despite unparalleled regular season success: 7 consecutive seasons with 12 or more wins, which has resulted in late-round draft slots. Not a problem.

Of the team’s 22 starters, 15 were drafted by Polian, another 2 were undrafted finds while the remaining 5 were plucked from the league’s waiver wire, players no one else wanted.

To recap: That’s zero free agents and zero players acquired through trade.

In today’s salary cap NFL, that’s pure gold. Polian calls it his “53-man roster policy.”

“There’s 30 per cent player turnover every year,” he said back in 2007. ”Every four years, you lose 45 percent of your core players.”

Planning for such attrition is one thing, doing it better than anyone else is extraordinary.

Consider that these Colts are missing SS Bob Sanders, CB Marlin Jackson and WR Anthony Gonzalez. Three players that should fortify an already formidable lineup next season.

The Saints GM, Mickey Loomis, has been more mercenary in constructing his lineup. Some might say that’s a more difficult road to hoe.

New Orleans has 6 unrestricted free agents among its 22 starters, including their offensive and defensive MVPs in Brees and Darren Sharper.

High risk and high reward. No other GM has walked a tighter rope. Adding Sharper this season has propelled their defense. Brees might be the best free agent signing of all time.

Three players were acquired through trades. Two of them, Jeremy Shockey and Jonathan Vilma, were rookies of the year and had Pro Bowls in their resumes. But they were coming off injuries. The cost? Two 2nd-round draft picks and a fifth-rounder.

The ability to buy low, combined with a solid drafting record, were part of the reason Loomis was named NFL executive of the year in 2007. A monster draft in 2006 that included Reggie Bush, Jahri Evans and Marques Colston also helped.

Two decidedly different methods but common, parallel success.

A look at the teams’ key personnel and how they arrived in Indianapolis and New Orleans:

COLTS

Drafted

QB Peyton Manning (1st rd., No. 1, 1998)

RB Joseph Addai  (1st, 30, 2006)

RB Donald Brown (1st, 27, 2009)

WR Reggie Wayne (1st,  30, 2001)

WR Pierre Garcon (6th., 205, 2008)

WR Austin Collie (4th, 127, 2009)

TE Dallas Clark (1st, 24, 2003)

LT Charlie Johnson (6th, 199, 2006)

RT Ryan Diem (4th,118, 2001)

DE Dwight Freeney (1st, 11, 2002)

DE Robert Mathis (5th, 183, 2003)

OLB Clint Session (4th, 136, 2007)

OLB Philip Wheeler (3rd, 93, 2008)

CB Kelvin Hayden (2nd, 60, 2005)

CB Jerrod Powers (3rd, 92, 2009)

FS Antoine Bethea (6th, 207, 2006)

Undrafted free agents

LB Gary Brackett (Rutgers, 2003)

SS Melvin Bullitt (Texas A&M, 2007)

CB Jacob Lacey (Oklahoma St., 2009)

LG Ryan Lilja (released by KC, signed in 2004)

C Jeff Saturday (released by Bal., signed in 1999)

RG Kyle DeVan (released by NJY, signed in 2009)

DT Daniel Muir (released by GB, signed in 2008)

Drafted and released

DT Antonio Johnson (5th rd, Ten., signed in 2007)

SAINTS

Free agents

QB Drew Brees (SD, 2006)

C Jonathan Goodwin (NYJ, 2006)

DE Bobby McCray (Jax., 2008)

LB Scott Fujita (Dal., 2006)

CB Jabari Greer (Buf., 2009)

FS Darren Sharper (Min. 2009)

Trades

TE Jeremy Shockey (NYG, 2008)

LB Scott Shanle (Dal., 2006)

LB Jonathan Vilma (NYJ, 2008)

Drafted

RB Reggie Bush (1st rd., No. 2, 2006)

WR Marques Colston (7th, 252, 2006)

WR Robert Meacham (1st, 27, 2007)

WR Devery Henderson (2nd, 50, 2004)

LT Jermon Bushrod (4th, 125, 2007)

LG Carl Nicks (5th, 164, 2008)

RG Jahri Evans (4th, 108, 2006)

RT John Stinchcomb (2nd, 37, 2003)

DE Will Smith (1st, 18, 2004)

DT Sedrick Ellis (1st, 7, 2008)

CB Tracy Porter (2nd, 40, 2008)

SS Roman Harper (2nd, 43, 2006)

Undrafted free agents

RB Pierre Thomas (Illinois, 2007)

DT Remi Ayodele (released by Dal., signed in 2008)