Dwight Freeney Signs For $72M With Colts

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And I thought Friday the 13th was my lucky day (I’m anti-superstitious). The Indianapolis Colts signed DE Dwight Freeney to a six-year, $72 million contract today. That includes a whopping $30 million signing bonus. So, Friday the 13th is now Dwight Freeney’s lucky day.

The interesting part of this deal is that the Colts had designated Dwight as their franchise player in February, which would have kept him with Indy for at least one more season. There was a Monday deadline to sign him to a long-term deal before this season, so they get it done with a few days to spare. Under the franchise tag, Dwight had been guaranteed $8.6 million, the average salary of the top five defensive ends next season. The new deal is obviously much more desirable.

Some will argue that Dwight is already on the downside of his career, that he has already seen his best football, but I disagree. Shoulder and leg injuries limited him to only 5 1/2 sacks in ‘06 and he missed the Pro Bowl for the first time since his rookie season. But a healthy Dwight Freeney is as good a pass-rusher as there is in the NFL and I’m sure the Colts are confident in his recovery or they wouldn’t have offered this deal. Even with last season’s troubles, he has managed 56 1/2 sacks and forced 27 fumbles during his first five seasons with the Colts. Expect more of the same in 2007.