We were surprised by the Colts’ decision to cut safety Bob Sanders, for a couple of reasons. With no salary cap and no impending requirement to pay anything to Sanders other than a $500,000 offseason workout bonus (if, you know, there are any offseason workouts), the Colts could have kept him around.
Instead, Sanders has a two-week window to sign with a new team before the league possibly shuts down.
But there’s another reason to be surprised by the decision to cut Sanders. Consider the words of team president Bill Polian, circa November 2009.
“First of all, his contract is not up for another three years, I believe. At least two – I think three. There’s no way we would cut Bob Sanders unless he’s completely incapable of playing and I don’t think that that’s the case,” Polian said. “I think he’ll be back better than ever as the saying goes next summer. I see no situation where we would cut him.”
So either Sanders is completely incapable of playing, or Polian needs glasses.