The Colts continue to press on with their "New Era." Earlier today, Jim Irsay tweeted that Ryan Diem had decided to retire. Now, Diem's teammate for years along the Colts offensive line, Jeff Saturday, has opted to leave Indianapolis and sign with the Green Bay Packers. Reports all week had said the Colts (Peyton Manning's old team) and the Broncos (Peyton Manning new one) were interested in Saturday.
Like Manning, Saturday was a critical cog in an offense in Indianapolis that dominated the NFL for over a decade. While Peyton did his "chicken dance" behind the line of scrimmage, making audibles and scanning defenses, Saturday was responsible for the line calls. Oh, and blocking, which was something else he was very good at.
We wish Jeff Sat the best,I wanted him to work for team full time but he wanted to go at it one more year..he's as good of a man as it gets
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) March 23, 2012
Obviously, it was not fun for Jeff or for me this past season. Jeff erroneously claimed I misquoted him when he said Jim Caldwell had been "outcoached" during the Colts blowout loss to the Saints. It was a stupid tiff, one bred out of frustration. I'm not mad at Jeff, and I doubt he cares either. I'll always consider him a great Colt. Personally, he's a Ring of Honor guy, and borderline Hall of Famer.
Other news today involved Jacob Tamme. Tamme used Twitter to announce he is signing with the Broncos so that he can catch passes from Peyton once again. Tamme was a solid back-up tight end as well as an outstanding special teams player. Denver has snagged Manning, Tamme, and corner back Tracy Porter all in the span of a week. Right now, they are my Super Bowl pick.
Best of luck to Jeff and Jacob with their new teams... unless they play the Colts.