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Per Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star:
#colts will issue RFA tenders to OL Jeff Linkenbach and CB Cassius Vaughn; EFA tenders to CB Josh Gordy, NT Martin Tevaseu, G Joe Reitz
— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) March 7, 2013
RFAs are Restricted Free Agent tenders, which are one-year agreements between the team that holds the restricted rights to the player and the player themselves. There are three tiers of compensation for RFAs. If another team signs a players like, say, Cassius Vaughn to an offer sheet, that other team must provide the Colts draft pick compensation for Vaughn if the Colts do not match the offer sheet.
Yes, this sh*t is boring, I know. Bottom line is no one is going to give the Colts a second or first round pick for Vaughn or for Jeff Linkenbach. Both a nice players, but not franchise building blocks.
EFA is an exclusive rights free agent, meaning that, unlike Vaughn or 'Link,' they cannot negotiate with another team. An ERA is a player with fewer than three accrued at the end of the 2012 league year.
After all that contract-speak, here's our buddy George Bremer with two very astute observations:
Today's RFA moves make me think #Colts will be looking more at S in draft and free agency than CB.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) March 7, 2013
I'm also starting to believe #Colts might make just one big-ticket signing (likely on OL) and supplement with several "mid-major" deals.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) March 7, 2013
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...