Reggie Wayne produced fourth-most value for his contract of any player over last five seasons

Back in 2012, Reggie Wayne endeared himself to Colts fans forever by eschewing other offers and opting to re-sign with the Colts despite the departure of Peyton Manning and a complete rebuild.

Wayne was a crucial part of the transition, and he gave the Colts very high-level play until a torn ACL in 2013.  The Colts gave Wayne a three-year, $17.5 million deal in 2012 with $7.5 million guaranteed, and Wayne greatly outperformed that contract.

In fact, according to Number Fire, Wayne was one of the highest performers above his contract of any player since 2011.  The first, by a wide margin, was Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, but Wayne came in fourth on the list.  Here's the top ten of players who outproduced their contract the most:

Next, we must take a look at pure, unadulterated value. This is how truly valuable each player was for his team. The table below shows our first measure of this: which 10 free agents have generated the most Total NEP in free agent contracts signed since 2011?

YEARS	PLAYER	TEAM	TOTAL NEP
2012-2016	Peyton Manning	DEN	577.48
2012-2016	Vincent Jackson	TB	382.9
2012-2016	Pierre Garçon	WAS	328.83
2012-2014	Reggie Wayne	IND	223.01
2014-2016	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	221.1
2013-2016	Delanie Walker	TEN	213.2
2011-2013	James Jones	GB	204.02
2014-2018	Eric Decker	NYJ	195.03
2011-2014	Darren Sproles	NO	171.36
2014-2018	Golden Tate	DET	171.15

It's pretty impressive for Wayne to be on this list of players who most outperformed their contracts since 2011, especially considering the fact that he didn't even play in 2015.  Without a doubt, though, it's a very well-deserved mention for Wayne among this group, as he certainly produced far more value than anyone could have expected for his contract.

In 2012, Wayne was the central piece to the Colts' passing game, hauling in 106 passes for 1,355 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 12.8 yards per reception and making the Pro Bowl.  That season featured the now famous game against the Green Bay Packers in which Wayne, wearing orange gloves in honor of his friend and coach Chuck Pagano, led the Colts to victory with the best performance of his career.  In 2013, Wayne was again off to a good start when, six games into the year, he suffered a torn ACL.  His 2014 season was plagued by injuries as well, and the Colts decided not to re-sign him after that.

Wayne's value to the Colts as they transitioned to the Andrew Luck era is hard to quantify, but it's nice to see a list give Wayne some credit for outperforming his contract - something that I think almost everyone would agree he certainly did.