INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts are starting over. Completely.
Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favorites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark. Quarterback Curtis Painter also was released Friday.
"All these players, we'd love to have them here," new general manager Ryan Grigson said during a hastily arranged conference call with reporters. "It's not easy. It's agonizing. They're (salary) cap casualties. It's hard, but with the money involved you can't do certain things."
This is the latest round in a massive housecleaning project that began two months ago when the Colts completed their worst season in two decades. Nobody is immune.
The father-son front office of Bill Polian, the architect of Indy's decade of success, and his son, Chris, was fired the day after the season. Coach Jim Caldwell and most of his staff lost their jobs, too.
On Wednesday, team owner Jim Irsay announced the biggest move of all – the release of Manning, the only four-time MVP in league history.
And now with shocked fans still getting accustomed to life without No. 18, Grigson unleashed another round of sweeping changes that almost certainly will rile up the fan base.
"It's really a tough deal, it's tough on all of us, especially Mr. Irsay," Grigson said. "Hopefully the fans understand that to achieve the success again that we have had before, we have to make some tough decisions."
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