It wasn’t the $48 million deal they handed Peyton Manning before he ever took an NFL snap, or the $68 million they gave Marvin Harrison to catch 18’s passes, or even the $30 million they pledged to Tarik Glenn to protect 18’s backside. No. The contract that changed the way the Indianapolis Colts were built in the early 2000s?
It was the $15 million they gave to tight end Ken Dilger.
“Chump change now,” laughs Bill Polian, the former team president who signed off on all those deals. “But the Dilger deal is when we crossed the Rubicon.