Freeney gets $30 million guaranteed

The Colts have locked up their franchise player, pass rusher Dwight Freeney, to the tune of six years, $72 million, which includes a $30 million signing bonus. This megadeal makes Freeney the highest paid defensive player in the game by a wide margin Beamoning past a group including Champ Bailey, Nate Clements, Charles Grant, and Adalius Thomas. This deal will officially set the market for stud pass rushers Julius Peppers, Terrell Suggs, and Will Smith. Charles Grant was the first lineman to sign this offseason for beaucoup bucks, but he isn't the perennial Pro Bowler that Freeney and Peppers are, and he doesn't have the upside of Suggs and Smith.