NFL Trade Deadline: Reggie Wayne and Robert Mathis Are Perfect Rental Players

With the NFL trade deadline just days away, teams like the Indianapolis Colts have nothing left to give this season and will be looking to dump pieces they don’t plan on signing this offseason.

Sorry Robert Mathis and Reggie Wayne, but that means you.

It’s obvious that the Colts aren’t going to just give away their star players. If they are presented a nice deal over the next few days, they will be hard-pressed not to make the move.

With a schedule that has the Colts leaning more towards taking Andrew Luck instead of mounting a late surge for the playoffs, it’s time for the team to cut ties with the expensive stars they know they can’t afford.

Both Mathis and Wayne are in the final year of their contracts, and there is no way the Colts will franchise tag them with the huge payment due to Peyton Manning next season.

If Indianapolis knows they aren’t going to re-sign these two veterans, it’s not only the right thing to do for the players but for the future of their organization.

Mathis is 29 years old, and of the two players that are probably on the trade market, he is the one the Colts should hang on to for the long haul.

Not only is Mathis still one of the better defensive ends in the NFL, his relationship with opposite end Dwight Freeney has created one of the best tandems in the league for the last few seasons.

As for Reggie Wayne, there is no question that he is Peyton Manning’s go-to man of the wide receiver corps, and the lack of a real No. 2 besides Dallas Clark means the Colts better get a top-tier WR in the draft if they let Wayne go.

With Wayne 33 years old already, Indianapolis needs to make the smart move and trade Wayne to a team that needs wide receivers like it’s going out of style and would be willing to pay the price the Colts are asking.

If Wayne really is on the market, he could be the perfect rental player for a team on the cusp of a championship or a long-term solution for a young receiving group like the one they have in San Francisco.

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