The Baltimore Ravens have several players who will be coming up for contracts in the offseason. That obvious fact, coupled with the impending super contract that is on the horizon for quarterback Joe Flacco, may force the ravens to cut ties with some very important pieces of their Super Bowl championship team. In the time of free agency and salary caps, tyring to repeat as champion is now harder than ever before.

Safety Ed Reed, corner back Cary Williams, linebacker Paul Kruger, and wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Jacoby Jones could all possibly become available in free agency. Each player was an important piece of Baltimore’s run through the postseason. Reed, Williams, and Jones were all responsible for big plays in the Super Bowl XLVII win. Boldin and Kruger both had monster games against the Indianapolis Colts in their AFC wild card match-up.

The Indianapolis Colts could use any of these Baltimore players, to help fill holes at various positions. The Colts may even have a leg up on many other teams when it comes to these players, due to Chuck Pagano’s past as a defensive coordinator in Baltimore. The Colts will have money to spend in free agency, and they might just spend some of it on a Baltimore Raven.

For a number of reasons, Indianapolis knocked their Super Bowl host opportunity out of the park. A centralized city with an abundance of hospitable volunteer citizens, coupled with a little help from a friendly Mother Nature, helped Indianapolis to please and surprise almost every one who took part in the week-long festivities. In fact, the NFL has now imposed a rule that every host city must now put together a set-up similar to the Super Bowl village that was built around and through several main streets in downtown Indianapolis.

The bidding process for the 2018 Super Bowl will begin this August. If Indianapolis wishes to put their name in the ring, they must send out a pre-bid this Summer, in order to be considered as a finalist. If selected, then the finalist teams will put together their official bid in 2014, in hopes of hosting the game in 2018. Other cities, such as Minnesota and San Fransisco, have already been considered as being interested in bidding for that same year. Only nine cities in the NFL have been offered the chance to host multiple Super Bowls.

The future of the Indianapolis franchise is not nearly as muddy as it was a year ago at this time, but it is still unclear. After a miraculous surprise of a season, where the Colts faced unexpected challenges and nearly-insurmountable odds, this team turned out to be one of the most impressive stories of inspiration and loyalty in NFL history. The future looks bright for a young team that seems to have even better days ahead of them, but adversity still seems to loom high in the horizon.

The changing of offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and special teams coach will prove to mark time for adjustment for this team once again. The loss of Bruce Arians, who stepped in as interim head coach for most of the season, will definitely be felt by the offense. Schemes will change for this team, for the second time in two years, and it will be up to these young team leaders to learn and prosper.

The Colts seem to be ready to rise, in a time when much of the AFC seems to be getting a bit long in the tooth. Indianapolis has laid the seeds for the future, by building a team around a confident young quarterback, and impressive offensive weapons. If NFL Executive of the Year Ryan Grigson can continue to stock up on decent draft picks and free agents, then this team could be at the top of their conference and division for a long time to come.