More from NFL on Compensation and Benefits (off topic)

Indy Colts and Peyton Manning run into ERISA Issues

"And that seems to be precisely what Mudd and Moore would be doing, based on this quote from Kennan: “As long as Howard and Tom pay their own taxes for the next six months, they can return to the Colts as paid consultants, I’d say effective right away, based on what the ERISA attorney just told me.”

The “ERISA attorney,” however, is merely a private specialist in the field of benefits law. The U.S. government might disagree with this approach, either as it relates to the lump-sum pension payments that Mudd and Moore have taken, or as it relates to the Colts’ likely intention to treat them as independent contractors, and to not withhold taxes (and not make matching FICA and FUTA payments) from their pay.

Bottom line? Like most things that seem too good to be true because they are, retiring on paper for the purposes of taking advantage of the pension laws likely entails a procedure far more complex than walking out the door one day as an “employee” and returning the next morning as a “consultant.”