Speaking today about a potential contract extension for star quarterback Andrew Luck, Colts owner Jim Irsay mentioned July 4 as a target date, tweets Kevin Bowen of Colts.com. According to Bowen though, there’s no real urgency or a hard deadline by which the team wants to have something done.
Luck, the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, earned a Pro Bowl nod and led the Colts to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth in each of his first three seasons in the league. However, injuries derailed his 2015 season. Luck was limited to seven games, and completed just 55.3% of his passes in those contests, with 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Colts went 2-5 in Luck’s starts.
Despite the down year, the Colts and Luck are both enthusiastic about figuring out a longer-term arrangement. The standout signal-caller is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2016 if the two sides don’t agree on an extension, but there’s an expectation that something will get done before the season begins, and it could make Luck the highest-paid QB in the league.
It’s not clear why Irsay targeted July 4 as the date by which he would like to have Luck locked up. Franchised players have until July 15 to agree to multiyear extensions with their current teams, but that deadline doesn’t apply to Luck, who wouldn’t be eligible for the franchise tag until 2017. Perhaps Irsay just wants to enjoy a stress-free Fourth of July knowing that his star QB is under contract for the long term.
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