Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay believes its only "a matter of time" before quarterback Andrew Luck puts pen to paper on a contract extension that will keep him in Indy for the foreseeable future. But any Colts fans hoping for a hometown discount from their neckbearded signal-caller can probably forget about it.
"It's going to be a big number," Irsay said last week, per WISH-TV. "It's going to be a shocking number, nine figures and probably a 20 (million) starting point per year, but again we will find the right number to get to."
Luck, 26, is entering his fifth NFL season and remains under contract with the Colts after the team picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. He's currently slated to count $16.155 million against the cap in 2016, a number Irsay and Colts GM Ryan Grigson would almost assuredly like to see come down.
But that will be the trick for Indy. Luck was well on his way to cementing himself as one of the best young signal-callers - if not the best - in the league before an atrocious 2015 season which saw him bounce in and out of the Colts lineup while dealing with a bevy of injury issues. All told, Luck appeared in just seven games, completing 162 passes for 1,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Considering the three prior seasons, Luck is probably set to bounce back once he's healthy next year, but it has to at least give Irsay, Grigson and Co. pause that he performed so poorly in 2015. Hampered by injuries or not, Luck never quite looked like himself this past season.
But Luck will get paid, and handsomely. The only question is, what number can Luck - looking to secure a financial future for himself and his family - and the team - looking to keep their cap number healthy so they can build around Luck - agree upon and will they be able to keep his cap hit to a manageable level?
In terms of annual average value, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains the most hightly paid quarterback in the league at $22 million per season on his five-year, $110 million deal that came with $54 million guaranteed.
Rodgers already had a Super Bowl to his name, which Luck, of course, does not, but he's also beyond the age 30 threshold. Seattle Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson's deal, signed this past offseason, was for four years and $87.6 million with $61.542 million guaranteed. Wilson is just 27.
And Cam Newton's pact with the Carolina Panthers, signed in June, is worth $103.8 million over five seasons with $60 million guaranteed. Luck doesn't have the resume of any of these players, though he and Newton had shared similar success before the 26-year-old Newton turned in an MVP and Super Bowl-caliber 2015.
