For weeks, Colts owner Jim Irsay has said that a contract with quarterback Andrew Luck is “close.” Perhaps Irsay soon will be able to fire up a cigar, to go along with the one he smoked after his grandson recently was born.
A league source tells PFT that Luck’s camp was waiting for quarterback Robert Griffin III to sign his contract before finalizing Luck’s deal. The strategy makes sense, given that Luck’s agent/uncle is a newbie to the business. If Luck does a deal at No. 1 and Griffin emerges with better terms at No. 2, Luck’s agent/uncle would be more uncle than agent, sooner rather than later.
The source also tells PFT that the Colts had been insisting on the use of offset language as to Luck’s guarantee. Now that Luck has obtained a deal without it (and given that the first overall pick in 2011, Cam Newton, has no offset language in his deal), Luck has good reason to continue to dig in -- and the Colts can blink, and blame it all on the Redskins.
It’s believed that Griffin’s deal could help Luck in several other ways, given that Luck’s agent/uncle can now simply get a copy of Griffin’s deal and say to Irsay, “Just give us what Griffin got.”
