INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts and rookie quarterback Andrew Luck's representatives have held preliminary contract talks, but the sides remain in the early stages of negotiations and no deal is expected over the weekend, sources with knowledge of the situation said Friday.
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The door was opened for a contract to be consummated when the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to rookie salary pool numbers just before the start of the draft on Thursday. However, the Colts and Luck can take their time on this one.
As the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, Luck's deal will be for four years and is expected to be worth $22 million. It will include a fifth-year option, which will be set at the 2015 quarterback transition-tag number. The Colts will have to choose whether or not to exercise the option after Luck's third season. Given the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, the negotiation process isn't expected to be overly complicated.
Luck was set to return to Palo Alto, Calif., where he's finishing his studies at Stanford, on Friday night. He'll then return to Indianapolis for the Colts' rookie minicamp next weekend. Per NFL rules, he can't join the Colts' offseason program until after he finishes his classwork. He's expected to complete his two remaining classes, and his degree in architectural design, on June 7, which will allow him to participate in the Colts' full-squad minicamp from June 12-14. He'll walk at Stanford's commencement ceremony on June 17.
Luck said Friday he has considered creative ways to work with his teammates before that date, something Reggie Wayne brought up via text to the quarterback. The Colts have been down this road before. Similar rules applied to 2007 first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez, so then-quarterback Peyton Manning periodically made drove three hours to Ohio State to work with Gonzalez.
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