The Indianapolis Colts have plenty of money in salary cap this off-season, and a lot of that has to do with several stars being on rookie bargain deals, but those deals will be coming up soon.
Players like linebacker Darius Leonard, left guard Quenton Nelson, right tackle Braden Smith and running back Nyheim Hines will all be looking for an extension in the next year or two, and it would be smart for Indianapolis to re-sign those guys.
Chris Ballard has preached “reward your own” and he will have to back his words soon. But the longer he holds out on re-signing those players, the more expensive they will be with the market going up.
It would be smart if Ballard and company can find a way to extend some of those key players before the market rises their price.
More than likely the first re-signee will be Leonard, who has been nothing short of an All-Pro player since coming to Indianapolis.
If the Colts were to extend Leonard in the near future, here is what the deal could look like.
Five years, $90 million dollars, $40 million guaranteed
There’s no argument that Leonard is one of the best linebackers in the NFL, so he should be paid as such. This five-year mega-deal will re-set the market for LB for the next year or so.
The contract will give Leonard the most money among all inside linebackers, the highest average per year ($18 million), and the second-highest guaranteed money in the NFL. For reference, Bobby Wagner is currently the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL, taking in $18 million per season with the Seattle Seahawks.
Here’s a look a the top five linebacker contracts currently in the NFL:
This number, and length, could change dramatically in the next 12 months, as Leonard isn’t the only star linebacker looking for a new deal. Leighton Vander Esch, Rashaan Evans, Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds and Fred Warner, will all be looking for big-time extensions in the next year.
It will be key for Indianapolis to sign Leonard to a deal worthy of his value, Spotrac has his market value at four years $76 million total, but if the Colts don’t sign Leonard before majority of the previously mentioned linebackers, they could be looking to re-sign Leonard at an even higher price than that.
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