Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck Signs New, Lucrative Contract
By Kyle Nishida
The Indianapolis Colts and Andrew Luck have agreed on a new six-year contract that makes Luck the highest-paid player in the NFL.
Speculation about this deal has been circulating ever since last season. Many people teased that Luck was going to be the first player to get a $150 million contract or get a fully guaranteed contract. Well, Luck did not hit either of those absurd benchmarks.
Still, Luck is going to receive a significant amount of money. Colts’ owner Jim Irsay broke news on Luck’s new deal via Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
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With this new contract, Luck will average $23.3 million in yearly salary over the next six seasons. Prior to this deal, Balitmore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had the highest yearly salary at $22.1 million. Luck’s new deal vastly exceeds that yearly figure.
Another important part of NFL contracts these days is the amount of money received in the first three years of the deal. Luck does not worry about that as the Colts have taken care of that too. Luck will get over $75 million in the first three years of his deal, which is the most ever.
Also, $87 million of Luck’s $140 million contract is guaranteed money. This significantly surpasses the previous high of $65 million in guarantees that were given to the New York Giants‘ Eli Manning and the San Diego Chargers‘ Phillip Rivers.
Overall, Luck’s contract sets new records for total value ($140 million), annual salary ($23.3 million) and guaranteed money ($87 million) in NFL history.
It is also important to note this deal for Luck is not a five-year extension. As Ian Rapoport explained on Twitter, the Colts gave Luck a completely new six-year contract as opposed to adding five more years to his old deal.
Earlier this year, Irsay said he wanted to get Luck’s deal done before July 4th. Irsay kept his word and got the deal done before his self-appointed deadline.
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With Luck under contract until 2021, the Indianapolis Colts and Luck can now fully focus on football issues. Training camp is about a month away, and the Colts have a lot of work to do if they want to be contenders in 2016.