Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said negotiation talks are still ongoing with prized left tackle Anthony Castonzo regarding a new contract:
"“Well, you know I’m not going to comment on active contract negotiations, but I’ll leave it at that,” said Grigson, clearly emphasizing the word active in his intentionally brief response."
When asked how these long-term mega-deals will impact the team’s cap space going forward, Grigson said it’s something that the front office has already made the proper preparations for, and for quite a while at that:
"“Well, we’ve been preparing for these days for a long time,” noted Grigson. “I think we’ve been pretty vigilant, we’ve been on-point about what we have to spend, what will hamstring us in the future.”"
With all of the necessary planning leading up to this point, the team’s head of football operations was quick to thank those who assist him with cap space projections and allocation on a day-to-day basis:
"“And you know I have great people in Mike Bluem [Director of Football Administration] and Dan Emerson [Vice President and General Counsel] that remind me daily of where we’re at, and we can’t go beyond our cash budget,” added Grigson. “And you know Jim (Irsay), he trusts us as well, but that’s something from Day 1.”"
Faced with looming mega-contract extensions not just for Castonzo, but also their franchise player Andrew Luck, as well as other key young players such as Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener, Grigson understands that proper cap management is of the utmost importance:
"“We’re cash to cap, and we pay close attention to our budgets, and we don’t want to end up in a spot where we have to be in dire straits again,” remarked Grigson. “It’s not worth it. So in the long run, if you want to sustain success, you can’t have those tremendous holes in terms of your cash or your cap.”"
More from Horseshoe Heroes
- Colts explored hiring former quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky
- When is the NFL Combine 2023? NFL Combine schedule, events, how to stream
- Latest NFL mock draft has Colts trading up to No. 1 for star QB
- Eagles offensive free agents that could follow Shane Steichen to Colts
- Here’s why Colts linebacker Shaq Leonard is going to love Shane Steichen