Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said Tuesday the team is continuing to work on a new contract for four-time MVP QB Peyton Manning.
While Irsay said there’s no update on the status of negotiations now, he added the team is trying to operate stealthily to reach an agreement with Manning, whose current deal expires after the season.
“It’s kind of like the ‘Get Smart’ cone of silence,” Irsay said. “That’s when you kind of get things done. So I think you get things done when it’s quiet, and it’s been quiet. So that’s the way we want to move forward.”
In February, Irsay said he expected to agree to a contract with Manning that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid player — and added that negotiations were likely to intensify in May. Last month, the New England Patriots agreed to a deal with QB Tom Brady (worth about $72 million with $48 million guaranteed) that made him the league’s highest-paid player.
Irsay hinted that Brady’s deal would provide a framework for a future Manning deal.
“All deals that are signed, it creates frameworks,” Irsay said. “But like I said it’s something that we’re working on it, and can’t really comment on anything else except, you know, markets get established by those sort of things.
“Those two guys have been tied together, no doubt, 1A-1B as the greatest players in the game. You know they’ll probably be compared for a long time even after their careers.”
according to cnn.com
