Colts owner Jim Irsay: 'I do not believe in fully guaranteed contracts' for NFL players
PHOENIX — Colts owner Jim Irsay has a strong opinion on the possibility of fully guaranteed contracts in the NFL, something the league’s players have increasingly talked about wanting.
Irsay was being asked about the league in general at the time, rather than Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson, the franchise-tagged free agent quarterback who reportedly wants a fully-guaranteed contract that eclipses the five-year, $230 million deal Deshaun Watson signed with Cleveland last offseason.
Notably referring to himself as an “old school” owner, Irsay had a strong reaction.
“I do not believe in fully guaranteed contracts,” Irsay said. “What I’ve seen in the NBA and Major League Baseball, I don’t see it as a positive competitively. I don’t see it as a positive element at all.”
A few quarterbacks have been able to land high-profile, fully-guaranteed deals over the course of the last five years, raising the NFL player’s association’s desire to make fully-guaranteed deals the norm, the way they are in the sports Irsay referenced.
Kirk Cousins was the first, signing a three-year, $84 million deal in Minnesota in 2018 that was fully guaranteed, and that deal ultimately led to the Browns handing Watson a five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million deal.
Watson’s deal has reportedly been the backdrop behind the contract standoff between the Ravens and Jackson, who ESPN has reported wants a fully-guaranteed deal that surpasses Watson.
Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard indicated Monday that the Colts were looking into the possibility of signing Jackson, who issued a statement on Twitter the same day indicating that he wants to play for somebody other than Baltimore.
But Irsay, again, was not speaking about Jackson in particular when he was asked about guaranteed contracts, and he allowed for the possibility of exceptions.
“Each situation’s different, because the more valuable the player, the more valuable the situation, the more the likelihood of a guarantee is going to come into play,” Irsay said.
An exception, Irsay believes, should not become the norm.
“I don’t think guaranteed contracts make our game greater,” Irsay said. “I think it makes it worse.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts owner Jim Irsay: 'I do not believe in fully guaranteed contracts'
