The Indianapolis Colts will officially have football before the end of the month is over when the team returns to the Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield on July 26, but a trio of draft picks has yet to sign their rookie deals.
This is not a major cause for concern yet. It happens every offseason where rookies will go into the month of July without having signed their deals. Most of the time it has less to do about money and more with the offset language of the contract.
The Colts went through this a few years ago with Shaquille Leonard in 2018, who didn’t sign his rookie deal until July 22, three days before the start of training camp that year.
The three players who have yet to sign their rookie deals as of this writing include quarterback Anthony Richardson (No. 4 overall), cornerback Julius Brents (No. 44 overall) and offensive tackle Blake Freeland (No. 106 overall).
Richardson is certainly the big name everyone will be monitoring, but it’s not as if he’s alone in this endeavor. As of this writing, only one of the top-five picks from the 2023 NFL draft has signed his rookie deal (Will Anderson Jr.). He signed a four-year deal worth $35.2 million guaranteed with a fifth-year team option.
The expectation should be that these deals will be completed before training camp arrives so no one should be hitting the panic button just yet.
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