INDIANPAOLIS — New Colts general manager Chris Ballard said there’s no timeline on when quarterback Andrew Luck will return form his offseason right shoulder surgery.
Ballard, speaking Wednesday during the NFL’s annual combine, said he has met with Luck but declined to go into details about their conversation. What Ballard did say, though, is that his franchise quarterback has been working diligently rehabbing at the team’s facility on a regular basis.
Colts GM Chris Ballard says quarterback Andrew Luck is “doing everything the doctors are telling him” but a time frame for his return from right shoulder surgery is still unclear. AP Photo/AJ Mast
“Doing everything the doctors are telling him,” Ballard said. “[We’re] going strictly on the doctor’s orders. He’s been there every day that I’ve been in the building. Andrew has been sitting there and working, rehabbing, doing everything that needs to be done. … When he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go.”
Luck is expected to miss all of the team’s offseason workouts, but owner Jim Irsay tweeted following the surgery in January that the quarterback will be ready for the 2017 season.
Luck originally injured his shoulder and missed two games during the 2015 season and then aggravated it while trying to make a tackle after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos in Week 2 of last season.
Luck, who was seen reading to children with a sling on his shoulder as recently as last week, was listed on the team’s injury report every week this season and was usually limited in practice on Thursdays. The only game he missed was in Week 12 after suffering a concussion the previous week. Luck, despite the shoulder injury, threw for 4,240 yards with 31 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season.
INDIANAPOLIS — Atlanta Falcons general manger Thomas Dimitroff said signing quarterback Matt Ryan to an extension now with two years left on his contract is not out of the question, but the primary focus is re-signing players set to become unrestricted free agents next week.
Ryan, who signed a five-year, $103.75 million extension in July of 2013 that included $59 million guaranteed, is signed through 2018 and still owed $35 million. His cap number for next season is $23,750,000 and is $21,650,000 for 2018. If the Falcons wanted to, they could give Ryan an extension this offseason and lower his cap number by giving him a larger signing bonus while reducing his base salaries.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank told ESPN.com during Super Bowl that Ryan “needs to be compensated well” following an MVP season. Blank just didn’t specify when the big payday would occur.
Matt Ryan is signed a five-year extension worth $103.75 million in July of 2013. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
“I’m saying that eventually, we will address Matt Ryan and his contract,” Dimitroff said Wednesday. “Right now, our focus is going to be on this year’s class, understanding that Matt is a very important part of our future, as every knows — an extremely important part of our future.”
The Falcons typically award extensions the year before a contract is set to expire.
“We’ve been very consistent with that,” Dimitroff said. “We’re never completely cast in stone. So, I think that leaves the opening that you never know. Sometimes things can get done. But we have been very consistent with that. And if you look at any of our signings since I’ve been here — and I’m a stickler for consistency — that sends a very good message where people can’t say, ‘Well, you did it with him, and you did it with him.’ “
Dimitroff said the team plans to tender restricted free agents Taylor Gabriel and Ben Garland, although the level of those tenders were not yet revealed. A second-round tender could be placed on Gabriel, a speedy wide receiver who would be a coveted if given a low-level tender.
Dimitroff also said he had a couple of good conversations with Kristin Campbell, the agent for two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman, after word surfaced during the Super Bowl about Campbell seeking “elite” pay for Freeman. Freeman has one year left on his contract and is due to make $1.838 million in 2017, based on an escalator in his contract.
INDIANAPOLIS – Cincinnati Bengals player personnel director Duke Tobin didn’t shut down the possibility of trading backup quarterback AJ McCarron in the offseason.
Tobin said they’re not actively seeking to move McCarron, but he welcomed any team to call him if they had a reasonable offer.
“The phones in our office work,” Tobin said. “They always work. I’ve got an interest in listening to any of you that want to talk.”
He added later: “We’re not actively looking to diminish our football team by trading AJ McCarron and that diminishes our football team. It has to be something we feel is valuable enough to warrant doing that. What it is, I don’t know. Who it is to, I don’t know. It’s not ideal to trade guys within your division, particularly at that position. But we listen.”
Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron is still a part of the team’s future, but player personnel director Duke Tobin said the team would listen to offers. Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Tobin implied it would take a strong offer for the Bengals to trade McCarron, who started three regular season games in 2015 and the AFC wildcard loss to the Steelers that season while filling in for an injured Andy Dalton.
“The larger point on AJ McCarron for us is he’s a very valuable piece of what we do,” Tobin said. “It’s not a point where we’re saying, ‘What do we do with this guy? We don’t have a plan for him.’ There is a plan in place for us. He plays a very valuable position and you’re always one play away from going to your backup quarterback. We view our team as a team that can challenge.”
The Bengals had received inquiries about McCarron in the past, but none warranted serious consideration, Tobin said.
“We talk to teams all the time. I talk to my colleagues around the league about their teams and they talk to us about their teams,” he said. “Those are conversations that are part of our regular working environment, not just in regards to AJ. But I would be lying to you if I told you there was never any interest from other teams. We don’t advertise that. Obviously there wasn’t enough interest at a high enough level that we thought it was worth pursuing.”
“I think that’s still to be determined,” Tobin said. “Ultimately those types of things are always determined by arbitrators at some point. We do know that we have him for one more year and that’s valuable, and it’s a second year, hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement to have him here longer … again, we’re in the AJ McCarron business. He’s a good player for us. He’s proven valuable, he elevates our offense, even when he’s not on the field by the way that he works…
“There is some debate as to whether he earned a season the first year and that is the crux of the debate. We want to be respectful of his position and ultimately like I said it will be decided by somebody other than AJ and somebody other than the Cincinnati Bengals.
INDIANAPOLIS — Cincinnati Bengals player personnel director Duke Tobin said he was ‘very disappointed’ with cornerback Adam Jones, who was arrested in early January on charge of felony harassment with a bodily substance, disorderly conduct, assault and obstructing official business.
“It was disappointing for us to see him display what he displayed. It is a poor reflection of him and it’s not indicative of who he is in our opinion. I think Adam is better than that,” Tobin said.
The Cincinnati Bengals are in no hurry to make a decision on the future of Adam Jones despite the cornerback’s latest off-field issues. The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP
Jones’ legal status is currently pending, as Cincinnati prosecutor Joe Deters publicly said that he would like to see what punishment the NFL might give Jones before proceeding with the case. The NFL has not commented other than to say Jones, who has had multiple off the field issues over the course of his career, will be reviewed under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
“I’m not going to condemn him and I’m not going to condone what he did, but whether there was anything criminal there or not is to be determined by our criminal justice system,” Tobin said. “We’re going to let that work and if there’s an NFL penalty that’ll be determined by the NFL and we’re going to let that work…
“We’re not going to make any rash, harsh, fast decisions about the future of our football team without all the information. We don’t have an update on that. His status on our team is like a lot of players’ status on our team. He’s got to earn his way like everyone else does. Where this goes, I cannot predict it, but we are certainly not going to make a decision on him without more information.”
