Darius Leonard has been an amazing discover for the Indianapolis Colts after they plucked him out of the second spherical of the 2018 NFL Draft. Out of the gate, he was capable of lead the league in tackles as a rookie and has solely continued to be a key cog inside Indy’s protection over his three seasons and has introduced residence some {hardware} to point out for it. The 25-year-old gained Defensive Rookie of the Yr in 2018 and is a three-time All-Professional (two first-team) together with incomes two consecutive Professional Bowl nods.
All that has him now spoken in the identical breath as among the league’s greatest linebackers and shortly he could also be paid like one. Leonard is coming into the ultimate 12 months of his rookie contract in 2021 and is hopeful that he and the Colts can come to phrases on a long-term extension. As we have already detailed, his résumé is sort of immaculate and Leonard believes that manufacturing ought to be sufficient for a deal to return to fruition sooner or later.
“They take worth in me,” Leonard informed the NFL Community on Tuesday, through NFL.com. “Hopefully, that can present. I believe I put in sufficient work the previous three years, I give it my all day in and day trip, by no means miss a day. As soon as I step on that area I give every thing I obtained, and so they know that. Hopefully, we get every thing settled and hopefully we’re good to go.”
In fact, this may not precisely be a small contract that these two sides hope to hammer out. It is conceivable that Leonard might set the market on the linebacker place. Based on Spotrac’s market worth projections, Leonard may very well be a deal that sees him incomes $19 million on a median annual foundation. That’d put him above Seattle’s Bobby Wagner, who slots in at $18 million AAV for 2022. By way of all linebackers (inside and outdoors) Leonard would solely be wanting as much as Chicago pass-rusher Khalil Mack ($23.5 million AAV) if he hits that projected mark.
That is a great distance of claiming that this may very well be a fragile course of merely given the heights Leonard’s numbers might climb. That stated, the Colts are projected to have simply over $69.2 million in cap house coming into the 2022 offseason, so there may be loads of money to get that deal executed.