Indianapolis Colts

Colts' Irsay optimistic about holding onto Hilton

Published Jun. 11, 2015 11:49 a.m. ET

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T.Y. Hilton has led the Indianapolis Colts in receiving yards each of the past two seasons. He's also a pending free agent.

Outside of Hilton himself, perhaps no one is more aware of this than Colts owner Jim Irsay. Hilton is one of several key Colts playing out the final year of their contracts, including left tackle Anthony Castonzo and tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwyane Allen.

Wednesday, Irsay said no progress has been made yet, but he is "optimistic" the team will be able to strike a new deal with Hilton.

"Nothing to report there," Irsay said, via ESPN's Mike Wells. "Obviously, some players like possibly T.Y. or Anthony Castonzo ... again, we'd like to make some progress, possibly get something done sooner than later. It obviously takes both sides to come to a sort of compromised agreement. I think we're optimistic."

However, with so many stars coming up for new deals at the same time, Indianapolis will be limited financially. The team also has Andrew Luck's contract to consider. The Colts have indicated they won't seek to sign Luck to an extension until after this season, but when they do, it's all but certain to be among the largest in the NFL. Managing the salary cap in the short and long-term may make for some difficult choices, but Irsay said the team's priority is to keep its own stars like Hilton.

"The most critical thing is to draft great players and to keep them into their second contract, and we're going to that crossroads on some key guys obviously like T.Y. I do expect something to get done there eventually for sure," Irsay said.

(h/t ESPN)

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