Could a New Contract for T.Y. Hilton be Coming Soon?

The talk of the NFL this week is about the upcoming 2015 NFL Draft and the hundreds of hopeful players who are trying to impress teams enough this week to be drafted.  For the Colts, however, there's another interesting note about a draft class - their 2012 class.

According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, the Colts "will be proactive" in extending the players from that draft class, and La Canfora expects wide receiver T.Y. Hilton to be the first one up.

"The Colts will be proactive in trying to extend their 2012 draft class and I expect receiver T.Y. Hilton to be the first to get done. There has been plenty of dialogue and the Colts are willing spenders who are trying to get over the hump. And, again, I believe Luck could be the first of this wave of quarterbacks to get a new deal, though not on any firm timetable."

The main focus of the article was about Russell Wilson's upcoming contract from the Seahawks, but La Canfora said that might not happen this offseason after all.  His guess would be that the Colts extend Andrew Luck before the Seahawks end up extending Wilson.

What's more interesting, however, is that La Canfora expects T.Y. Hilton to be the first one to get re-signed.  He has one year remaining on his rookie deal, but with the Colts having plenty of cap room available now and with them having a number of players who they will need to re-sign in the coming years, it could happen this year.  La Canfora says that "there has been plenty of dialogue" between the Colts and Hilton - who recently hired super agent Drew Rosenhaus to represent him.

It's important to note that this report doesn't say when a new deal might happen and so instead we're just left waiting, but it's interesting that T.Y. Hilton could be the first one from the 2012 draft class to get a new contract.  Before long, the Colts will need to re-sign Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Coby Fleener, Dwayne Allen, and 2011 first round pick Anthony Castonzo, among others.  And it sounds like T.Y. might be the first of those dominos to fall.

The 25-year old receiver emerged as a top receiving threat in the NFL in 2014, earning his first Pro Bowl recognition while catching 82 passes for 1,345 yards and 7 touchdowns.  Through his first three seasons, Hilton has caught 214 passes for 3,289 yards and 19 touchdowns - adding another 36 catches, 604 yards, and two scores in six playoff games.  Combined, Hilton has played in 52 games over the past three seasons (out of 54 possible) and has caught 250 passes for 3,893 yards and 21 touchdowns - a very impressive resume for a 25-year old.

Hilton has emerged as the Colts' best receiver without a doubt and Andrew Luck's top target, and he'll be playing with Luck for years to come.  My guess is that he'll get a deal worth around $9-10 million a year, and according to Jason La Canfora, that new contract might be coming sooner than initially expected, as he might be the first one of the 2012 draft class to get re-signed.