Jim Irsay confirms that Ryan Grigson is not entering the final year of his contract

An interesting discussion this offseason when it comes to the Indianapolis Colts has been the contract status of head coach Chuck Pagano, as the team apparently will not extend his deal before the 2015 season (after he reportedly turned down a one-year extension), meaning that he will be entering the season as a "lame duck coach" on the final year of his deal.

In turn, some people have suggested that general manager Ryan Grigson is also entering the final year of his contract, but that has been conflicted elsewhere.  On Saturday night, Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay cleared up the confusion regarding Grigson's contract status.  According to Heather Lloyd (a.k.a. the Blue Mare), Irsay appeared at a Blue Ladies event and said that Grigson is not entering the final year of his contract.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Irsay also said ESPN falsely reported that GM Ryan Grigson is in last year of his contract. He has one year left. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueLadies?src=hash">#BlueLadies</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueEvening?src=hash">#BlueEvening</a></p>&mdash; The Blue Mare™ (@TheBlueMare) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBlueMare/status/607337877828194306">June 7, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Irsay cleared things up regarding Grigson's contract status, and it is at least somewhat significant.  There have been some, most notably Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and WTHR's Bob Kravitz, who have speculated that there might be a bit of a disconnect between Pagano and Grigson, and if both of them were entering the final year of their contract, one of them might be inclined to blame the other for failures in an effort to keep his own job.  It makes sense, and while there's nothing substantial to show that it would have happened, it was an interesting theory that seemingly made it even more dangerous to not extend Pagano this offseason.  But, as Irsay noted, Grigson is actually not entering the final year of his deal, which might dispel some of the concerns about a potential disconnect.

And as for Pagano?  Irsay also said that he looks forward to working out a new deal with his head coach.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Irsay says The Colts are looking forward to working out a deal with Coach Pagano. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueLadies?src=hash">#BlueLadies</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueEvening?src=hash">#BlueEvening</a></p>&mdash; The Blue Mare™ (@TheBlueMare) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBlueMare/status/607336745399656449">June 7, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>