Colts Sign Meadows $20M
Adam Meadows, a member of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line that allowed an NFL-low 14 quarterback sacks last season, signed a new contract Wednesday worth $20 million over five years.
"I let them know from the start that this was where I wanted to be and they kept telling me they felt I was an important part of what was going on here. But you never really know what's going to happen," Meadows said.
Meadows, the team's starting right tackle, was at his in-laws' house in Macon, Ga., on Tuesday when his agent, Don Henderson, told him he and Bob Terpening, the Colts' senior vice president, had reached an agreement.
"I'm real excited," Meadows told The Indianapolis Star. "I told the team early on that I was willing to give up free agency to be a part of what's going on here. Thank God they felt the same way. They were very fair in their approach. Obviously the team is showing an awful lot of faith in me."
Henderson said he had never shopped Meadows, who was a restricted free agent and had received a one-year tender from the Colts.
"It took a little time to work out a deal, but Adam wanted to stay in Indianapolis and that was what we wanted to accomplish," Henderson said.
Henderson said Meadows will receive a $5 million signing bonus and base salaries of $500,000 in 2000, and $1.5 million, $3.5 million, $4.5 million and $5 million in subsequent years, making him the team's highest-paid offensive lineman.
A second-round draft pick out of Georgia in 1997, Meadows has started 31 of 33 games at right tackle the past two seasons, teaming with left tackle Tarik Glenn to provide quarterback Peyton Manning with solid protection on the corners.
"The signing of Adam Meadows marks the third offensive lineman we have signed this offseason," Colts president Bill Polian said. "We are making every attempt to keep together a unit that has been very productive and a key part of what transpired last year."
Center Larry Moore and guard Waverly Jackson also have signed new contracts with the Colts.
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