INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -The Indianapolis Colts were in full scramble mode Wednesday.
On the eve of training camp, the Colts agreed to terms with two draft picks including their top choice, offensive lineman Mike Pollak, in a dash to get all nine draft choices into camp on time. Six other rookies remained unsigned.
Pollak agreed to his deal late Wednesday afternoon but had not yet signed the contract and terms were not immediately available. Pollak’s agent, Ken Zuckerman, confirmed the deal in a text message to The Associated Press but was not immediately available for comment after boarding a plane.
The Colts also reached agreement with fifth-round pick Marcus Howard, a defensive end out of Georgia. Howard’s agent, Brian Ayrault, said he expected the deal to be signed later Wednesday.
“We knew all along we would work something out,” Ayrault said. “He wanted to be in camp on time, I wanted him to be in camp on time and we were fighting for the best deal we could get.”
It was good enough for Howard, a college linebacker whom the Colts project as a pass-rushing defensive end. Ayrault would not divulge financial terms of the four-year deal, citing a confidentiality clause in the contract.
Pollak, a second-round pick and No. 59 overall, is expected to compete for the starting guard spot that was vacated when Jake Scott signed with Tennessee in free agency. Scott and tight end Ben Utecht, who left as a free agent for Cincinnati, were the only starters who left an Indy team that went 13-3 in 2007, winning its fifth straight AFC South title.
But Pollak, who is making the adjustment from college center to NFL guard, understood the importance of getting to training camp on time.
“Right now, that’s the biggest issue – adjusting to the (guard) techniques,” Pollak said during one of the team’s minicamps last month. “I’m playing good, but that’s been the biggest focus other than the playbook.”
The only other draft pick who has signed is receiver Pierre Garcon, a sixth-rounder from Division III Mount Union in Ohio, who agreed to his deal Tuesday.
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