The Indianapolis Colts announced on Monday that they officially signed third-round pick Matt Goncalves. Over the Cap now has the details on what Goncalves’ rookie deal will look like.
Goncalves earned a standard four-year rookie contract that totals $5.839 million with a signing bonus of $1.066 million.
Goncalves will receive the full signing bonus up front, but from a salary cap perspective, that $1.066 million can be pro-rated over the life of the contract. Or, in short, the cap hit in 2024 from that bonus is just $266,643.
That pro-rated signing bonus amount plus a base salary of $795,000 makes up Goncalves’ cap hit for this season, which totals $1.061 million.
Moving forward, beyond 2024, a $266,643 cap hit from the pro-rated signing bonus will be on the Colts’ books all four years of the contract, along with Goncalves’ base salary increasing each year as well.
In 2025, Goncalves’ base salary will be $1.060 million. In 2026 it increases to $1.325 million, and then $1.591 million in 2027.
Here is a look at what Goncalves’ cap hit will be each season:
2024: $1.061 million
2025: $1.327 million
2026: $1.592 million
2027: $1.857 million
Goncalves spent most of his career at Pittsburgh playing either right or left tackle, but the Colts believe he has the ability to play guard as well.
This season, Goncalves likely provides depth to a very good offensive line unit that is returning all five of its starters from a season ago. However, in 2025, with Will Fries set to be a free agent and Braden Smith in the final year of his deal and comes with a nearly $20 million cap hit, Goncalves could compete for a much larger role at that time.
“If I’m giving this guy a nickname,” said area scout Chad Henry, “it would be ‘The Blueprint’ because he is the pure, exact blueprint of what we want in an offensive lineman in our room. I don’t know that there was an offensive lineman on the board that fits our room better than this guy. Big, smart, tough, strong, mean, high giving a (expletive) factor, versatile, dependable, really cares.”
