Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said Monday he still intends to make Peyton Manning the NFL's highest-paid player and he hopes to get something done in the next couple days.

But he believes a salary cap of roughly $120 million in the first year of the new labor accord, smaller than the last cap in 2009, will complicate things.

"To me this isn't about how much money I have to spend, because the money is going to be spent," Irsay said in a conference call with media who cover the Colts. "We're already up against the cap, we already have to do something to make adjustments."

New England's Tom Brady signed a four-year extension in 2010 worth $72 million with guarantees of $48.5 million. That deal is the one against which Manning's will be measured.

"We know when we look at our team we need people to surround him and to have a chance to win the Super Bowl. And with the cap actually going down some this year, Brady's contract is actually something that would be reduced, so to speak, in a pro-rata situation," Irsay said. "It makes it even more difficult and there is only so much you can pay one player."

Before the lockout, the Colts put the franchise tag on Manning, a move that could cost Irsay about $23 million if Manning signs the tender.

"Whatever the [annual] number [of the contract] is, $20 million, you're topping off there where it becomes very, very difficult to be competitive and to field a team," Irsay said. "It's really important that we get the deal done so we can plan going forward not only cap-wise but competitively-wise. It's something I hope gets done very quickly and quite frankly it should get done very quickly because he is going to be the highest-paid player, he is going to make more than Brady.

"But under this system you cannot pay a player $25 million. It's just not going to work, you're not going to be able to compete."