Minnesota's Decker could still sign contract with Twins

CHICAGO - Minnesota wide receiver Eric Decker will play for the Gophers this season but he said Tuesday that signing a contract with the Minnesota Twins, who drafted him in the 27th round in June,  "is not completely out of the question."

"My focus is on football, I think [the Twins] understand that," Decker said. "They still have until Aug. 15 to offer me a contract so we'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks, but I'm focused on football. I would like to see a future with me in the football arena."

NCAA rules would allow Decker to finish his senior season with the Gophers even after signing a contract with the Twins, but the wide receiver said he won't play baseball at Minnesota in the spring.

"Baseball is not completely out of the question. It's there but it won't be a thing where after the football season I go to baseball [with the Gophers]. I'm going to play in the fall and do the combine thing and pursue football," Decker said.

The Twins are unlikely to offer a contract to a player who would wait until the NFL Draft in April -- or possibily even later -- to decide if he would keep playing football or start playing baseball in Minnesota's minor league system. Still, such an offer would serve as a security blanket if Decker's football career was sidetracked by injuries this season.

But does he think there is a chance the Minnesota Twins will offer a contract?

"There may be,"  Decker said. "There's a lot of things that go into it and that's why we're in discussions about what we're going to do. I guess we'll figure it out in the next couple of weeks."