Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Polian’s word of the day is “fluid.”

That pertains to Peyton Manning’s contract negotiations, the state of the roster, the signing of other Colts free agents and the opening of the 2011 NFL calendar year in general.

Everything’s changing by the day, hour or even minute. Everything’s fluid.

Manning had not reported to the Colts complex by midday Tuesday, but Polian said that’s not unusual, as about one-third of the players have been in the building so far. Players are to report to training camp Sunday at Anderson University, with practices beginning Monday.

Who will be on the roster by then is, well, fluid.

“We are talking to some of our own guys (free agents),” Polian said. “We will not have the ability to retain all of our free agents. We will try to retain as many as we can, but I would not expect that to be 100 percent across the board.”

While the focus is on signing some of the Colts’ own free agents, including franchised player Manning, Joseph Addai, Melvin Bullitt, Adam Vinatieri, Charlie Johnson and Clint Session, the Colts have apparently discussed a contract with former Ball State quarterback Nate Davis. Davis told the Muncie Star-Press that he will sign a two-year deal with the club.

Considering Manning might not be ready for training camp, another quarterback or two will be needed to join Curtis Painter in throwing drills and scrimmages during camp. Whether the Colts will keep more than two quarterbacks on the roster for opening day is uncertain.

Polian could not comment directly on Davis.

“At this point, Curtis is coming back, and we’re excited about him getting a lot of work in the preseason,” Polian said. “We’re continuing to work to put the rest of the roster together, whatever avenue that may be.”

The Colts announced they will relinquish the rights to restricted free agents Mike Hart, Mike Richardson, Gijon Robinson, Tom Santi and Jamie Silva.

Polian said there is no timetable on reaching a new contract with Manning, who would earn $23 million this season if he remains under the franchise tag. Colts owner Jim Irsay said he is committed to making Manning the highest-paid player in the NFL, but does not believe it is feasible for that amount to reach higher than $25 million a year. The hit on the salary cap would be too prohibitive, Irsay said, in the Colts’ ability to surround Manning with quality teammates.

“It is organized chaos,” Polian said of the scramble to assemble a roster this week. “We have had the general parameters of what we want to get done, but we weren’t able to address anything with agents in the interim, so you didn’t know what their thoughts were. You didn’t know what the cap was until last week. We are still continuing to get interpretations on signings, calendars, eligibility rules and all those kinds of things.”