Mitchell Pearce’s manager has batted away speculation the NSW halfback is seeking a release from the final year of his NRL contract with the Sydney Roosters.

The 23-year-old has been linked with a lucrative switch to St George Illawarra, who are believed to be keen to make Pearce the long-term successor to Ben Hornby.

However, manager Mike Newton said talk of Pearce emulating Luke Lewis’ lead at Penrith is wide of the mark.

“He’s got another year to go and I haven’t spoken to anyone at the Roosters and neither have I had discussions with other clubs,” Newton told AAP on Friday.

“I had lunch with Mitchell yesterday and he didn’t mention anything about it. I don’t know where this stuff comes from a lot of the time.”

With the NRL still negotiating a new broadcast rights deal, Newton said he would be doing Pearce a disservice if he was to start talking to the Roosters about a new contract until he knows how much extra money is on the table under the new salary cap.

“Ask any blue chip players who’s on the market next year, and there’s a ton of them, none of the them will do anything until we know the landscape we have to work within,” he said.

“If you are Pearce or a Johnathan Thurston, you’d be mad to start doing deals now.

“Clubs are being told to work towards a $500,000 increase in the cap next year, but that could actually be more.

“No one knows what it will in 2014, 15, 16 or 17.”

Newton said the Roosters had been in contact with him about starting negotiations earlier this year but he told them to wait.

However, he said this is not an indication that Pearce wants to leave.

“I have told the Roosters I am not interested in talking until next year – there’s no rush,” he said.

“He’s got another year to go, and it’s not to say he’s going to stay or he’s going to go. It is what it is – let’s see what happens.

“If I do a deal now, I could be selling him short – you just don’t know.”

The Australian Rugby League Commission have employed corporate fixers Greenhill Caliburn to negotiate the new TV deal, which they hope will earn them in excess of $1 billion.

And Newton said he expects some of the biggest names in the game to be chasing long-term deals from clubs to take advantage of the windfall.

“Once the new media deal is done, there is going to be no more money for the next four or five years, so 100 per cent, there is going to be more players wanting four or five-year deals,” he said.

“Like everyone else, we wait with interest.”