Going through a retention-heavy offseason, Chris Ballard showed a willingness to hand out third contracts to longtime Colts. Kenny Moore and Grover Stewart signed third contracts as Colts, each receiving raises from their initial extensions. This is not a uniform policy, however, and the Colts appear set to let their longest-tenured player enter a platform year with an uncertain future.
Predating the eighth-year GM’s arrival, Ryan Kelly has been in place as Indianapolis’ center since 2016. The former first-round pick has lobbied for a second extension to stay in Indianapolis, but he has not seen the team share his interest. No deal has come about, and Kelly said Wednesday the team rebuffed his effort to secure a third contract.
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“We made it known that we wanted to stay, that we wanted to have an extension, and they didn’t see it as part of their priorities,” Kelly said, via ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder. “From our standpoint, the Colts have basically made it pretty clear that they don’t want to do any early extension.”
The Colts did give Kelly his current contract — a four-year, $49.65MM deal — before the 2020 season, giving the Ryan Grigson-era draftee long-term security as the league’s highest-paid center. While Kelly’s contract no longer tops his position, the center market has not spiked like other positions have.
Nearly four years after Kelly’s extension was finalized, he remains the NFL’s third-highest-paid center. The Colts will run the risk of losing their Pro Bowl pivot — a reality the team explored early during the transition to Shane Steichen, when Kelly was dangled in trades — this offseason did show the team can retain talent when contracts expire.
Moore, Stewart, Tyquan Lewis and Julian Blackmon each re-signed after the legal tampering period began. The Colts previously hammered out big-ticket deals for the likes of Kelly, Quenton Nelson, Braden Smith, Jonathan Taylor and Shaquille Leonard months before they played a down in a contract year. Kelly, 31, may well need to show quality form once again to earn a third contract from the team.
The Alabama alum has made four of the past five Pro Bowls, earning an alternate nod last season. Pro Football Focus rated Kelly eighth among centers last season, while pass block win rate slotted him 20th among all interior O-linemen. The Colts did draft Tanor Bortolini as a potential successor, however, choosing the Wisconsin product in Round 4. Kelly has missed more than four games in a season just once — in 2017 — but he suffered two concussions last year. Kelly said in January he was not considering retirement.
Should Kelly stay healthy, he would stand to have a decent market in 2025. Based on how the Colts proceeded this offseason, they should not be ruled out from circling back to contract talks. For now, though, Kelly does not have assurances he will be back in Indiana next season.
Cheapest team in the NFL, I am NOT surprised.
Anthony Richardson needs to be protected, but yeah let your pro-bowl Center walk next year because that’s how championships are built.
They didn’t say they were letting him walk – – they’re just not giving him an extension right now. He’s a very good Center and an even better person, but he’s also a little older, 2 concussions last year and always seems to be playing with an injury (but give him credit for playing!). I hope he’s back next year, but I’m not against seeing how he holds up this year. There would be higher priorities for me.
This isn’t surprising. He’s had a very good career, but he’s one of the oldest starting centers in the league and they drafted a possible replacement in Tanor Bortolini.
It’s a bit of a head scratcher. We are seeing offensive linemen play to age 40 and Kelly is nowhere near that so age shouldn’t be an issue. He’s stayed healthy for the most part too. 4 time Pro Bowl centers don’t grow on trees even if you draft a backup option. I think Chris Ballard is an excellent GM so perhaps the resistance here is coming from the Colts idiot owner Irsay.
I think you might be overestimating how many offensive linemen play to age 40, especially among centers. Jason Kelce was the oldest center in the NFL and he just retired. The oldest two now, Andrews and Morse, were born in 1992. Kelly was born in 1993.