INDIANAPOLIS – The offensive lineman gathered in a meeting room Monday for the start of the Indianapolis Colts’ offseason workout program.
Familiar faces were everywhere.
“It was like we really haven’t added anybody,’’ Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly said.
The starting unit returns intact: Kelly, left tackle Bernhard Raimann, left guard Quenton Nelson, right guard Will Fries and right tackle Braden Smith, who’s on the mend following offseason knee surgery. Top backups also are back, including Wesley French, Blake Freeland, Danny Pinter and Josh Sills.
“I think it just goes to show the trust that the organization has in us, Tony (Sparano Jr., position coach) going to bat for us as a room,’’ Kelly said.
A question that begs an answer: how much trust do the Colts have in Ryan Kelly?
The 2016 first-round draft pick is heading into his ninth season. More to the point, he’s heading into the final year of the four-year, $49.65 million extension he signed in 2020 that made him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players at his position.
General manager Chris Ballard has spent the offseason re-signing many of his own free-agents-to-be, most notably Michael Pittman Jr., Kenny Moore II, Grover Stewart, Tyquan Lewis and Rigoberto Sanchez.
He also signed two defensive cornerstones who were signed through 2025 to extensions: tackle DeForest Buckner (two years, $46 million) and linebacker Zaire Franklin (three years, $31.25 million).
Have the Colts approached Kelly about an extension?
“Not really,’’ he said. “I want to stay here. It’s my ninth year here. It’s the last year of my contract and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want another one, you know what I mean? We’ll see what happens.’’
According to Pro Football Focus, the Colts had the NFL’s No. 3-ranked offensive line in 2023. Smith and Raimann were ranked among the top-10 tackles while Kelly was ranked No. 8 overall among centers and No. 2 in pass protection. Nelson checked in at No. 16 among guards and became the first player in franchise history selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first six seasons.
Kelly, 30, has been the anchor. He’s missed only seven games over the past five seasons and his performance, along with everyone else’s along the o-line, achieved a bounce-back season in 2023. The Colts’ rushing attack ranked No. 10 in yards per game (121.1) and per attempt (4.3) and they cut their sacks allowed from 60 in 2022 to 41.
Kelly pointed to the value of continuity.
“It’s huge for an o-line,’’ he said, adding that the group recently shared a dinner with linemen from 2018, ’19 and ’20. “The five of us played a lot of games together. I think that the more you can have that year after year, all the snaps we played together, the time we spent in and around the facility, I think is huge for us. Obviously having Tony back for a second year, understanding where he’s at and looking at all we did in 2023. The mishaps we had, the great we did, encouraging us to do better, I think is big for us.’’
About that Buckner extension
Along with locking up Buckner through the 2026 season, the structure of the two-year extension provided the Colts with massive cap relief.
Prior to the extension, the Colts’ cap space was roughly $14 million. It’s now at approximately $28.4 million, according to Overthecap.com.
The team lowered Buckner’s 2024 base salary from $20.25 million to $2.25 million, compensating him immediately with a $18 million signing bonus. The extension also includes two voidable years, a bookkeeping maneuver the Colts seldom use. The voidable years – in this instance 2027-28 – allow the team to spread out the pro-rated signing bonus over five seasons.
Instead of counting $22.75 million against this year’s cap, Buckner’s cap hit plummeted to $8.35 million. His cap hits moving forward are $26.6 million in 2025 and $26.6 million in ’26.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.