Given the unprecedented offseason the Indianapolis Colts saw amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there weren’t any contract extensions given to a player.
For some teams, this is normal for the offseason. But for the Colts, they are typically a team that likes to get extensions done during the summer months before training camp. They couldn’t do that this offseason, however, given the uncertainty of future implications on the salary cap.
General manager Chris Ballard spoke to the media Wednesday, hinting that there could be some talks about extensions coming up soon.
“Yeah, we needed some clarity on where we were going. Now, we have a little more clarity and we’re currently working on a plan of how we want to move forward,” Ballard said. “I’ve always been one that – you want to try to lock up your own players early and get them locked up, but with so much uncertainty out there we didn’t know what the next two or three years were going to look like. You have to project out here when you’re building your roster and extending players. Now that we have a little more clarity, we’ll have some lines in the water and see what happens.”
The Colts have a few players who may be in line for an extension whether it be for two years or beyond that. There are obvious names like center Ryan Kelly and wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, both of which are free agents in 2021 but are likely at the top of the list in terms of potential extensions.
Then there are the other names with more question marks surrounding their future with the team like linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. and running back Marlon Mack.
It will be interesting to see what comes of any contract talks during training camp but with more clarity on the future implications of the salary cap, this will be a development to watch over the next month.
The Indianapolis Colts are one of the few teams that will enjoy continuity along their offensive line and the anchor of that unit in Ryan Kelly is one of the biggest reasons for their recent success.
Kelly has developed into one of the best centers in all of football and entering the final year of his rookie contract, he will be out to prove that again.
In ranking the top 11 centers in the NFL, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar placed Kelly at No. 3 in the league.
Former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson has been justifiably panned for what was an unspectacular career, but selecting Kelly with the 18th overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Alabama was a rare brilliant move. In the transition from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Brissett (twice, once to to injury and once due to retirement), it didn’t matter who was under center for the Colts as long as Kelly was that center. In 3,398 career snaps, he’s allowed just two sacks in his NFL career (none in 2016 and 2017, one each in 2018 and 2019), and though he was aided in a timing sense by Indianapolis’ conservative passing game with Brissett in 2019, Kelly gave up just 21 total pressures, and he’s always been a pure masher in the run game.
Kelly combines intelligence, leverage, agility, and accuracy in a combination that makes him one of the league’s best centers in any season, and it will be interesting to see how he handles new quarterback Philip Rivers — a more stationary passer with an idiosyncratic sense of consistency.
The Colts offensive line has numerous strong points, but Kelly is the glue that keeps everything together. Though he had a bout with injuries in 2017 and 2018, he bounced back to play all 16 games in 2019 and did so at a high level.
It will be interesting to see if and when the Colts offer up an extension for their center, but he will enter the 2020 season as one of the best at his position.
Centers are the underrated captains of any NFL offense. Here are the 11 best in the game today.
A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense. While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.
And centers are just as important as anybody. Not that it’s a pleasant job at times. Imagine you’re an NFL center. You have to have all the plays in your head as much as (or more than) your quarterback does. Most often, you’re in charge of the adjustment calls that tell other blockers how to switch their blocking patterns to merge with defensive line changes. You have to know all your single-blocks, all your combo blocks, and you have to be ruthlessly accurate when hitting the second and third levels of a defense to block linebackers and defensive backs on certain plays — sweeps, screens, and more.
Oh, and there’s also the matter of getting the ball to the quarterback, whether he’s under center, in the pistol formation, or in straight shotgun, with at least one gigantic defensive tackle aligned to one of your shoulders or head-to-head. You have mere milliseconds to snap the ball before those one or more gigantic defensive tackles come down on you with the hammer of the gods.
Few jobs in sports test one’s mental acumen and physical endurance on every play more than this one. Centers never get the attention they deserve, but at Touchdown Wire, we’re out to change that. Here, after poring over advanced metrics and watching a lot of tape, are the top 11 centers heading into the 2020 NFL season.
Honorable Mentions
(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Rodney Hudson was Kansas City’s center from 2011-2014, Mitch Morse replaced Hudson in that role in 2015 and held it through 2018, so we should definitely keep an eye on Austin Reiter, who helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years as Morse’s replacement. Both Hudson and Morse are on this list, and Reiter could certainly find himself there soon — he allowed just 11 total pressures on a league-leading 835 pass-blocking snaps in the 2019 season, and if he’s able to improve his run-blocking, the sky’s the limit. The Jets signed former Broncos center Connor McGovern (not to be confused with current Cowboys guard Connor McGovern) to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and McGovern should be a great addition to a line in desperate need of help just about everywhere. For all their quarterback issues, the Bears have two linemen — James Daniels and Cody Whitehair — who have been excellent centers through their times in the Windy City. Washington’s Chase Roullier, a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 2017 draft, is another young center to watch. Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen was a particularly tough omission, as he pass-blocked very well in an unpredictable deep-passing offense, and should be even more efficient in the switch from Jameis Winston to Tom Brady.
Eagles center Jason Kelce mentioned in a ranking of the NFL’s top-10 interior linemen
Jason Kelce is still among the best players in the game at his position and although he’s now playing on a year-to-year basis, the Eagles star center is still highly respected around the league.
ESPN.com is firmly entrenched in a top-10 ranking of every position in the NFL and just as they were at the quarterback, wide receiver and offensive tackle positions, the Eagles were well represented on the list.
8. Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 32 | Highest ranking: 5 | Lowest ranking: 13
So many voters have had Kelce as their top center that they have trouble moving off him as he declines with age.
“Not quite as good as he used to be but still a fantastic player,” said one NFC exec. “He does everything well.”
Kelce still produced an 81.0 Pro Football Focus ranking and hasn’t missed a game in five years on his way to three straight All-Pro bids.
“Probably lost a step at this point — he’s great at managing the game but will struggle at the power game,” said a veteran NFL defensive coach.
If not for an Achilles injury while working out, Brandon Brooks would have definitely landed in the top-4 of the list, giving the Eagles two-players in the top-10.
Ryan Kelly enters a contract year as one of the top centers in the game.
While Indianapolis Colts left guard Quenton Nelson gets most of the love among the interior offensive linemen, center Ryan Kelly has proven himself to be among the top players at his position in the last few years.
As the former first-round pick enters a contract year in 2020, he was ranked by ESPN as the ninth-best interior offensive lineman in the NFL, which includes centers and guards.
Here’s what they said about Kelly:
Kelly has something that most centers don’t.
“Power,” an AFC exec said. “He can move people off the ball like a guard.”
After facing durability concerns early in his career, Kelly played 16 games in 2019 and allowed one sack in 1,018 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus data.
The Colts believe Kelly is past his injury issues and that this year can take his career to a new level. He’s the type of player Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor will gladly run behind.
Kelly had a bout with injuries in 2017 and 2018 but he is seemingly past those concerns. Kelly played all 16 games in 2019 and continued to show why he’s an asset.
Whether it’s moving people off the ball in the run game or solidifying the interior as a pass protector, Kelly has proven himself plenty throughout his young career with the Colts.
As training camp approaches, it will be interesting to see if any news about a potential contract extension is in the works. Players like Kelly don’t typically hit the market and given the continuity on the offensive line, the Colts would be wise to secure their anchor for the next few seasons.
Kelly has been one of the top centers in the NFL when healthy and will be looking to continue that narrative in 2020.
The Indianapolis Colts are hoping that the big moves made this offseason will get them back into the playoffs after missing out during a 7-9 season in 2019.
With plenty of new faces and even more returners, the Colts will have several players facing pressure during the 2020 season. Whether it’s bouncing back from a poor campaign, proving their worth in a contract year or simply taking on a bigger role, the Colts are under a lot of pressure.
Here are five Colts under the most pressure in 2020:
QB Philip Rivers
The most obvious name on the list comes at the quarterback position. Regardless of the situation, the quarterback is always under the most pressure. But Rivers steps into the role looking to both prove himself worthy of the $25 million contract he received and also looking to bounce back after a poor campaign.
The Colts have a lot of confidence that Rivers isn’t finished yet. His 20 interceptions were tied for the second-most of his career since becoming a starter, but Indy is hoping that an upgrade at offensive line and more of an emphasis on the run will help.
The Colts didn’t make the playoffs mostly because of poor quarterback play 2019. For the veteran stepping in, the pressure is on to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
Every NFL team has at least one player whose play deserves more praise than it gets. Here’s every team’s most underrated player.
In the NFL, players are underrated for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, they’re second banana to a superstar whose deeds take up all the oxygen. Other times, it may be that the player has to climb up the depth chart as a little-regarded contributor, and the media hasn’t caught up yet. It’s also possible that the player has an incandescent talent that’s hidden by an unfavorable scheme. And it could also be that the player has had one great season, and everyone’s waiting to see if it’s a fluke.
No matter the reasons, every player on this list has set an exceptional standard deserving of more recognition. Here are the most underrated players for every NFL team going into the 2020 season.
Arizona Cardinals: EDGE Chandler Jones
(Getty Images)
Do you know which NFL player has the most sacks since 2012? We’re kind of giving it away here, but yes, it is Chandler Jones with 96 since his rookie season. That puts him above Von Miller, J.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan, Justin Houston, Aaron Donald, and anyone else you’d care to mention. Jones also has 85 quarterback hits and 307 quarterback hurries in that time, but he’s rarely discussed when it’s time to talk about the league’s edge-rushers. This despite the fact that he led the league in sacks in 2017 with 17 and finished second to Shaquil Barrett with 19 last season. Perhaps it’s because he’s been doing his work of late with a Cardinals team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015, but no pass-rusher deserves more praise in line with his accomplishments than Jones.
Atlanta Falcons: DL Grady Jarrett
(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
Lost in the specter of the Falcons’ 28-3 meltdown in Super Bowl LI was the fact that Jarrett, the Falcons’ fifth-round pick in 2015, was a borderline MVP candidate with three sacks and four quarterback hits before everything fell apart. Downgraded out of Clemson because he was allegedly too short, Jarrett has been a remarkable interior disruptor throughout his NFL career. Whether aligned at nose tackle or three-technique, Jarrett has totaled at least 43 quarterback hurries every season since 2016. The Falcons rewarded him with a four-year, $68 million contract in July, 2019, but Jarrett still doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
Baltimore Ravens: OT Ronnie Stanley
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Who’s the best left tackle in the NFL today? Were you to poll 100 experts, you’d get several different answers. But it’s hard to argue against Stanley, who allowed just one sack and 10 total pressures in 543 pass-blocking snaps last season, and helped the Ravens put together the NFL’s most dynamic rushing attack in his 489 run-blocking snaps. The 2019 season marked Stanley’s first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods, and there should be more of that to come. Lamar Jackson is the talk of Baltimore’s offense, but it wouldn’t go the way it does without Stanley’s presence.
Buffalo Bills: WR John Brown
(JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE -Imagn Content Services, LLC)
The big news for the Bills this offseason was the trade that brought Stefon Diggs to the team, but Buffalo’s receiver corps was already pretty strong, and Brown was the primary reason in 2019. Despite the fact that he plied his trade in a new offense and took passes from erratic quarterback Josh Allen, the former Cardinal and Raven set a career high with 72 receptions and posted the second 1,000-yard season of his career. The addition of Diggs should give Brown more one-on-one opportunities to succeed — especially if Allen is able to get his GPS aligned.
Carolina Panthers: S Tre Boston
(Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Few deep safeties have been as adept in pass coverage than Boston over the last five season, so it has been a mystery why the Panthers cut him in 2017, and why he was unable to find more than a series of one-year deals with different teams until Carolina re-assessed its approach and signed him to a three-year, $18 million deal in March. It’s still chump change for a guy who plays as well as Boston does — he’s totaled 16 interceptions to just eight touchdowns allowed in his career — but it’s a nice bounceback for a player whose desire to protest may have cost him a more lucrative deal.
Chicago Bears: WR Allen Robinson
(Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
If any current receiver would be justified in filing a grievance against the NFL for lack of quarterback support, it would be Robinson, who has moved from Blake Bortles as his primary QB in Jacksonville to Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago. Hardly ideal. Still, Robinson led the NFL in touchdown receptions with 14 in 2015, and last season, with Trubisky falling apart most of the time, he still caught 98 passes for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. 2020 marks the last year of Robinson’s current contract with the Bears, and he’ll undoubtedly make the best of Chicago’s Trubisky/Nick Foles quaterback situation, and perhaps wind up on a team with a functional quarterback after that.
Cincinnati Bengals: RB Joe Mixon
(Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
The hope in Cincinnati is that the offense will come around with Joe Burrow at quarterback, but the Bengals are already set at the running back position, where Mixon gained 1,137 yards and five touchdowns on 278 carries last season, adding 35 receptions for 287 yards and three more touchdowns for good measure. Only five backs broke more rushing tackles than Mixon’s 52, and he totaled 14 runs of 15 or more yards last season, tied for fourth in the league.
Cleveland Browns: RB Nick Chubb
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Tennessee’s Derrick Henry was the NFL’s rushing leader in 2019, but it could easily be argued that Chubb was the league’s most efficient rusher. Not only did he gain 5.0 yards per carry (1,494 yards and eight touchdowns on 298 carries), but he also led the league in rushed of 15 or more yards (20), only the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs broke more rushing tackles than Chubb’s 66, and only Henry averaged more yards after contact per carry than Chubb’s 3.77. He was a one-man wrecking crew in a broken offense in 2019 — perhaps new head coach Kevin Stefanski can change that, but there’s no doubting Chubb’s status as one of the league’s rising stars.
With the summer here and the NFL dying down in terms of news and activity, one development to keep an eye on this time of year will be contract extensions before the 2020 season arrives.
The Colts have a few players eligible for contract extensions given that their current deals expire at the end of the 2020 season. General manager Chris Ballard made it pretty clear last offseason that he doesn’t mind getting deals done before the current one expires.
ESPN listed over 50 players who could be considered candidates for a contract extension before the 2020 season arrives. The Colts have four players mentioned in the article.
Here are the Colts players listed in the article along with what ESPN said about them:
WR T.Y. Hilton:“The Bears’ Allen Robinson II and the Colts’ T.Y. Hilton are both veterans who are important enough to their teams to merit consideration.”
C Ryan Kelly:“Other guards/centers who could be candidates include Minnesota’s Pat Elflein, the Colts’ Ryan Kelly and maybe the Cowboys’ Joe Looney if he emerges as their starting center in camp.”
LB Anthony Walker Jr:“Anthony Walker Jr. is another 2017 fifth-rounder who has turned into a reliable starter. Walker is a part of the Colts’ plans moving forward and a candidate for a summer extension.”
S Malik Hooker:“The Colts declined Malik Hooker’s fifth-year option for 2021, but it wouldn’t be too shocking if they worked something out with him at a lower number.”
The article also mentioned Marlon Mack with the running backs but only that there are “No talks yet between the Colts and Marlon Mack as he heads into his final year,” which appears to be true at this stage.
It will be interesting to see how the Colts go about their extensions this offseason but one or all of these players could be up for a new deal, along with some other names such as Darius Leonard, Quenton Nelson and Grover Stewart.
The Indianapolis Colts used this offseason to make sure they filled up several of the holes on the roster, making some big moves during free agency and adding talented rookies via the 2020 NFL Draft. But the work is never done for Chris Ballard and Co. during the offseason.
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As we enter the months of June and July, the Colts will begin focusing on their next steps in preparation for the 2020 season. There are still moves to be made before the season gets here, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell listed what is left to do for Indy.
What’s left to do: Re-sign Ryan Kelly. Indy’s excellent center is approaching free agency, and while injuries have been a concern, this team should keep its offensive line together by locking up the last first-round pick of the Ryan Grigson era. Kelly could become the first center in football to top $12 million per season on a multiyear deal.
Playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, Kelly is set to be a free agent when the 2020 season is over. That is unless the two sides come to a contract agreement.
Kelly is an above-average center in the league and when healthy, he approaches the upper echelon at the position. Despite a two-year span dealing with some injuries, Kelly bounced back in 2019 to prove he can still be a reliable anchor in the middle of the offensive line.
It would be wise for the Colts to get Kelly under contract for the next few years. They have the cap room to do so. Centers like him don’t come around too often and rarely do they wind up hitting the free agent market.
There are some housekeeping moves that Ballard and the front office have to make this offseason, but getting Kelly and extension should be at the top of the list.
The Indianapolis Colts exercised the fifth-year option for center Ryan Kelly, locking him under contract for the 2020 season. But the team has talked with Kelly’s agents about a potential extension.
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General manager Chris Ballard hasn’t been afraid to reward those he feels have earned it. If the Colts can look past the injuries of 2017 and 2018, Kelly certainly deserves an extension for what he brings to the field and the locker room.
Kelly told reporters in a conference call Thursday that the two sides have had some talks about an extension.
Colts center Ryan Kelly, who's entering Year 5 with the team, says his agent has had some talks with Colts GM about a possible extension.
Says Kelly: "I want to spend my entire career in Indianapolis."
Kelly is one of the top centers in the NFL and has shown he is capable of anchoring the middle of one of the top offensive lines in the game. He’s always been productive when he’s on the field but that two-year stretch of missing 14 games would likely be the reason it hasn’t happened yet.
But Kelly had a full season in 2019 and a good one at that. He’s a very strong pass protector and equally stout in the run game. Keeping that continuity on the offensive line would be another bonus for locking down Kelly.
It would be wise for the Colts to get a deal done for Kelly, especially since centers of his caliber aren’t all that easy to find.
