Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Can New-Look Offensive Line Be Trusted?

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

The Indianapolis Colts will welcome two new starters onto the offensive line in 2025. The group is rarely mentioned as a concern, but how confident should we be that the group will hold up? Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15-inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.

The Colts welcome a couple new starters to the offensive line this year. We like these guys, but can the group as a whole be trusted? Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What is up y'all? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com.

I'm your resident credentialed media member for the site and Zach is your resident film expert for the site, just cranking out content left and right. And we're here to talk to you a bit today about the Colts offensive line. Now there's been periods of the off season where we've talked about the depth really needs to be addressed, this and that.

And we've already gone ahead and penciled in Tanner Bordellini and Matt Gonzalez as new starters. But we, I don't feel like we've really taken the time to talk about like, is this group good enough? Like, should they be trusted? I think, you know, we all like Gonzalez and Bordellini, but I think it's time to talk about the line as a whole and should we shoot them in as a good offense blind unit?

So we'll go ahead and get into that today. So Zach, obviously this is going to be a bit of a new look line this year. Ryan Kelly after nine years is no longer the Colts starting center. Will fries after an outstanding trajectory through his first four years kind of got outpriced to be able to stay with the Colts both of those guys moved on to the Vikings. So you still got Bernard Ryan and you still got Clinton Nelson and then the Braden Smith situation kind of got resolved as well. He obviously had the issues with obsessive compulsive disorder that started, you know, that kind of went off the rails a bit late last year.

He's got that kind of under control the rails a bit late last year. He's got that kind of under control. He's back for a year. So we know those three starters and they now welcome in Tanner Bordellini and we assume that can solve as. So what do you think of this group as a whole? When you look at the offensive line, you look at the Colts roster and you say, OK, the offensive line is this. Yeah, I think when you look at this, this starting five and real quick, guys,

if I sound nasally, I missed all last week with this sinus infection that I'm still fighting. So this is what I'm going to sound like going forward for a little bit, like a combination of my usual voice and Chucky from Rugrats. That's what I'm going to sound like. So, yeah, so, you know, take it for what it is. But no, when I look at this offensive line going forward, you know, I do think if we're talking about the best five from last year at their healthiest, I do think this is a

step back from the best five of last year at their absolute healthiest. But it's a needed step back in order to get younger and cheaper on the offensive line. Like in the modern NFL, you can't pay all five offensive linemen. You know, you can't get be giving Ryan Kelly, 10 plus million dollars a year. Can't give Will Fries nearly $20 million a year, plus Brayden Smith at 20, plus Quentin Nelson at 20.

And then Bernhard Riemann is coming up on a contract. So the Colts need to get younger on the offensive line. They needed to pivot away from some of these veteran players to go towards guys that they have invested top 100 or near top 100 draft picks in, in Matt Gonsalves and in Tanner Bordellini. So yes, I do think from best five last year to best five this year, it is a downgrade because I like I don't expect Gonsalves to hit the levels that Will Fry's hit early last season.

And I don't even know if Bordellini can hit what like Ryan Kelly was at his best last season this next year. But I do think this is a solid starting offensive line. I do have high hopes for both both Gonsalves and Bordellini. And I think they can be very good players this next season with the potential to grow and be as good as what fries and Kelly were throughout their tenure with the Colts. So yeah, I think yeah, if you're like looking at it compared to what it looked like from day one of last year, the Colts offensive line did downgrade, you know, so to speak, but they got younger, they're investing in these young players. And I think these guys can grow into their roles

alongside good players like Quinton Nelson, Baron Hart Rymanman and brain Smith. If he's able to get out there for all 17 games this year, so I don't think it's going to be some drastic drop off that that hurts the team in any way. Yeah, and I like how you mentioned it might be an initial step back, but it was necessary to do and

they had the foresight to see this. I I do think they probably thought they'd be able to retain Will fries when you rewind a year ago, but they didn't know about Braden Smith necessarily. So you get Tanner Bordellini, you get Matt Gonzalez, you know those guys are probably going to be future starters wherever on the line. So it is a means to an end to kind of see that these guys go ahead and take their lumps and get the playing time necessary because

the Colts philosophy for the most part is you got to play in order to develop. So I do think that's quite necessary. One thing I do kind of question and the offseason isn't done. I mean, training camps a couple months away, but do you think they did enough, I guess, either to add competition or just bolster and make sure that they were able to protect their backfield enough. Like did they do enough to the offensive line this off season? I kind of in the middle on that because on one hand, I do think they improve their swing

offensive tackle situation just in terms of like, Mac and Salves was a little up and down last season as a swing offensive tackle. I didn't know how to feel about him as an offensive tackle coming into this year if they were going to keep him out there. And then Blake Freeland, I think we all kind of know the situation there. Like it's probably not going to work out. So I do think they upgraded it by bringing in a Jalen Travis. And I also think and solve his projects better to being a right guard. I like borderline at center. They brought back Danny Pinter to solidify that backup center spot. So I don't think they didn't do like anything with the O line. I think it's perfectly fine what they did. But certainly you would like to have more names behind the right guard position, the left

guard position that you feel more comfortable with, or maybe even a veteran offensive tackle thrown in the mix too, just to add another name that's been there done that, you know, so I think there were some more moves they could have made and some moves they still can make. But I don't think that they like neglected the offensive line. Like again, they spent a top 100 pick on Mackensaw. They traded up for Mackensaw this in that draft, you know, in the third round. So clearly they like this guy and he's going to get a starting spot eventually. So they had that open spot at right guard for him.

He's going to get out there and get some time in. And then Tanner Bordellini had a fantastic rookie season whenever he stepped on the field. So, yeah, I think they could have done a little bit more, but I like investing in these young players. And I don't think that they neglected it by any means by giving the first swing to these two players that we have high hopes for. Yeah, I think they're kind of relative inactivity and, you know, letting a couple of starters walk out. I do think that points to them being comfortable with what they have.

And I don't think it's the normal like neglectful part of we like our guys. So we're going to leave this position barren. Like I think they intended to let the young guys play out after this. like neglectful part of we like our guys. So we're going to leave this position barren. Like I think they intended to let the young guys play out after this. No, I will say for the offensive line, I think expectations, I guess internally need to be strong because they've got this quarterback battle going on. So you have to, you have to set the table as well as possible for either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. I don't think it's quite as critical with Anthony because his sack avoidance is almost second to none when it comes to quarterbacks across the league. But you do want to protect his health and make sure that you've got a good offensive line out there. If he's going to get hurt, like obviously he's missed like 17 games this career. If he's going to get hurt, let it be because he's being an athlete, not because

you are letting him get crushed in the backfield. And then with Daniel Jones, like, I don't think he's gonna be like some awesome quarterback in the league by any means, but we've seen what it looks like for him when he has a terrible offensive line. That's been the story of most of his career in New York. Yeah. And then obviously, we think this offense is going to be very run based. So you've got to have people out there to block for that. So, you know, between your quarterback competition, you need to do well by them with a good offensive line. And then Jonathan Taylor, DJ Giddens, Khalil Herbert, they've got to have space to run behind. So do you like, do you like what they've got there to kind of responsibly take care of those areas? Yeah, one thing I will say without going on like a crazy long spiel here is when I look at the change from Will Fries and Ryan Kelly to Borderline and Goncalves, I think you upgrade and run blocking in a way.

Like I think there is room for it to be a downgrade as well. We'll talk about in the second segment how this could kind of go wrong. But I do think on paper to me, this is an upgrade and run blocking in a sense where like Bordellini is this one of one athlete at center. Like Ryan Kelly was a fantastic athlete. But when we're talking about 30 plus year old Ryan Kelly

versus 22 year old Tanner Bordellini. Bordellini is a way better athlete and can make these blocks that Kelly just can't make anymore. And then you look at Gonsalves where like, yes, I think Fry's was an awesome pass blocker last year and just a fantastic player in that regard. But I think Gonsalves has more punch and more just pop potential as a run blocker, especially on these gap and power runs where the Colts were really running behind them last season. So if we're looking at this Colts team next year

and how they're gonna be successful, it's probably not going to be through the air. They are gonna be a run-first football team this next season. I think a lot of their all season moves have kind of predicated that by going and getting a tight end early who can run and block like Tyler Ward by investing in backup running

back by putting a six foot six 330 pound Gonsalves at right guard like this team is committing to running the football and I think these two players do offer a bit more for the offense in terms of the run game. I think it will be a bit hit or miss in pass protection but Bordellini certainly isn't as big at center so there will be some times that Bull rushes not come back. Gonsalves has some leverage issues, which we'll talk about in a second. That could give him some issues on the interior. But I think when we're looking at like the run game, these two players offer a little bit more than Kelly and fries even as run blockers.

And I think, look, when this Colts team, how are they going to potentially make the playoffs this year? It's going to be through running the football. And I think these two players do kind of add to their ability to run the ball next season. Well, that is certainly good news. And like you mentioned, we will talk more about Gonzales, Bordellini and an even newer face, Jalen Travis in just a moment. Zach, I'm going to need you to say goodbye to sticky notes,

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Alright Zach, so obviously this is going to be not your older brother's offensive line for the Colts. Again, Ryan Kelly after nine years is no longer the starter and then Will Frizo is what about two two and a half years is the starting right guard. So yeah, we've got some new faces here. So Tanner borderline is going to get his first extended run as a starter. Now they did give him a little bit of time there, but then I think he had a concussion last year and they moved into Danny Penner for whatever reason and just kept it going.

Instead of the guy you knew as part of your future, just going with it. I digress whatever. And then Matt Gonzalez, super limited action as a guard one snap in relief of Quentin Nelson last year, but throughout most of college as well has been a tackle. And then we'll welcome in Jalen Travis as well. And then Blake Freeland will kind of duke it out to be the swing tackle. I mean, there has to be a winner there. But that flexibility to

bring in Travis did kind of give the Colts the flexibility to move Matt Gonzalves to guard because before they weren't going to be able to do that because you couldn't just solely trust Blake Freeland to do it. So what are you expecting out of out of these newer guys? I mean, what I guess is the ceiling in 2025 and And then is there any reason for concern going in? Yeah, so let's start with Konsalves because he's the guy who I wrote about recently for Horseshoe Huddle on my summer scouting series. Talked about his move to right guard. And it was actually really funny. I was expecting to see more guard snaps in his history,

just based off his, like his size profile does kind of seem like it could be just like a big guard. I know a lot of six, six players get put out of tackle, but no, only 45 career snaps since 2019 on the interior. Every other snap in his career has been on the outside. I think like 2019 is where he played like his most career interior snaps and it was like 30 in a season. So he has barely played on the inside in his career,

but I do think a lot of his traits do project fairly well to guard. He's got a lot of power in him. He's a great size, really explosive player. He really worked on his first punch last year, which he used to kind of mitigate some of his leverage concerns. And I think when you look at his best moments as a pass blocker last year, which weren't really many, because he had a lot of struggles as a pass blocker, a lot of those best moments came when he could just get on players in a hurry, use his length, use his size to establish that first contact and then just win from there. So I do think a lot of where he won last year translates well to a guard. He was also a fantastic puller, operated well at the second level. So it gives the Colts another element there. But there are some some issues with this move. Again, only 45 career snaps since 2019. This going back to his early days of college playing on the inside.

And we don't see many six foot six guards because of the leverage issues, because you're going to get these six foot two, six foot three defensive tackles who are 300 something pounds. And if they're going to out leverage you, they're going to push you around. So he's got to find a way to mitigate that concern. He's not going to become this super flexible, you know, bendy, shorter player overnight. He's got to find a way to win in spite of that.

And I think one thing that he did last year really well was working on that first step in that first punch so he could displace guys quickly off the line and then just kind of win from that connection right there. So I do think we're going to see more of like a twenty twenty three will fries type season from him where, you know, we're looking at the pro football focus grades in the year and it's like fifty fives to sixties across the board, you know, just like average to

above average. But honestly, when we're talking about a guy making this move with his size profile and with some of the things he needs to work on, I think that'll be a productive season for him. Just be an adequate starter in his first year at the position and grow from there like we saw from Will Fries. That's kind of my expectations for him this season. And I fully expect him to hit that.

Like I think he's going to be a perfectly fine starter for the team. And maybe that's not like maybe it's your third round pick that you traded up for. You want him to be even better in his first year starting. But like when you have a line of Quinton Nelson and Bernhardt Ryman on one side, like if you can just give me a solid starting guard on the right side, like I will take that nine times out of 10, 10 times out of ten, you know for this Colts team Yeah, I was I was gonna say last year when the right guard spot was playing just well just adequate The offensive line was really really good

It wasn't until Dalton Tucker kind of petered off and then the quick Mark Lewinsky magic Faded that the offensive line really started to look ugly. When they just looked baseline fine, the offensive line was doing really really well and I like I think that's all you really need from him this year. Again you mentioned the mobility and being inside will I think allow him to get that first punch that you mentioned and then when it comes to Bordellini this is obviously not a career projection by any means. But like, when I think of some things that like, I obviously don't have a ton of, I haven't seen the Eagles like a ton. But when I think about Jason Kelsey, and some

of the things that made him a really effective center, he could get out and move better than any other center. And then he just latched onto guys and paved away and did not allow anyone to get past him to the ball. And I think Bordellini, you mentioned he's like a one of one athlete. He kind of offers us a skill set like that where he moves really well out in space. And then if he can just bump up his play strength, I think is probably one thing that needed to be juiced up a little bit going into year two. If he can, if he can get his play strength up, then he could be really, really effective for a scheme that I think is probably going to try and create

a little space in the, in the run game a little bit. So I think borderline, he's got a really, really high ceiling. Again, Jason Kelsey is a hall of Famer. I'm just thinking stylistically that portion of their game kind of kind of reminded me a little bit. Yeah, there's been this move in recent NFL to just move towards these super athletes at center. And we've seen some varying degrees of success across the NFL. You know, you have forever Jason Kelsey. You have like a Garrett Bradbury, who's been an adequate starter in his career, but certainly didn't live up to his first round billing when he got drafted by the Vikings years ago.

And it led to him, I think, being released this offseason. But I do think he falls in that same tier of player in terms of just super athlete. And again, the range between Kelsey and Bradbury is essentially your play strength and how you win alongside being a great athlete, because, yes, you can make every block in the world with his athleticism, but you have to be able to hold up at the point of attack. You have to be able to withstand power rushes on the interior, keep that dish clean, have good eyes.

I think he can do all those things. I saw enough flashes on his film last year to where I'm very, very optimistic about his future. I think this can be a top 10 center in football with the right just work around him in football with the right work around him and just with the right development plan for him. So I'm honestly way more optimistic about Bordellini than I am about, I think, any other rookie from last year's class for the Colts. More optimistic even than like Lottu and A.D. Mitchell in Bordellini because some of the flashes

that you could see on his film is just top end type stuff. So yeah, it's going to take some time. And I think there are some concerns with his wingspan and with his overall length. And he's going to have to find ways to work around that and maybe, you know, get some wrestling background type stuff in there to survive with the shorter wingspan. But again, this is a one of one athlete who showcased some really good things on film last year, got better throughout his starts. Like I think this is gonna be the Colts starting center for the next 10 plus years.

Like he's only 22 years old too. He's only gonna get better with more playing time. Tony Sperano Jr. loves him. I'm head over heels for Mortlady as well on film. I think he's gonna be a really good player for the Colts. Yeah, I did think that was interesting. You know, they got the two offensive linemen early letter, you know, mid rounds last year, they went for Gonzalez, Gonzalez first traded up for him,

but it really felt like borderline. He was the one with the super high ceiling. Yeah. But you know, we'll see coming up next, you know, is there anything they still need to do? Is this group good enough to where they need to do anything else before training camp happens? We'll talk about that in just a moment. All right, so the biggest depth piece that the Colts did this offseason, so they resigned Danny Penter, which I think that's fine. I don't I think when he has to come in and start a couple games at center throughout

his career, he's been good. Don't move move into right guard we've seen that's not good but you know if he's gonna be your backup center I I'm totally fine with that Jalen Travis comes in fourth round I really like the upside there usually guys with that size what is he like six eight three forty or three thirty something like that yeah a beh he myth those guys don't always move that well, but he's actually got pretty nimble feet. He's got a basketball background. He's actually played at a pretty high

level in high school was a part of some really impressive AAU teams, so there's some good upside there with Jalen Travis. And it really needs to work out between him and Blake Freeland at at Azure backup tackles because if you make that commitment to move Matt Gonzalez to right guard, if you don't like what those those two other guys offer you a tackle, well, now you're kind of screwed a little bit because you really don't want to upset the apple cart by then taking away Gonzalez and moving him back to tackle for something. Cause then what do you do at guard? It just creates kind of a network of issues there.

So with that said, I think the depth at guard could use a little bit more. Cause right now you're looking at Dalton Tucker and he was, he was fine for a rookie, undrafted guy last year until he wasn't, you know, when he immediately stepped in for Wolf fries, I think he played better than you would expect. But then when he had to play for an extended period of time, he had to be replaced. But you can assume a natural progression at least by a little bit there. And then Josh Sills, you probably could avoid that. He's been around for a couple of years, but they haven't really wanted him to be out there.

Yeah. So you look at that, and I would, I think I would welcome a very mid to low level guard signing, someone you don't really expect to start, but has probably done it before. Yeah, no, I don't disagree whatsoever there. I did want to touch on Jalen Travis though, because we didn't get to hit on him in the last one.

I'm pretty optimistic about Travis overall. Like, I'm not going to sit here and say that I think this is going to be like an all-pro caliber player. I do think there are limitations. Very stiff player. Doesn't turn super well. But that height, weight, speed combination that he has, along with his explosion,

and honestly some development in his pass sets as well, and also in his hands, I think he can be the starting right tackle going forward after this upcoming season. And I feel better about where he's starting from going into this next year than I did about Blake Freeland, even Blake Freeland as a rookie and Blake Freeland even right now. So I do feel pretty good about the swing tackle situation because Jalen Travis's film is pretty darn good at Iowa State.

I understand why he was available where he was because he was like an older player that only had one year of FBS play under his belt and there are some stiffness in his game, but I do think you get a really high floor with him. When it comes to backup guard though, again, I'm not completely out on Dalton Tucker. I do think his overall play got bashed

a little bit too hard last year, considering that like his first game or two were actually pretty solid. It was just like the final three were just a train wreck, but he was an undrafted free agent starting in the NFL in his first year. Like he just shouldn't have been put in that situation. So I do think he can grow into being a backup caliber player, but like, do we feel good about that going into next season? I'm not sure about that. And you have a couple of names here that you have listed. And honestly, I agree.

Like I wouldn't mind bringing them in. And look, if Tucker beats them in camp, cool, give Tucker the backup right guard spot. But I want Tucker to have to beat somebody other than Josh Stills to earn that backup spot. I'm all for Tucker being the guy if he wins it, but I want him to actually win it in camp. That makes sense.

Yeah, I just I'm trying to prepare for the disaster scenario where there's like multiple starters down. I think I'm okay with Tucker being the backup and one of the guard spots, but then you want another option as well. That's not just Josh Sills. And so I was looking around. I want guys who weren't like super old, you know, they're not at the tail

end of their careers, which Mark Lewinsky is a guy I would consider, but he is like 33. But we've seen him recently play decent ball in a small sample size, like I think he could get you a starter too, if you needed it. Yeah, but there's guys like Daniel Brunskill, who was with the Titans, Tristan Colon Castillo, who was with the Cardinals. Those are guys who have played a lot of ball. They don't really go into their season as a starter,

but whether it's because of injuries or just really poor play ahead of them, they have played a lot of football and they played pretty well. So I'm always kind of opposed to like bringing in starting level guys as backups because number one, who wants to do that? And number two, you probably have to pay too much.

So guys like that who were kind of low, mid-level veteran signings, like I'm totally good with that. I think I'd bring in one more guy. So I know there's always people talk about like Dalton Reisner, Will Hernandez. I think John Feliciano is out there as well. So like really well known guys, Brandon Sheriff as well. Would you consider any of like the bigger name guys?

Because that seems like they'd be coming in to compete to start. Yeah, I think if there were an injury in camp, I think for sure. Like if you know, knock on wood because God, please don't let this happen. But like if Gonsalves were to get hurt in mini camp or even if it was something like Jalen Travis got hurt in mini camp and you had to move Gonsalves back out to be the swing tackle like, or something like that, you know, or another Braden Smith situation happened.

Like you never know what's going to happen in the NFL. So you want to have that relationship with those, with those free agents just in case. But as it stands right now I'm fine with giving González and Bordellini that first shot other than getting like a sheriff in here because like even if a sheriff gives you a higher floor than it can solve this you're not really learning much about your team going forward for them. I mean again you might be helping your quarterback for one more year which might be enough for the colts so maybe that can make some sense but at the the end of the day, it's about asset management and getting Gonsalves on a couple more years of a rookie contract. As you're starting right guard,

it's way more valuable to find out if he can do that than getting Sheriff in here to be a below average starter for a season, for instance. So yeah, I would much rather just give Gonsalves the first shot. and look, if he's terrible, then you can go back to these guys like they're still out there for a reason and they still probably will be for a little bit here. Yeah, I'm right there with them all for seeing what the young guys got. Now with that said talking about the future, there

are two more offensive line moves I would look to do over the next year. Now, don't wait. I would Bernard Rhyman to an extension. Yeah. Uh, left tackles, starting tackles in general, aren't getting any cheaper. I mean, you're looking at $20 million for this guy, I'm sure per year. So do it now. Cause again, look at what the Cowboys do. Look at what the Bengals do where they wait way too long and their guys get way more expensive. The Colts have, I don't think they've had this problem with waiting too long.

I think they do reward guys when needed, which makes me think an extension is, I mean, it's gotta come sooner rather than later, right? Like with guys like this who are so very clearly part of the future, I don't think they make them sweat much. Like I think they get it done. And then Quentin Nelson has an extra year left. Whereas Bernard is a free agent next year,

Quentin, I think, is signed through two years. So, I mean, still that's a guy you want to finish his career in Indies. So they don't need to do it now, but like next year I would look into extending Quentin as well. Yeah, Nelson, I think you can let that wait and because his values is not going to go any higher.

He's already what? Like a top five. He's already what like a top five already. I have Hall of Famer. Yeah. But he's already like a top five highest paid guard. It's like the value is not going up that much higher, you know, for him. Like you're going to you're going to be paying him top of the market regardless. The only thing that could happen with his values, it goes down if he suffers some injuries. So that's why you want to wait on that one and just not rush that. Ryman, though, the floor is set. It can only get higher from here because if he makes a pro bowl this next season for instance

Which he's kind of been close to it in his career so far like he's been a fringe pro bowl starting left tackle for the Colts The last couple seasons it really has just been health and and kind of consistency there for him If he hits it this year like if he just has a fully healthy season, other guys get hurt and he gets a Pro Bowl, you're looking at like a $24 million per year contract, maybe $25 million per year contract. Whereas right now you could probably get him in that 20 to 22 per year. And that's money that you could save on the long term right now. Like look, Bernhardt Ryman, if he were to hit the open market, would probably be the best left tackle to touch the open market that was under like 35 years old in like 15 years.

Like these guys of his caliber don't hit the open market pretty much ever. So the Colts are probably not going to let him touch the market next offseason. But you want to extend him as early as possible so you can keep that price tacked out. I think as of right now, you could probably get him done for what? Like four years, like 80 to 88 million dollars, you know? And again, you could structure that in different ways. I'm assuming you can get him like right around that Garrett Bowles type number.

But again, if he comes out and has a pro bowl type year, you're probably looking at like a top three left tackle contract because that's just the nature. People are so desperate for offensive tackles and he'd be, you know, a 29 year old starting left tackle in the NFL, 28 year old starting left tackle. So yeah, get that done as soon as possible. I think there are conversations we had about other extension candidates for the Colts, like I'm fine with waiting on Alec Pierce fine with waiting on like Nick Cross and other guys that The Colts could extend this offseason

But Baron Hart Ryman like look if if you get a starting left tackle in the NFL that even gives you average play Over the course of two seasons which in my opinion Ryman's given them above average play the last two years, sign them as quick as possible because you're not gonna find that. They got lucky to find Ryman in the third round a couple of years ago. Don't tempt fate, just get that signing done, get him locked up until his age 34th season

or whatever it is, and just don't have to worry about left tackle going forward. Yeah, I have zero fear about him hitting the open market because they'll they'll get it done. It's just like you said, the price is only going to go up. So I would do it now. Like they kind of left out getting Michael Pittman where they did. They signed him and then like five to 10 guys

signed extensions across like after him, which would have driven up his price. So like, don't make that happen. Just do it now, like set the market. And again, they're going to get it done. It's just up to them how much it costs them. And they have the money. That's why you let Ryan Kelly. That's why you let Will Freist lead because that money's going to go elsewhere. Um, but yeah, they've, they've got to do that one.

And I just would not wait much longer. I think now that everyone's reconvened, we're in OTAs, you got mini camps coming, like just do it, just hammer it out. Yeah, if you guys want to see something funny, go look at all the top offensive tackle contracts in the NFL or just who the top offensive tackles are in the NFL. Outside of what Jordan Milata and I guess the pair of Bills tackles that they have who are both outside of first round picks. They're basically all first round picks at offensive tackle. So the Colts getting a player of Ryman's caliber where they got him in the draft and for him

to be this level of player, get the contract done. Let's lock them up. Don't worry about that anymore. It's always nice when you don't have to worry about offensive tackle. Remember the one year we didn't have a Costanzo or Ryman starting at left tackle Eric for the Colts. Yeah. Eric Fisher, I guess, two years, right? Fisher prior and and the Raven Clark got some starts in there. Jared Valdier came out of retirement for a couple of starts like don't mess with this.

Please don't ever watch that again. You don't want to be in tackle hell. No, they're not going to let it happen, but don't tempt fate here. Please don't. Please don't. But guys, we want to thank you for making locked out culture first. Listen, say it every day. Now, for your second listen, check out locked on NFL scouting. The NFL draft is over, but the roster moves the news never stop.

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