Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: DeForest Buckner Extension Gives More Flexibility in NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts just locked up one of the most disruptive defenders in the entire NFL for the next few years. 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. New intro, Hootis. What is up, everybody? 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.

Starting point is 00:00:37 And we wanted to bring you a little mini-sode here because we're going to continue our mock draft Monday later today like we normally have been doing for you. And it's so close to the draft that we want to follow through with that. But the Colts made some big, big news today. They added another extension to their tool belt this offseason, signing another player who had a year left already, locking up DeForest Buckner with a two-year extension, $46 million, keeping him paid around $23 million a year. This is a really good move for both sides, Zach. For the Colts, they obviously are making it

Starting point is 00:01:14 so that they do not have this need to worry about next year. And for Buckner, he still cashes in at a pretty high rate because if you look at this next year when he's like 31 years old let's say his season doesn't go as planned because you know he's in his prime still but like it's not uncommon for guys to begin to decline he got paid really well compared to what might have been next year yeah yeah and look at the end of the day DeForest Buckner is the colt on this team you know I believe Chris Bowder said it multiple times where it's like everything that we want in a Colts player is DeForest Buckner from his leadership

Starting point is 00:01:50 to his play on the field to, I believe Chris Ballard said he's like a pillar of their locker room and stuff like that to Joel Erickson. So yeah, it's just a very, you know, you have to make this move. You have to have DeForest Buckner back. If you want to go anywhere with this move you have to have deforest buckner back if you if you want to go anywhere with this team over the next couple years it has to be with deforest

Starting point is 00:02:09 buckner up up the middle of the defense so i love this resigning i like that they got it in before maybe at a couple other potential defensive tackles get extended i'm sure there's a couple other guys that are coming up for contracts soon so you want to get it in before the market continues to climb like we've seen it climb the last couple of years. And yeah, it's great. Again, DeForest Buckner, he's a pillar of this Colts team, a fantastic player on and off the field, and a guy that you want all your young players to learn from and be around. So getting him for at least another two years and you don't have to worry about him next free agency, major win, major win, get DeForest Buckner back here and make it so he retires a Colt. That'd be awesome to see.

Starting point is 00:02:49 We'd love to see him retire a Colt one day. Absolutely. I cannot have imagined the Colts moving on from him, but you know that he's a really prolific player year in and year out. He's great. You know, since his time with the Colts four years, he's missed one game, but the dude's been banged up a lot in the last couple of years. He plays through it. There's been sometimes even two years ago, he had a different injury, like every couple of weeks, like the guy just came out and, and, uh, performed at a high level and, you know, tackles for loss, QB hits sacks. Like I think he averages, uh, he averages 10 and a half tackles for us in eight sacks per season with the Colts. So the guy just comes in and performs.

Starting point is 00:03:30 He is now in the top five highest paid defensive tackles in the league for a per year basis. So very well deserved. I'm the type of person where I don't want to sound like a homer, but I do think he's criminally underrated across the league. When you see all these lists come out of like the best of their position, defensive tackles, there was one that came out that had a top 10 and he wasn't even on it recently, which I mean,

Starting point is 00:03:53 there's a lot of rich talent in this league right now. This guy, three pro bowls, two all pros. I think he should be in the all pro argument every year. Now, again, it's a deep group, but like the guy is a perennial pro bowler on the field. So it's really good for the Colts to acknowledge his value. And like you mentioned, this is a guy who all your young players, they have to emulate him. He is one of the best lead by example people in that entire locker room.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And to me, this is a no brainer. Yeah. Now, the big thing for the Colts going forward is just keeping him fresh and keeping him healthy and keeping you know they play him at such a high rate even this Gus Bradley system where they rotate defensive tackle quite a bit because of injuries because of suspensions the last couple years he's been playing at a very high rate of play like a high rate of snaps uh So hopefully, you know, the addition of Raekwon Davis this offseason, the other guys on the roster like Dayo Dangbo and guys like Adetomi Adobore,

Starting point is 00:04:52 you know, those guys can limit his snaps a little bit. But at the end of the day, you know, when it comes down to those fourth quarters and you need a play, you need a sack, you need a pressure, DeForest Buckner has been that guy since he's arrived in Indy. He's been that guy where it's like you need a big play, you need a big moment. It's going to be DeForest Buckner has been that guy since he's arrived in Indy. He's been that guy where it's like you need a big play, you need a big moment. It's going to be DeForest Buckner. It might not be a sack every time, but it'll be the pressure. You're going to get that patented swim move where he's going to get past

Starting point is 00:05:14 whoever is in front of him and produce some pressure on the quarterback. So DeForest Buckner is, again, like the pillar of this defense, the pillar of this locker room, the pillar of this team. And if they can just get a little bit better at edge on the outside they can have a prolific pass rush because he's that good on the interior I know that you know Dio Dangos had some flashes Quitty Pace had some flashes and Sam Sanepukam has had some flashes as well but you know DeForest Buckner is the the workhorse of this defensive line tons of double teams still has a high win rate.

Starting point is 00:05:45 And if one of those guys can just emerge as like a plus pass rush, like these guys are all decent pass rushers, but like if they can emerge as like a legit pass rusher alongside him, you already have Buckner. You already have that stud. Having one more would be great. But just to talk about Buckner again, man, just fantastic player, fantastic player, run defense, pass defense.

Starting point is 00:06:04 And like you said a guy who probably should be on every top 10 list despite it being like a historically great era for defensive tackle play we have so many great defensive tackles and he's one of the big names in there but yeah he should be a top 10 guy for a lot of people a pro bowler slash all pro every single year and as long as he stays healthy next year we're going to see another great season for him because that's just what we always see from him. He's the standard of this defense and the standard of this team.

Starting point is 00:06:29 The standard is be like Buckner and the Colts have really established that by giving him this extension early. Yeah. And this can be his 30 year old season, but guys still playing a high level, just had a career high single high end tackles this year as well. So guys still playing at high level. So coming up,

Starting point is 00:06:46 we're going to talk about what this means for the rest of the Colts defense, the rest of the Colts interior defensive line group. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and much, much more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for

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Starting point is 00:07:41 only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit fit only available to u.s customers all right zach so the colts not uh not to be truffled with this offseason when it comes to what they want their front seven to look like uh they re-signed grover to a three-year deal he was a free agent um tied him and buckner together through 2026. Now with this new tier extension, Zyra Franklin gets a new tier or a new extension as well. So they really have identified the core of their defense. And I mean, this Colts run defense now should be a plus unit again for the foreseeable future, as long as no one gets suspended or hurt or anything. But there's several ramifications we're going to talk about here. What's some of the biggest that stand out to you? Yeah, I think it's like you said,

Starting point is 00:08:30 where you kind of are setting yourself up to have to go young in the secondary for the foreseeable future because you're devoting all these resources to the front seven. I mean, Samson Ibucom has got another two years on his contract at nearly $10 million per year. DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, you are just loading up that interior defensive line with big contracts. And Raekwon Davis is also on a two-year deal that's pretty solid as well. And then you have Zyre Franklin at a pretty solid contract. You got EJ Speed with one more year left on his contract. So all of your money that you're spending really on defense

Starting point is 00:09:01 is coming in that front seven. So you're basically saying to the back seven or to the back four, back five, however you want to break it down there with your personnel. But you're saying to those back end guys, like, you know, you're going to be our cheaper contracts, you know, our cheaper contracts are younger players. You know, you're going to have these veterans, these experienced veterans in front of you go out there and you got to, you know, hold down the fourth there on the back end, because these guys in front of you are going to do the best they can to obviously make your job

Starting point is 00:09:28 easier but it's going to be a lot of young guys it's kenny moore and the kids again you know in that in that back uh that secondary again and i don't expect there to be like another big move for a veteran in secondary because they're they're committing all these resources to that trench play that trench play is everything right now. And then the coverage is going to be a lot of young guys just kind of doing what they can and hopefully growing from where they were last year. But yeah, it's a very big commitment to the interior of the defensive line,

Starting point is 00:09:56 the interior of the defense in general, if you throw Zyra Franklin in there as well. And it's not like these are bad players. I mean, they're committing to DeForest Buckner, top 10 defensive tackle in football, to Grover Stewart, one of the best run stuffing, one Texan football. Zyra Franklin, a really, really good run defending linebacker who's shown some flashes in pass coverage as well.

Starting point is 00:10:14 So they're committing to their good players that they have found through the drafts or acquired through trades. And they're relying on those young kids on the back end to take that next step. That's really what this says to me is like, look, we're going to give you kids back there as much as we can up front with guys like Buckner and Grover and Zaire and all them. It's on you guys to perform now, you know, while you're even though you're still like, what, 23, 24 years old, it's still on you guys reform with all the help we've given you in the front seven. Yeah, absolutely. So what it says to me, you know, just going off of that is we've seen a lot of things where people forecast a year from

Starting point is 00:10:50 now. And you know, what is what do the Colts do if Buckner doesn't come back? You know, what if things get rocky, and he wants out, yada, yada, whatever, it doesn't matter now, because he's obviously signed this extension. To me, it takes the pressure off of Adetome and Eric Johnson needing to take a big next step in the event that they need to fill a spot there. Although I do think it's necessary for their development. And if they're going to stick around, they do need to show development. But now it's not so critical for the Colts that they do that. And then the biggest thing for me is we always knew in the back of our mind, it was possible the Colts might love some of these defensive tackles early and want to take one early. Now I'm pretty sure the Byron Murphy or anyone else

Starting point is 00:11:36 going in the first round to the Colts, I think that talk can die because, you know, just a little kind of segue into what our mock draft is going to be later it's it's going to be framed on picks that we don't necessarily love but could have happened and that was going to be mine what was a defensive tackle in the first round so now it means the Colts don't really have to look forward and say what do we do if we don't have Buckner because that that problem no longer exists yeah I mean it narrows your focus in the draft which you know it can be a good thing it can be a good thing you don't have to maybe they knew all along so they didn't spend as much time on defensive tackles in this class i think i was looking at um our guy brent uh fan of nuance on twitter he did a indie like visit

Starting point is 00:12:18 tracker and stuff and i think there was only like one or two defensive tackles they spent time with this offseason so they might have known they might have known the whole time like look buckner's not going anywhere we got davis in here we got grover we got tave and brian back we got atatomi we've got you know 400 defensive tackles on the roster we're not really going to address that in the draft here and but i think the official announcement of this extension just completely killed that talk. Like they're not going to take one high in this class. They might take one on day three or, you know, bring in some undrafted free agents. But for the most part, they're not going to take a defensive tackle early in this class.

Starting point is 00:12:55 And that can narrow their focus to more cornerbacks, safeties, who they brought in like 20-something safeties for visits this offseason. So it could be a safety, corner, linebacker could be a sneaky need with EJ speed being a free agent, or you can focus more on offense. This can free up some flexibility to take an offensive player early and then take, you know, defense the rest of the way. So, you know, getting this stuff done before the draft, it helps you go into the draft with a clear mindset. You know, you don't have to be thinking okay so what

Starting point is 00:13:25 did this guy leave like like if we're looking at the michael pitman jr and the deforest buckner extensions those guys were set to be free agents next season if they didn't get those extensions done and that would make wide receiver and defensive tackle much more dire now you're going into the draft thinking okay defensive tackle we don't really have to address at all in the top 100 wide receiver we could still add one, but it's not this extremely dire thing where we have to be worried about Pittman leaving and then having nobody besides Josh Towns and Alec Pierce. So, you know, getting this stuff done before the draft, it clears your mind going into

Starting point is 00:13:57 the process and it opens more possibilities for other positions rather than making it such a narrow focus thing. So I love getting this done before the draft, you know, obviously getting extensions in early keeps the price tag low, but also for this where it doesn't pigeonhole you into certain positions in the draft. It's, it's always a big plus. Yeah. And then of course the Colts started off off season workouts today. We media will be out there tomorrow talking to those guys.

Starting point is 00:14:22 We should be able to talk to DeForest Buckner and bring you more on his side of how things have shaken out. Yeah. Yep. And guys, don't worry. We'll be back here today for our actual episode. We just really wanted to get like a half episode out here on DeForest

Starting point is 00:14:36 Buckner, a fantastic player, and he deserves more than just like a one minute thing. So we definitely wanted to give you that. But yeah, coming up later today, guys, we're going to be back here for mock draft Monday.

Starting point is 00:14:47 And as Jake said, we're going to be picking players that could be realistic options for the Colts, but we would not really be fans of where the Colts would have to take those players there. But first, it's playoff time in the NBA and NHL. Baseball is in full swing, and FanDuel is your place to bet on every game. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed.

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Starting point is 00:15:28 And before we pop out of here, guys, and we go over to our actual planned episode for the day, the Indie Draft Guides orders are still open for $9.99. You guys can get access to an essential piece of reading for Colts Fansbook before and after the draft featuring 225 in-depth scouting reports, features, and much more. Click the link in our show notes to order today. Again, we can talk all these draft prospects.

Starting point is 00:15:50 You could look at Byron Murphy and wonder what could have been by looking at the Indy draft guide there. If you guys don't already, make sure you're following at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at Zach Hicks, too. Also, subscribe to us on YouTube, wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews, and we'll see you guys back here on the actual show today, coming up soon.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: DeForest Buckner Extension Gives More Flexibility in NFL Draft

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