Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Castonzo deal fair for both sides

Last month, the Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder reported that the Indianapolis Colts and franchise left tackle Anthony Castonzo were not “close” in contract negotiations. Thankfully for both sides, plenty has changed in the weeks following this report, culminating in a deal that was always destined to get done prior to the beginning of the 2015 regular season.

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As per sources close to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Castonzo’s deal is a four-year pact worth $42 million, and $35 million of this contract will be given to the former Boston College star over the first three years of his deal. It’s about the going rate for a franchise left tackle in this league, especially when you consider just how important he is to the Colts. Nobody on their offensive line is close to Castonzo’s caliber, and it’s not like the Colts have much depth at the position with Joe Reitz as the team’s top backup offensive tackle.

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Young gun Jack Mewhort and grizzled veteran right guard Todd Herremans are two solid players, but Castonzo is clearly the class of the Colts line and is probably the team’s third-most valuable player on offense behind Andrew Luck, who is due for an extension, and T.Y. Hilton, who already put pen to paper.

Based on the numbers available on Spotrac.com, Castonzo’s reported annual haul of $10.5 million per year under the extension would place him in fourth among left tackles in annual pay, tying him with Denver Broncos injured blindside protector Ryan Clady.

Both of these deals were signed at different times, so it’s hard to directly compare Castonzo to Clady. For the Colts, the most important thing is that Castonzo hasn’t missed a game in the past three seasons, so they can feel confident knowing that he can hold up health-wise over the duration of the deal.

Basically, the Colts are paying Castonzo the standard rate for a franchise left tackle who isn’t a top-five player at the position, and it will be especially interesting to see how much guaranteed money he nets. At 27, Castonzo is firmly locked in with the Colts for his best years under this four-year contract, and the Colts can rest easy knowing that Ryan Grigson has locked up his young nucleus on offense (minus Luck) by extending Hilton and Castonzo, in addition to having Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett on rookie contracts for three and four seasons, respectively.

What also makes this deal a big positive for the Indianapolis Colts is the fact that the arrow is still pointing slightly upwards for Castonzo. It’s unlikely he’ll progress much at the age of 27, but the 6’7″, 311-pound beast is coming off of what was clearly his best season in the NFL as a pass protector.

As a fourth-year pro, Castonzo allowed just two sacks last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and finished with PFF’s eight-best “Pass Blocking Efficiency” score. When you look at his frame and tape, you can tell that he’ll throw in some impact run blocking for veteran RB Frank Gore, who is used to receiving strong work in the running game at left tackle after playing with Joe Staley for so long as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

We still need to see the yearly breakdown of this deal and check out Castonzo’s guaranteed money before making any real judgements, but the most basic numbers of this deal make it appear like Grigson and Castonzo’s agent shook hands on a contract extension that is fair for both sides.

Right now, the NFL is experiencing a dearth of talent at the offensive tackle position that is even more pronounced than the often overplayed “QB shortage” angle, and that’s what makes this deal so important for the Colts. With just one other young building block on the offensive line in Mewhort, the Colts couldn’t afford to let Castonzo go, especially since he’s the left tackle of the player that the Colts would like to make a huge investment in.

The only left tackles who will make more money per year than Anthony Castonzo are Trent Williams, Tyron Smith, and Joe Thomas. The Colts were able to avoid overpaying for Castonzo, who will not take advantage of Williams and Smith re-setting the market. Of course, Castonzo isn’t nearly as good as those beyond-all-doubt elite LTs, and, based on the wording of Rapoport’s tweet, it looks like he took up-front money over the chance to make more over the course of his deal, which could prove to be a very clever way of playing it safe.

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