INDIANAPOLIS – Just like that, it was over.
The season, and perhaps a distinguished career in his home away from home.
Ryan Kelly knew this day was coming because the topic was unavoidable as Sunday’s season finale against Jacksonville neared.
This might be your last game as a Colt. How do you process that?
Sunday, Kelly swayed anxiously, emotionally in that same tunnel at Lucas Oil Stadium that had served as his Welcome to Game Day entrance for the past nine seasons. He waited, weight slightly shifting from foot to the other, as the Indianapolis Colts’ offense was introduced.
Then:
From Alabama, center, No. 78, Ryan Kelly.
He apparently navigated the short trot from the tunnel to the playing field with moisture in his eyes.
“Running out of the tunnel one more time, shoot, that was tough,” Kelly said.
Several times his voice cracked and there were a few pauses during his post-game give-and-take with the media. Kelly found himself wrestling with emotions that kept bubbling to the surface.
It was most noticeable in those moistening eyes and wavering voice.
The 2016 first-round draft pick and longest-tenured Colt is in the final year of his contract. Free agency looms and there might not be a place for Kelly as the franchise heads into yet another uncertain offseason.
And that has nothing to do with his level of play. Kelly’s a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was named an alternate to the 2025 all-star squad. He was second-team All-Pro in 2020.
Kelly and his o-line colleagues were instrumental in Jonathan Taylor finishing the season with four straight 100-yard rushing games – 177 on a career-high 34 carries in the 26-23 overtime win over Jacksonville – and 1,431 yards in his fifth season.
The uncertainty has everything to do with the changes that must occur with a team that needed an OT win against the 4-12 Jaguars just to finish 8-9.
No one can argue 2024 was what he expected.
Something(s) must change.
Such as?
Kelly paused and smiled.
“I get paid a lot,” he said. “I don’t know if I get paid enough for that.”
Taylor offered a precursor for the offseason after the Colts’ 45-33 loss to the New York Giants that extinguished their playoff hopes.
“When you have a season and it doesn’t turn out how you want it, there could be more changes than usual,” he said.
That could mean Kelly and the Colts going their separate ways. He heads a list of free-agents-to-be that must be evaluated. Who’s re-signed? Who’s the latest historical footnote?
The list includes tight ends Mo Alie-Cox and Kylen Granson, linebacker E.J. Speed, safety Julian Blackmon, defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Sam Ehlinger, offensive linemen Mark Glowinski, Will Fries, Danny Pinter and Wesley French (restricted), wide receiver/special teams standout Ashton Dulin and running backs Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson (exclusive rights).
Last offseason, general manager Chris Ballard focused on retaining and rewarding his own. He invested more than $150 million in guarantees with extensions or new contracts for Michael Pittman Jr., DeForest Buckner, Zaire Franklin, Kenny Moore II, Grover Stewart and others.
This offseason’s options aren’t as appealing, although a tough decision must be made with Odeyingbo. The 2021 second-round pick had a career-high eight sacks in 2023, but slipped to three this season. But he’s 25, an imposing 6’6″, 286 lbs. and possesses the versatility to play the edge of move inside.
Kelly had his exit interview with Ballard and coach Shane Steichen on Monday. He plans on taking a few weeks off, maybe a month, and “see what happens.”
Kelly’s return for a 10th season would offer undeniable leadership in the locker room and on the field. He turns 32 in May and hasn’t sounded like someone ready to walk away from the NFL and give his undivided attention to wife Emma, twin sons Ford and Duke and daughter Stella.
But that’s out of his control.
Looking to the future, the team drafted his potential successor – Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini – in the fourth round of last April’s draft. When many of his teammates were being retained last season, Kelly was disappointed he wasn’t offered an extension.
“If I’m part of the team going forward, great,” Kelly said, who’s earned approximately $70.5 million with the Colts. “If not, it was an honor to wear the horseshoe.”
Again, his voice cracked with emotion.
“There’s a finality to it,” he said of Sunday. “The fact that Glow [Mark Glowinski] and Q [Quenton Nelson] and me get to play together another time is special.”
Jim Irsay and his family, Kelly added, “just means so much to me. They’ve been here for us through so much.”
The Irsays and the entire organization rallied around the Kellys when Emma lost their infant daughter Mary Kate in December 2021.
“You won’t find an owner who’s more passionate about his players,” Kelly said. “I just can’t be more thankful to be drafted here nine years ago. Two hours from home [in West Chester, Ohio]. Through the ups and downs. There’s not another place I’d rather be. Indy will always be home.
“I love the horseshoe, man. It’s been an honor to represent it the right way.”
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.