Chris Ballard: Anthony Castonzo will play in 2020, Colts working on new contract
INDIANAPOLIS – It looks likely the best offensive line the Colts have had in a decade is sticking together for at least another year.
At Tuesday's media availability at the NFL Scouting Combine, Colts general manager Chris Ballard said left tackle Anthony Castonzo told him he intends on playing next season after mulling retirement for most of the month of January. Ballard added the Colts are working on a contract with the 10-year veteran.
Castonzo had just finished playing out the four-year, $43 million extension he signed in 2015, and although he considered retirement due to “personal reasons,” he has decided he has more football left in him.
By getting Castonzo back, the Colts would bring back the same starting five on the offensive line for a third consecutive season. After spending most of his Colts career as a talented anchor on patchwork offensive lines, Castonzo has benefited from playing with All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and the rest of the talent Indianapolis has assembled up front.
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But the Colts have also relied heavily on Castonzo to form the foundation for an offensive line that paved the way for the league’s seventh-ranked rushing attack last season and has finished in the top 10 in sacks allowed in each of the last two years. A talented and athletic technician, Castonzo has been so good that Indianapolis rarely has to give him help, even against the league’s best pass rushers, making it easier to protect the passer.
“Since I walked in the door, Anthony Castonzo has played at a really high level at left tackle,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said at the end of the season. “I can't believe people are just now starting to recognize it.”
There is little reason to believe Castonzo’s play will drop off at any time soon.
Castonzo says he feels healthier than ever at 31, the product of an adjustment in training made by Colts director of sports performance Rusty Jones a year ago. For years, Castonzo battled knee pain, but Jones realized the pain was the result of strength issues in the tackle’s posterior chain, and after they corrected that imbalance, Castonzo feels better than ever.
And great tackles have a strong recent history of playing well deep into their 30’s. Players such as Andrew Whitworth and Jason Peters have remained strong building blocks for the Rams and Eagles despite getting closer and closer to 40.