Anthony Castonzo Retiring

[John Waylon]

Ow ow ow ow. 
 

 

[Fisticuffs111]

Unsurprising but still sucks. Enjoy retirement though, AC. Very solid career.

[CR91]

No surprise really. That last injury was the final straw. AC was an absolute warrior and one of the best Colt o-linemen ever.

[Shadow_Creek]

humm i wonder do we address his position in free agency or draft?

[Chrisaaron1023]

Thought so, it was fun bro! Enjoy the next phase in life!

[John Waylon]

Just now, Shadow_Creek said:

humm i wonder do we address his position in free agency or draft?

In house. They’re going to move Nelson over, IMO. Probably the best option. 

[stitches]

Oh damn. 

 

That sucks. Wow... one more huge hole for Ballard to fill this off-season. 

 

I understand AC, though... he was on the verge of retiring last year and decided to come back only to get 2 serious injuries in a row. I loved watching him play... from being the only starter-level lineman for most of Luck's career, to those last several years where he was integral part of one of the better O-Lines in the league. Until the very last day he continued to be one of the most underrated and undervalued players on this team. And throughout it all he was nothing but class, never complained, never made big fuss about having to cover for years for horrible teammates. He would just go out there and do his job and do it really well most of the time. 

 

We will miss him for sure, but I wish him nothing but the best in his retirement and maybe in the future if he decides to stay in football he can be a coach or can start a career in the executive tree of the Colts. 

 

Here's to a great career

[IndyD4U]

Expected. Grateful that we had his services for years.

I think we address OL in draft

[chad72]

Tarik Glenn do-over, pushes LT to top of list and re-signing Jared Veldheer too, IMO. I am still a bit skeptical on Big Q moving to LT. Use Veldheer as a stop gap and draft a first rounder and ease him in. The rookie can play swing tackle when an injury happens, which it will and we will definitely get a chance to evaluate him.

 

Enjoy retirement AC!!!

[runthepost]

Thanks for everything AC! Wish you the best.

Now LT is a tier 1 need

Just now, chad72 said:

Tarik Glenn do-over, pushes LT to top of list and re-signing Jared Veldheer too, IMO. I am still a bit skeptical on Big Q moving to LT. Use Veldheer as a stop gap and draft a first rounder and ease him in. The rookie can play swing tackle when an injury happens, which it will and we will definitely get a chance to evaluate him.

Are there any round 1 worthy tackles you have in mind?

[Superman]

The final Bill Polian holdover. Congrats to AC on an excellent career. He will be missed.

[Four2itus]

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

This sucks. Changes the draft completely. Do we try and draft a QB round one and not bring rivers back now. Bring rivers back and draft a LT. Could we get Veldheer to play one year for us? Way to many questions.

 

Does this now free up cap space? If so this might be a good thing. 

[Indyfan4life]

Sad to see this, but I expected it. Thanks for all your years AC. Enjoy retirement.

[Superman]

2 minutes ago, chad72 said:

I am still a bit skeptical on Big Q moving to LT.

 

I'm not a bit skeptical, I think it's a terrible idea.

[MTC]

Not surprising, to be honest. 

 

Wish him luck whatever he decides to do next! I would put him in the Colts Ring of Honor. Arguably one of the best tackles to play in the horseshoe. 

[chad72]

3 minutes ago, runthepost said:

 

Are there any round 1 worthy tackles you have in mind?

 

Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame and Sam Cosmi, Texas

[IndyD4U]

IMO Sewell won't be there at 21. Trade back and grab Vera-Tucker, Leatherwood or Cosmi

[Superman]

1 minute ago, Indyfan4life said:

Sad to see this, but I expected it.

 

So did the team. They structured his contract so there's zero cap penalty or unearned bonus. Clean break in 2021.

[PeterBowman]

1 minute ago, chad72 said:

 

Liam Eichenberg, Notre Dame and Sam Cosmi, Texas

Penei Sewell....one can dream lol

[CR91]

Any chances we move Braden to the left?

[chad72]

4 minutes ago, Superman said:

The final Bill Polian holdover. Congrats to AC on an excellent career. He will be missed.

 

Yeah, he played from the end of the Polian regime, through the Grigson regime and into the Ballard regime as well. One heck of a teammate, an underrated Colt.

[Colts1324]

I expected this. 
 

However; how often do two star players retire very young within 2 seasons of each other? 
 

Luck and Castonzo could both play for another 4-5 years(longer for Luck) if they wanted. 

[jvan1973]

8 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

In house. They’re going to move Nelson over, IMO. Probably the best option. 

Highly unlikely 

[chad72]

2 minutes ago, CR91 said:

Any chances we move Braden to the left?

 

Yeah, I can see that before Big Q. Also drafting an RT allows us to get the best pass rusher in the draft/go BPA between OT and DE and keep the other for Round 2, IMO, which would be OT if Smith is moved to LT.

[Dingus McGirt]

Good luck in retirement, sir.  And, thanks for being a true professional by letting the team know at a reasonable point in the off-season.

 

[stitches]

5 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I'm not a bit skeptical, I think it's a terrible idea.

I don't think it's terrible idea. It costs nothing. You try it... you already know he can be great at LG. If it doesn't work at LT, just get him back inside. I see only upside here. 

 

In fact... I would coach him all off-season as LT and I would try to draft the best G/T prospect I can get day 2 of the draft. Try to get options and shots at a solution. Get an OT from FA(probably not one of the premier players)... get one in the draft... try Nelson there. 3 shots, hope one works. 

[NannyMcafee]

I expected this more than I didnt. 

[Indyfan4life]

3 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Highly unlikely 

They've already discussed moving Nelson to LT.

[WarGhost21]

Moves the Offensive Line way up on our draft board now, I’d argue we would more likely take a left tackle at the end of the first than a new QB now.

[jvan1973]

Just now, Indyfan4life said:

They've already discussed moving Nelson to LT.

In a temporary fashion.   Not full time

[rockywoj]

He was drafted and all excited to block protect Peyton Manning, but his Rookie year was the year Manning missed, then released for the following year, so Castonzo never got to block for Manning.  
 

I remember Mayock saying you draft Castonzo and plug him in as your starter for the next 10 years.  That’s exactly what we got out of Castonzo.  A solid 10 year starter.  Disappointed he leaves so soon, though, to be honest.  
 

OL now once again becomes a draft priority.  Sure hope we can position to get another plug and play 10-year starter.  
 

All the best to Castonzo.  He will be missed. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Joe Haeg is a FA. Not sure he is someone you want to start 16 games though. This is going to be huge especially if they bring Rivers back.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Looks like we'll be looking for the Biggest, Baddest Guard to replace Q as he'll probably slide to LT.

Actually I see us also looking into getting a LT so we may possible move Q back to RG down the road.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

This will save us quite a bit of money on the cap. We really are stuck in QB purgatory. 

[Jackie Daytona]

16 minutes ago, CR91 said:

No surprise really. That last injury was the final straw. AC was an absolute warrior and one of the best Colt o-linemen ever.

Love AC for all he's done, but not sure I'd list him among our greatest ever.... Top ten OT for us, yep. Top. 5, probably....

[shasta519]

Sad to see him go. A couple more seasons of his level of play would have been great.

 

On the bright side, it does free up some cash for this upcoming offseason. Perhaps, a vet OT will come available...that they could pair with a draft pick...thus giving them starters at both T spots and a backup for each.

[Superman]

4 minutes ago, stitches said:

I don't think it's terrible idea. It costs nothing. You try it... you already know he can be great at LG. If it doesn't work at LT, just get him back inside. 

 

It's a waste of time. I'd be happy to see him excel at LT, but it's pretty obvious that he wouldn't.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

10 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I'm not a bit skeptical, I think it's a terrible idea.

 

You may be right, but JMV thinks Ballard is considering it. 

[rockywoj]

14 minutes ago, chad72 said:

Tarik Glenn do-over, pushes LT to top of list and re-signing Jared Veldheer too, IMO. I am still a bit skeptical on Big Q moving to LT. Use Veldheer as a stop gap and draft a first rounder and ease him in. The rookie can play swing tackle when an injury happens, which it will and we will definitely get a chance to evaluate him.

 

Enjoy retirement AC!!!

Veldheer is a GreenBay Packer now.