INDIANAPOLIS – Will Chris Reed be the one that finally breaks up the Colts starting offensive line?
Technically, Eric Fisher was that guy in replacing the retired Anthony Castonzo at left tackle.
But the Colts have not decided—on their own—to make a starting offensive line change in an offseason since entering the 2018 campaign.
Reed has made a strong case for that to happen though.
At right guard, the Colts have free agents in Mark Glowinski (14 starts last season) and Reed (6 starts last season).
The thought is there’s only room for one of them to remain.
And the winner of that is the likely right guard starter for 2022, in between center Ryan Kelly and right tackle Braden Smith.
From an age standpoint, there’s hardly a difference between Reed and Glowinski. Both are 29 years old. Reed is two months younger than Glow.
What would separate Reed in such a debate is the likely contract coming for each player. Glowinski had a cap hit of $7.5 million last season. Reed’s cap hit was just under the $1 million mark.
At some point, the Colts are going to have to make financial sacrifices at certain positions. While offensive line might not be where Ballard wants to do that, much of the NFL says that is a spot where you should explore cheaper options.
From a performance level standpoint, one could even make the case that Reed is just as serviceable, if not better, than Glowinski. In 2021, the Colts actually had Reed start over Glow when both were healthy. Eventually though, the staff turned back to Glow to end the season.
Reed has 29 career starts and was a full-time starter at left guard for the Panthers in 2020. He saw starting action at both left and right guard with Indy last season.
Will the Colts decide it’s time to make a switch at right guard and do that by re-signing Reed, thus letting Glowinski go?
