A potentially big upgrade in the pivot for the Vikings
After watching a lot of players walk out the door during the first day of the “legal tampering” period of free agency, the Minnesota Vikings have finally brought in a legitimate outside free agent.
Numerous sources, including Adam Schefter of ESPN and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, are reporting that the Vikings have agreed to the terms of a two-year, $18 million contract with center Ryan Kelly, who has spent his entire career to this point with the Indianapolis Colts.
Kelly was the Colts first-round pick (#18 overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft after a successful college career at the University of Alabama. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2020 and has garnered Pro Bowl honors four times, with the most recent coming in 2023.
In September of 2020, the Colts made Kelly the highest-paid center in the NFL when they signed him to a four-year, $50 million contract extension. He has appeared in 112 games for the Colts in his nine-year career, starting in every single one.
The primary concern with Kelly is related to his health. In his nine seasons in the league, he has only played in every regular season game twice. He played all 16 games in 2019 and played all 17 for the Colts in 2022. Other than that, he’s battled injuries every other season he’s been in the league. The Vikings obviously weren’t scared off by that, however, as they’ve brought him in to be a part of the interior of the offensive line.
The question at this point might be “Where, exactly?” As of now, the Vikings still have Garrett Bradbury under contract at the center spot, but the team might be interested in having Kelly play guard instead. Or this could be the end of the Bradbury era, as the Vikings would incur a $2.4 million dead money hit by letting him go but would save $3.6 million in cap space.
Wherever the Vikings choose to play Ryan Kelly, he’s quite clearly going to be an upgrade to an interior offensive line that has had its struggles since. . .I don’t know. . .since Steve Hutchinson left town, if we’re being honest.
Welcome to Minnesota, Ryan Kelly!
