Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly and cornerback Kenny Moore II will remain with the team for the 2023 season, general manager Chris Ballard told reporters Monday.
Throughout the offseason up to this point, both Kelly and Moore were subjects of potential trades. Considering what the Colts would save by trading or releasing either of them, it seemed there was a chance they would get moved during the offseason.
However, Ballard told the media at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona that both players are expected to remain with the team even though they did field some trade offers.
“They’re both great Colts,” Ballard told reporters Monday. “And we’re glad they’re here. We had some calls on them, but at the end of the day they’re good football players for us and they’re good people. When you got a good football player that is a great person and a good fit, it makes it hard to move away from those guys. Right now they’re Colts and in the foreseeable future I see them being Colts.”
While Moore is in the final year of his contract, Kelly still has two more seasons left on his.
Neither player truly played up to his potential in 2022. Moore struggled in Gus Bradley’s defense, admitting he didn’t click with the new scheme after the season had ended. How that will change moving forward isn’t all that clear, but Moore is leading an extremely thin cornerback room.
In 2021, Kelly allowed the second-most pressures and fifth-most sacks among centers. In 2022, he allowed the sixth-most pressures and third-most sacks among centers. He simply isn’t playing like the center the Colts expect him to (or are paying him to be).
Because it’s the NFL, we should always be ready for a reversal of fate. If the Colts get an offer they like later in the offseason, they still could trade Moore and/or Kelly.
But for now, it appears they both are staying with the Colts for the 2023 season.
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