The 2019 season has come to an end, but there are rumors swirling around that they could lose their left tackle to retirement. If they do, that would be a huge blow.
Anthony Castonzo is then only remaining offensive player to have played with Peyton Manning. He was drafted to help protect his blind side. Little did the Colts know, Manning would hurt his neck and not play for the Colts after the 2011 season.
Castonzo was then tasked to caring for Andrew Luck. He did that job very effectively for seven years. Now nine years into his career, Castonzo is having thoughts about calling it quits. If he does retire, the Colts would be losing a very good left tackle at the top of his game.
Right now, Castonzo might be the most valuable offensive lineman on the team. Quenton Nelson might be better on pure talent, but he isn’t more valuable. We saw Castonozo’s value last season when he missed the first five games of the year. The Colts started 1-4 without him.
Over the past 9 seasons, Castonzo has only committed a total of 19 holding penalties. That’s extremely good when you are most likely going up against the best pass rusher the opposing team has. This past season, he only committed 3 penalties total.
Losing a guy like Castonzo would be a huge blow to this team. They already need to find a new franchise quarterback, but needing to find a franchise left tackle would add another big problem to the roster. He is also the longest tenured player on offense, so they would be losing leadership too.
We won’t know what Castonzo decides to do for awhile. He is going to take a few weeks and think some things over. But one thing is for sure: the Colts are a better team with Anthony Castonzo on it.