Charles Leno’s extension with Washington proves Colts blew it with Eric Fisher

The NFL regular season is winding down, so it’s a good time to reflect on the Indianapolis Colts‘ 2021 free agent class.

If you remember, free agency was a frustrating time for Colts fans. Equipped with enough cap space to sign some top-flight players, Chris Ballard played the waiting game, bearing in mind extensions for cornerstone pieces.

In a vacuum, Ballard did better retaining players than he did bringing in free agents who played elsewhere in 2020. The poster child for that would be Eric Fisher, who’s been inconsistent protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside.

We don’t know the first clue of what it takes to put together an NFL roster, but it feels like we were right for campaigning for the Colts to sign Charles Leno when he was released by the Bears in May.

Instead, Leno landed in Washington, which just rewarded his superb campaign in the form of a three-year, $37.5 million extension.

The Colts blew it by signing Eric Fisher over Charles Leno last offseason.

No general manager is perfect, but the Fisher signing was begging to blow up in Ballard’s face and he went through with it anyway.

We know Ballard had ties to Fisher dating back to his days with Kansas City, but that shouldn’t have persuaded him to sign a player who had underwent two major surgeries (core muscle and Achilles) within a two-year span over a player in Leno who hadn’t missed a game dating all the way back to 2015.

To make matters worse, Leno was open about wanting to come to Indy and ended up signing for $4.4 million less than Fisher. For comparison’s sake, let’s take a look at how Leno and Fisher have fared this season, shall we?

• Fisher: 14 games (91% of snaps), 60.4 pass-blocking grade, 73.8 run grade, 39 pressures allowed, 11 QB hits, six sacks, eight penalties
• Leno: 16 games (99% of snaps): 86.5 pass-blocking grade, 61.6 run grade, 36 pressures, seven QB hits, six sacks, one penalty

Some fans would argue that Fisher’s been worse than his numbers suggest, but that’s neither here nor there. To put them into perspective, though, Leno’s pass-blocking grade is the third-best amongst all tackles, per Pro Football Focus.

While Carson Wentz has exceeded expectations in Year 1, we can’t help but wonder how much better off he’d be with Leno lined up at LT.

Again, we hate to come down on Ballard. He’s a big reason why the Colts have maybe the deepest roster in the NFL. Their Christmas Day win in Arizona down a host of key players was a testament to his roster-building prowess.

However, Leno’s deserved extension proves Ballard was wrong to reunite with a familiar face over signing a durable bookend. Now, the Colts face another offseason with the left tackle position posing a huge question mark.

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