Center Ryan Kelly has been an integral part of the Indianapolis Colts team for the entirety of his nine-year career in the NFL, and had previously made it clear that he hoped to end his career there, too. However, as a free agent in 2025, it was widely assumed that he would be leaving Indianapolis. The Colts were ready to move on to a younger replacement in Tanor Bortolini, and Kelly was known to be one of the top free agents available.
Unsurprisingly, Kelly did end up choosing to leave the Colts, signing with the Minnesota Vikings for a two-year, $18 million contract. While the money surely had a big impact, Kelly recently spoke to Vikings reporters for the first time, and gave some insight into what swayed him to leave the Colts.
Former Colts center Ryan Kelly, the team's top pick in 2016, spoke to Vikings reporters for the first time after signing with Minnesota last week. Here's a notable excerpt from his comments: pic.twitter.com/C4uGjC2yDC
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) March 20, 2025
One of the things general manager Chris Ballard has been criticized for during his time in Indianapolis is the ongoing quarterback carousel, with the team unable to find a franchise quarterback since Andrew Luck's retirement. Evidently, this was something Kelly had gotten sick of.
"I think it was some frustrating times through certain years," he said. "Obviously it's no surprise I've had 13 different quarterbacks since I've been there, so I always envisioned myself playing in one place for my entire career."
He added that, despite being emotional after his final game of the season, when his contract had actually expired, he found that he felt OK with moving on.
"It was time for me to maybe check out what else is out there and move on and have a new perspective in my career," he said. "So yeah, I can't say there was a specific event. I'll miss the guys in the O-line room and I'll miss a bunch of people there. But in my heart I just knew it was time to move on and I kind of felt that way over the last year and a half."