INDIANAPOLIS – If not for his injury, He might have been the Colts’ best story of the 2024 season.
While there weren’t many contenders for that title, He was having an impressive start to his fourth NFL season.
As the least talked-about member of the Colts’ starting offensive line, He was somewhat overlooked despite starting all 17 games in 2023 and ranking second behind Quenton Nelson in snaps played.
A seventh-round pick in 2021, Fries became a full-time starter during the turbulent 2022 season and held onto the right guard position until suffering a brutal broken leg last October.
His contract year, which was shaping up to be a promising one, was abruptly cut short by the injury, leading to immediate surgery in a Jacksonville hospital. Now entering free agency for the first time, Fries is expected to make a full recovery.
Given the Colts’ in-house questions for 2025—uncertainty at center (Tanor Bortolini stepping in for Ryan Kelly?) and right tackle (Will Braden Smith return? Does his contract make sense for the team?)—keeping continuity at right guard would be valuable, even as Fries rehabs.
From a roster-building perspective, hitting on interior offensive linemen from Day 3 of the draft is a smart strategy. Fries was on that trajectory, starting the final seven games of 2022, playing all 17 games in 2023, and not missing a snap in 2024 before his injury.
If the Colts let Fries walk, it could mean three new offensive line starters protecting Anthony Richardson in his third NFL season. Finding depth at right guard proved challenging after his injury, with the team trying both in-house (Dalton Tucker) and external (Mark Glowinski) options.
While re-signing Fries comes with the uncertainty of how he’ll perform post-injury, his level of play before going down makes it the right move for the Colts.
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