One year remains on Bernhard Raimann‘s rookie contract. To little surprise, talks on an extension have taken place between the Colts and their starting left tackle. 
Raimann has handled first-team duties for 40 of his 45 career games with Indianapolis. The 27-year-old Austrian has yet to log a full 17-game slate, but he figures to be in the team’s long-term plans. While negotiations on a new deal are underway, though, a gap exists between team and player at this point.
“From my understanding, is that the numbers don’t quite add up yet,” Raimann said when speaking to Jake Query of 107.5 The Fan. “They way they might value a position differently than my team thinks it is. We’re working on things.”
Of course, differences between the initial asking price from a player’s camp and the team’s valuation is commonplace in extension talks. As training camp progresses, it will be interesting to see if progress can be made allowing for a deal to be reached by Week 1. If no agreement is struck, 2025 will become a crucial campaign Raimann’s case.
The former third-rounder has seen his PFF evaluation improve with each passing season far in his career. Raimann ranked 25th amongst qualifying tackles as a rookie, but he has landed in the top 10 for each of the past two campaigns. A similar showing this year would certainly boost his stock on either a second Colts pact or one sending him to a new team via free agency (although the franchise tag would allow Indianapolis to prevent a departure in March).
The Colts already have Quenton Nelson attached to a deal averaging $20MM per season, making him one of only five NFL guards with an AAV that high. Right tackle Braden Smith – who agreed to a pay cut this offseason and is a pending 2026 free agent – is the only other offensive linemen on the team on the books at a notable figure. Two in-house blockers (center Tanor Bortolini and right guard Matt Goncalves) are set to take on full-time starting roles in the wake of center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries joining the Vikings in free agency. Raimann leaving on the open market would be even more consequential to the Colts, so the progress of negotiations will be worth watching in his case.
I really like Raimann, and considering he was late to football and didn’t play offensive line until his third season of college–which was shortened by Covid, too–he may still have more development in him than a guy his age normally would.
I remember a lot of people being disappointed with this pick, including with Raimann as a rookie. He was being likened to Bjoern Warner due to the European connection. I actually liked this pick, and Raimann has proven to be a really good tackle. He’s older than people of his comparable experience, but given that Indy has quarterback questions and has no huge payroll for one right now, they may as well reward Raimann with his career contract now. If the Colts pick a QB in the coming draft (or next year) having Raimann on the books to protect him will be an easy boost there, and let the Colts focus on restocking at other positions.
It’ll be interesting to see if Ballard does anything notably different with Carlie Irsay in charge, especially in the first year of her ownership. She had a good statement on Richardson the other day that suggested patience; we’ll see if this attitude is consistent and how this translates to Ballard’s contract strategy (or if he’s replaced himself).