Colts Exercise Quenton Nelson's Fifth-Year Option

[Blue]

No player drafted since 2015 has been named to more first-team AP All-Pro teams than Quenton Nelson, who's earned those honors in each of his three seasons with the Colts.


Nelson, of course, was drafted in 2018.


The Colts exercised Nelson's fifth-year option on Wednesday in an expected move that locks the 25-year-old into Indianapolis for the 2022 season. Only players drafted in the first round have fifth-year options in their rookie contracts.


Nelson started all 48 games plus three playoff contests for the Colts from 2018-2020, all while barely missing any snaps.


In 2020, Nelson became the fifth player in the last 50 years to be named a first-team AP All-Pro in each of his first three seasons in the NFL (the others: Earl Campbell, Keith Jackson, Barry Sanders and Lawrence Taylor). Nelson is the only offensive lineman to accomplish that feat.


"Quenton, he is a generational player that – I'm sorry, I see (John) Hannah and I see him of the last hundred years. I mean that's how good Quenton is," Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay said earlier this year. "As far as leadership and the type of team guy he is, it's off the charts. He is why the Colts are a physical team. When you're coming to play us, you are coming to play the Big-Q and he is the guy that represents us out there and everyone on this roster knows. He is the alpha male holding it down now. That is a tough guy.


"His talents are just remarkable. If he stays healthy, he may be 14 All-Pro years in a row."