The Indianapolis Colts are enjoying one of the best tackles in the league at one of the lowest price tags. Bernhard Raimann, the Colts young left tackle, is one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
Drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Raimann is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. Meaning that if the Colts do not reach an agreement before the season begins, he will be entering free agency for the first time in his career. That could be very bad for Indy.
“It’s hard to say what Raimann would command, but the Colts have a staple and potential pillar at left tackle,” wrote SI’s Drake Wally. “With the next quarterback under pressure to perform well, the last thing Steichen wants is a void at left tackle for his offense.”
Due to the NFL’s fixed pricing of rookie deals, Raimann’s contract was a four-year, $5.3 million deal averaging about 1.3 million a year. The very best tackles in the league are commanding around $25 million a year these days, and although he isn’t quite in that tier, Colts writer Andrew Aziz thinks he could pull a similar number.
“My projection of his contract is: 4 years, $90,500,000 with $48,000,000 guaranteed,” Aziz writes. “The Colts need to get Raimann under contract before the season starts or else his price will rise. He has nothing more to prove and is worthy of the contract extension.”
Analyzing Similar Tackle Contracts Around the NFL
Aziz called on a few specific contracts when making his prediction for the Colts protector. These included the Los Angeles Rams’ Alaric Jackson and the Tennessee Titans’ Dan Moore Jr.. These contracts are a solid indicator because they were signed this very offseason, showing us exactly where the tackle market is right now.
Dan Moore Jr. received four years, $82 million with $50 million guaranteed. Alaric Jackson pulled in three years, 57.8 million with $30 million guaranteed. According to all metrics, Raimann is better than both of them.
This pretty concretely sets his starting price at $2o million a season.
Jordan Mailata, whos is one of if not the very best tackle in the league, signed a three year, $66 million extension last spring before going on to hoist his first Lombardi Trophy ten months later. I believe this 28-year-old phenom will be the benchmark for Raimann’s negotiations.
So if I were to take a stab at a contract prediction, I would value the Colts’ left tackle of the future Bernhard Raimann at four years, $88 million with about 51% of that contract guaranteed.
How Good Was Raimann in 2024
Raimann was a no doubt top ten talent in the tackle pool last season. He has only given up 15 sacks in his NFL career on 1,159 pass-blocking snaps. He has gotten better every single year, and last years efforts landed him inside of Pro Football Focus’ top ten tackles.
“Raimann might be the most underrated tackle in the NFL,” the website published. “He was among the best left tackles in the league for the second straight season, and his 87.9 PFF overall grade over the past two seasons ranks seventh among all offensive tackles and fifth among left tackles.”
“Raimann led the team in PFF pass-blocking grade (82.0) in 2024, ranking 14th among offensive tackles in that regard,” PFF wrote in a different article last month. “He was one of just six offensive tackles to rank in the top 12 at his position in both PFF pass-blocking grade and run-defense grade in 2024.”
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