Colts free agency: Spotrac projects Coby Fleener's market value for next contract

Of all the free agent decisions the Indianapolis Colts will have to make this offseason, few have promoted as much discussion and debate as the decision they have at the tight end position.  Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen are both set to become free agents, and while ideally the team would like to be able to keep them both, that might not be a realistic possibility.

A big part of whether the Colts will be able to keep both or not has to do with the contracts that Fleener and Allen might get.  This offseason, Spotrac is giving some help with some of the more notable free agents in projecting their next contract based on market value, and they did that for Coby Fleener.

Spotrac looked at comparable players to Fleener, which they identified as Jared Cook, Brandon Pettigrew, Travis Kelce, and Zach Ertz.  They examined the contracts of those players and adjusted for age, and then they examined the statistical production of the group compared to Fleener and adjusted accordingly.  Ultimately, Spotrac came up with a projected market value contract of four years, $24,080,412 for Fleener, paying him an average of $6,020,103 per year.

That would be quite the step up for the Colts' tight end, whose rookie contract paid him $5,341,648 total over four years.  Fleener's value is likely at least in part due to the current desire teams have to have a receiving tight end.  Fleener is an above-average contributor in the receiving game from the tight end position, and that likely means he will have interest if the Colts don't re-sign him.

Over the past four seasons with the Colts, Fleener has played in 60 games, including 53 in a row dating back to his rookie year.  He has caught 183 passes for 2,154 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 11.8 yards per catch.  He has finished among the top three on the team in receptions in each of the last three seasons and has been among the top four in receiving yards and touchdowns during that span as well.  He's a guy that would be nice to keep around, but his contract could have a lot to say about that.