The San Diego Chargers aren’t too keen on letting Louis Vasquez, the team’s starting right guard for the last few seasons, hit the free agent market, but if he does, the Indianapolis Colts are probably going to be the first team trying to sign the four year veteran.

While the Chargers are interested in revamping their offensive line system and personnel, believing that the biggest reason to Philip Rivers looking a lot less than elite over the last couple of season were problems originating from the guys protecting him. The Chargers were 29th in the NFL in quarterback protection, allowing Rivers to be sacked 49 times last season.

Rivers himself had his least productive season in terms of total yards, touchdowns and passer rating since 2007 as the Chargers missed yet another postseason under Norv Turner, who was finally fired, landing him the offensive coordinator position with the Cleveland Browns.

The Colts hired the Chargers’ former personnel director to the same position in Indy, pretty much. Jimmy Raye III will function as the team’s Vice President of Football Operations, and rumors from inside the Colts camp suggest that he’s pushing for the Colts to go after Vasquez , if he does hit free agency by March 12, something the Chargers are trying to prevent from happening.

Indianapolis weren’t too hot with the quarterback (Andrew Luck) protection as well, as they allowed him to be sacked 41 times last season, 9th worst in the NFL, although it didn’t prevent them from having an excellent rebounding season, finishing with an 11-5 record and making the postseason for the first time without a Peyton Manning leading the team in over 15 years.

The Colts have plenty of cap-space to use on free agents this offseason, and while Vasquez isn’t one of the biggest names hitting the market, he has shown that when healthy (played in all 16 games last season) he is one of the best in his position around the NFL.

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