The Indianapolis Colts decided not to trade their all-pro running back Jonathan Taylor. It was reported the team did not receive an offer close to what they were seeking. Since there was no trade by 4pm on Tuesday, Taylor will remain on the physically unable to perform list, making him ineligible to play for at least the first four games of the season. The Colts open the 2023 season playing against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, and Los Angeles Rams.
As we all know, the team granted Taylor and his agent permission to orchestrate a trade with them seeking a first-round pick or picks that will equate to a first-round pick. The Miami Dolphins, who remain aggressive in their pursuit for Taylor, were the front runners until a “mystery” team entered the sweepstakes. No one knew what the offer was or who the mystery team was until after the deadline had passed for NFL teams to cut their rosters down to 53. According to Barry Jackson of Miami Herald, the Colts made wild requests for star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and other assets:
On Wednesday, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said the conversations regarding Taylor were “exploratory” and no official offers were exchanged between the two teams. Josina Anderson from CBS Sports reports both the Dolphins and Packers were “willing to give Taylor a contract that placed him among the highest-paid running backs in the NFL entering this season.”
With Taylor being on the reserve/pup list many believe he would “hold out” and not suit up for the rest of the season due to contract dispute with the team. The Colts could trade Taylor by the NFL trade deadline on October 31. They could choose to keep him on the pup list and have his contract toll to the 2024 season.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard had a press conference on Wednesday, and he stated how “it sucks for the organization, it sucks for Jonathan Taylor, and it sucks for our fans”. Ballard is hopeful he can repair the relationship between the organization and their star running back. A reporter asked why the team did not pay their star running back this offseason, Ballard responded “we won 4 games last year”. The season can’t get here fast enough because I am optimistic on how Taylor and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who was recently named team captain will look in the backfield together. Those two would cause a lot of defensive coordinators to lose sleep at night trying to game plan against them.
