Jonathan Taylor‘s relationship with the Colts has deteriorated to the point of no return. While owner Jim Irsay’s comments about the state of the running back market seemed to be the final straw, Taylor’s frustrations with the organization first popped up when the front office refused his extension request this offseason.
[RELATED: Packers Engaged In Jonathan Taylor Trade Talks With Colts]
While Indy was unwilling to negotiate Taylor’s next contract, it sounds like two trade suitors were willing to pay up for the running back’s services. Per Josina Anderson of CBS Sports, both the Dolphins and Packers were willing to give Taylor a contract that would place him “among the highest-paid running backs in the NFL.”
As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com points out, the only RB making serious money is Christian McCaffrey at $16MM per year, and the likes of Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb, and Alvin Kamara (when accounting for his phony final year) are all earning around $12.5MM. Without knowing the specific structure of the deal, Florio opines that it’d be difficult to truly know where a Taylor extension would land at the position.
Taylor is set to earn $4.3MM in base salary this season, so he’ll undoubtedly see a raise on a new deal. It’s uncertain if Taylor would even insist on a new contract following a trade, but he can probably rest easier knowing that some suitors are willing to bump his pay.
As we noted recently, the Packers invested in the position a few years ago when they signed Aaron Jones to a four-year, $48MM extension. However, the team can easily get out of that contract (with a $6MM dent in dead cap). With fellow RB AJ Dillon set to hit free agency following the 2023 campaign, the Packers could be considering a completely new-look backfield for 2024.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins will have a number of tough decisions to make from a financial standpoint in the near future, so locking in Taylor could ruffle some feathers. Yesterday, general manager Chris Grier told reporters that the Dolphins are tabling extension talks with Tua Tagovailoa and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins until after the season.
Why? He’s injured, right? My guess is one of these teams is willing to pay up and the other is a smoke screen created by Taylor’s agent to try to get the one interested team to pay up and get the colts to trade him.
Is he really injured though? Genuinely asking.
You can’t just stick someone onto the physically unable to perform list without a medical evaluation indicating there is something. The degree of injury can be debated and there are plenty of ways to get around rules, but yes, you should consider him injured.
What a joke Taylor is. Just because he’s eligible for a new contract, doesn’t mean he’s owed one. Especially coming after the season he just has. He’s owed nothing. And doesn’t deserve nothing at this point in time. He needs to play out the contract he signed and be happy with what he’s got for now.
Do you say that every time a team cuts a player without paying them the full contract the team signed?
Yep. They signed the contract. If they’ve signed a contract that says they can be cut and not paid if no guaranteed money remains, then they knew it could come. Sign a contract, you gave your word to the words on that contract. For both sides
@mueller when a team cuts a player the team has to pay the salary the player agreed would be paid in the event of being cut prior to end of the contract.
Don’t pretend woe is the players when they get cut. They are paid exactly what they or their representation agrees they’d get paid in that event.
These guys have a very limited time to make as much money as they can, at the expense of their physical well being. It would be ignorant and negligent to not do everything in your power to achieve that goal. The fact that a team selected you with a draft pick does not give them control of your entire career, nor does it come with some sort of implied loyalty, by either party. Teams treat players like assets, it shouldn’t be an issue for a player to treat themselves as an asset also.
You act like players have no idea what they are getting into or what is in the contract. They know exactly what they are doing and what is ahead of them. If players want to roll the dice and hold/sit out or bitch about their contract, so be it. But they should be prepared to deal with the consequences if it doesn’t work. Taylor chose literally the worst time to do this. He’ll get what is deserved.
Highway, you act as though players have no idea what is in store for them or what is in their contract. They know exactly what they are doing and what is ahead. Hold/sit out all you want as long as you’re ready for the consequences. Taylor chose the worst time to do this. Not smart.
“Doesn’t deserve nothing” – Taylor agrees
The Colts are kind of a joke… If they didnt get lucky with #1 picks in the right years, franchise never would have done a thing since moving to Indy.
Why pay an injured taylor 14-15m on a multi year contract when you could have had cook for one year at 7m?
Sure. That’s why neither team traded for him. Nor did they even look at the other tagged RB’s, and barely talked w/ the FA ones.
I have no idea how Irsay is going to attract a new GM after he throws Chris Ballard under the bus. He’ll obviously be seeking a straw man he can manipulate and micro manage. What free agents are going to want to be a part of Irsay’s circus?
Like father, like son. Wonder how long it will be before we start hearing stories about the city of Indianapolis not paying up and how changes are needed. San Antonio has been looking for a team since even before hosting the Saints in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Or when McCombs owned the Vikings.
DuardWeese-you are a moron, Jim is nothing like his father. They are a successful franchise that has settled into mediocrity a bit since Luck’s surprise retirement. The sell out the most fan friendly stadium (as voted by several stadium sites) every year, so don’t start about them moving to San Antonio or anywhere else.
Didn’t know the Irsay family read Pro Football Rumors; my apologies! Outside of Peyton Manning – and the playoff appearances that resulted – whom Bill Polian drafted, and who had cred for putting together the Buffalo SB teams, the Colts’ playoff appearances outside of that window are pretty spotty from what I’m looking at. Only one appearance in the AFC championship game in the 12 years since Manning stopped playing for them. Five playoff appearances but two of those ended in the Wild Card round and two in the divisional round. Not to mention his reputation for sticking his nose into everything, micro-managing and not letting the football people run the football team. WOW! That throwaway line about moving to San Antone really hit close to home! By the way, thank you for being respectful and calling me a moron while sitting on the other side of your screen/monitor/mobile device or whatever. Have a nice day!
Uh…where else is he supposed to call you Moron? The Colts aren’t going anywhere and although most fans wish he would keep to himself more, most would also agree that he’s been generally a good owner (a couple decisions withstanding). He also does a lot to contribute to the community.
To my face, for expressing my opinion, just like you and he expressed your opinions! Or can’t you figure it out that it’s simply an opinion and not worthy of typical internet name-calling crap?
I’m not calling you a name. I’m just pointing out that he probably doesn’t know where you live, your name, etc. to be able to say it to you in any other way and this forum is probably not the best place for you to threaten him. I’m more interested in the football end of this and strongly disagree with your take for the reasons I mentioned.
Last response on this…I don’t think I, in any way, “threatened” as you mentioned in your last response, him by what I said in my first response. I was sarcastic, yes, but not threatening. He was the one who unnecessarily went about name-calling. Why does the vast majority of internet conversations have to devolve into someone calling someone else a name? Can’t people simply disagree, possibly strongly, without launching attacks? .
Totally agree with you on that one!
If that’s the case then why aren’t other RBs getting paid by other teams? There are 4-5 RBs getting paid around $12.5m or more…that’s it. Other organizations do this exact same thing.
Irsay can throw me under he bus w/ a GM’s salary.
“A VA cheque and 12 bucks will get you a cup of coffee” Jake Sully / Avatar
“News” is a plant from his agent to turn up the heat on the Colts. Once he gets inevitably traded, he’ll miraculously be healed. As awkward as it is going to get for the Colts, I’m all for them making him sit and pout. One simply needs to look at the NBA to see what a mess it becomes when players control their movements from team to team.
Why would the Packers need him when they already have one of the top RB tandems in the game in Jones and Dillon? They need receivers. Why can’t Gutekunst see that?
The backs in Green Bay don’t have much time remaining on their deals. Jones also has been there for some time at this point and start to show his age soon, but that’s speculative.
Right now, Jones and Dillon are both under contract through next year, but Jones will be 29 and set to count for $16 million in 2024. Dillon is in the last year of his rookie deal. So the Packers would be planning ahead. If by “top HB money” they (or Taylor’s agent) mean $12 million or so, that’s about what Jones’ actual salary is now.
However, there are a couple things that makes this look premature to me. As you said, the Packers probably could spend that money better in other areas. Maybe receiver is one, but it’s too early to tell without seeing the you g guys in action or how Love plays. I agree that the Packers lack a definitive answer there, but it’s harder to justify now with Love than it was with Rodgers, because with Rodgers you knew what you were getting from the quarterback. Rodgers was ready to win, whereas Love is going to have to grow into his role. Still, definitive, proven options at WR are necessary, and we can’t say that Green Bay CAN’T improve there. They definitely could. The Packers really need more linemen. They’ve been moving their current players around constantly in different combinations, and Bakhtiari is injured and at the end of his career. We also don’t know, pending the development of Musgrave, what their TE capability is. But if I’m going out of my way in 2023 to spend, I would definitely side on the end of spending on OL, TE, and WR, in that order.
Also, Taylor is coming off an injured year after handling a lot of carries in Indy and in college. It’s one matter for Indy to extend him as a homegrown incumbent, it’s another to pay to acquire him and THEN extend him additionally. Taylor does not need to start this year for Green Bay, who have not just one but two incumbents on the roster who handle a lot of carries.
As nice as a Wisconsin homecoming would be, it seems like it would be best to draft a replacement for Jones (as Green Bay did with Dillon) and invest in other areas, rather than trade for a recently injured and sure to be expensive back who has had a lot of work. To be honest, I don’t see why the Dolphins, who also figure to run a heavy rotation in their platoon, need to trade for an expensive workhorse either, but they’ve been in on a couple of veteran workhorses now and seem interested in the prospect. This is no affront to Taylor. I just don’t think that the Packers need to do it.
Why this team didn’t bring in a veteran QB and/or WR this season is beyond me? Typical Gutknuts.
A shame the GB front office also wasn’t revamped or cleaned out since that’s basically what they did with several players from last year.
whats the issue with having three talented running back for a year or two? furthermore, Jones has proven to be a reliable pass catcher… i’m all for it
I mean, it’s not an issue production-wise. It would be an issue in terms of value for the return. You couldn’t divvy up the snaps in a way to get good value from all three players to what you spent on them or what they could do. That’s not a huge issue on its own, you are right. It just not worth it in some ways.
Really, the opportunity cost is more concerning. If the Packers are to spend a high draft pick, and then use cap space on a multi-year contract, then they should perhaps do so in an area where the team is deficient, not strong. The argument here is that when they let Jones walk next year, as is likely, then they will extend the younger Dillon. Even if they do this in reverse for some reason, they’ll have at least one quality back going in to 2024. If you have one back, it’s easier to draft a second back to play behind him who doesn’t have to carry the load right away. You don’t need a workhorse or superstar. You can get away with a rookie. Also, if you going to spend a high pick anyway, why not use it on a drafted player, who will be cheaper, younger, and with less tread on the tires? There is always the chance that he will fail, but there is also a good chance that Taylor will not recoup his form or durability after his injury.
Basically, it’s not that rostering Taylor would be bad. It’s that the Packers could use those picks and cap space better in other areas. All the great backs in the world would suffer if there is not a solid o-line to play in front of them. You also risk alienating your current players, which may or may not be a big deal to you.
He’s going to quit on his new team too. He’s a malcontent crybaby. Don’t play his way, he’ll sit and pout.
I would assume Green Bay would want to trade Dillon and a 3rd round pick or Dillon and a 4 and 6 to Indy for Taylor rather than trading a top 60 pick. Colts could probably lock up Dillon for half the price of Taylor. Would work out for both teams
I lost interest at Florio reported. Let’s stick to stories from people that have a chance to be true.
I doubt this report is true. It went from Taylor’s agent to the reporter. Zero credibility.