A report Tuesday indicated multiple teams had contacted the Colts on Jonathan Taylor, as the team gave the 2021 rushing champion permission to seek a trade. Unsurprisingly, the Dolphins are believed to be one of them.
After the Dolphins were mentioned as an interested party, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reports they have indeed discussed Taylor with the Colts. Talks are ongoing between the AFC teams. This is far from the first running back the Dolphins have been connected to via trade this year, but the Colts have a lofty asking price in mind. They want a first-round pick or a picks package equivalent to that value.
Dalvin Cook, D’Andre Swift and Saquon Barkley surfaced as Dolphins trade targets during the offseason, and SI.com’s Albert Breer notes Miami came close to acquiring Cook from Minnesota in March. Those talks, however, did not produce a deal. The Dolphins had their chances to add Cook, a Miami native, during his lengthy (and highly public) free agency tour. But the team let the Jets land the seventh-year veteran on a one-year, $7MM deal. In the wake of that signing, would the Dolphins be willing to both part with high trade compensation and give Taylor a lucrative extension?
Despite Jim Irsay‘s early insistence the Colts would not deal Taylor, Jackson adds the team would like to make a move — provided its asking price is met — before setting its 53-man roster. The Colts must decide on Taylor landing on the active roster or remaining on the active/PUP list — which would sideline him for at least four games — by 3pm CT August 29. Teams have been monitoring this saga since the trade request emerged in late July.
The Dolphins’ frequent connections to high-profile backs aside, they have kept costs low at the position ahead of Mike McDaniel‘s second season. Miami re-signed Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson and Myles Gaskin in March. None of these contracts even reached $3MM per year, and Gaskin’s deal contains no guaranteed money. The Dolphins then drafted Devon Achane in Round 3, but the former Texas A&M speedster is currently sidelined because of a shoulder injury sustained in the team’s second preseason game.
The difference between Cook and Taylor would seemingly come down to prime years remaining. Cook is going into his age-28 season; Taylor is 24. Cook has totaled 1,503 career touches; Taylor is heading into Year 4 at 860. The Colts have put Taylor’s rookie contract to good use, deploying him as their starter since Marlon Mack‘s Achilles tear in Week 1 of the 2020 season. But the former second-round pick stands to have a few prime years remaining.
Aside from Tyreek Hill‘s receiver-record contract ($30MM per year, with a high 2026 AAV producing that number), the Dolphins do not have an eight-figure AAV in their skill-position group. The team did pick up Tua Tagovailoa‘s fifth-year option and is already projected to be $32MM over the 2024 cap.
In what could be the most well-rounded AFC East race since perhaps the 1990s, the Dolphins are at least considering making a splash addition. Though, Jackson adds a handful of other teams have reached out as well. It will be interesting to see which other teams have contacted the Colts on Taylor, who is going into a contract year. It will also be worth monitoring if the Wisconsin alum stands down on a pursuit of an extension this year in order to leave Indianapolis.
That said, the prospect of the Colts franchise-tagging Taylor in 2024 has undoubtedly affected his standing with the organization. While Taylor obviously does not have a no-trade clause, would another team be willing to make a deal for a player on a PUP list without having an extension in place?
