Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

The escalating drama between the Colts and Jonathan Taylor certainly qualifies as one of the defining storylines during an important year for the running back position. Taylor remains out of Colts practice and has requested a trade.

As of Tuesday, the Colts are against trading the former rushing champion. A recent report also indicated a robust market should not be expected to form, as several backs — including some who have also expressed frustration about their present situations — are on track to hit free agency in 2024. Taylor is as well, though the franchise tag is a play the Colts can make. Would another team force the Colts’ hand early?

Interest is, however, expected to exist for Taylor, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). Adding on that point, Rapoport indicates multiple teams are expected to call the Colts to see how resolute they are in not trading the 2021 All-Pro. No resolution between Taylor and the Colts appears close.

The former second-round pick is going into a contract year and doing so at a bad time for the running back market. But Taylor is only going into his age-24 season. Prime years should remain for the Wisconsin alum, who finished second in the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year voting. Although a team that trades for Taylor would have the option of franchise-tagging him in 2024, Rapoport adds multiple clubs are believed to be open to giving him a real contract. That would presumably mean a deal north of $12MM per year, though it is not known how high prospective suitors would be willing to go.

No team has authorized a running back deal beyond the $13MM-AAV point since the Saints reupped Alvin Kamara in August 2020. The Vikings cut bait on their $12.6MM-per-year Dalvin Cook deal this offseason, while the Bengals and Packers trimmed their $12MM-per-year backs’ pay for 2023. The salary cap has risen by nearly $30MM since the Kamara and Christian McCaffrey deals, however, and will make another climb in 2024.

Taylor voiced frustration about the market after Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard were not paid, and his issues with the Colts have escalated since. That said, ESPN’s Stephen Holder adds that the contract-year back has been at odds with the organization for a while (Twitter link). The Colts have not made an offer, with Jim Irsay — whose previous comments about the RB position added more fuel to this fire — publicly indicating as such.

Since the Taylor drama became known, the Colts have lost Zack Moss to a broken arm. They traded Nyheim Hines last season. Fifth-round rookie Evan Hull and veteran Deon Jackson reside as the top available options currently, though a few notable free agents — Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt — remain beyond Cook. The ex-Viking’s connections remain to the AFC East at this point.

9:47pm: A text from Irsay to SI’s Albert Breer reads, “We’re not trading Jonathan… end of discussion. Not now and not in October!” That comes as little surprise given the lack of value the Colts would be able to find on a deal which would see the acquiring team only have one year of play from Taylor. On that point, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington describes the potential trade market as being “minimal,” with free agency looming for Taylor and a number of other big-name backs (Twitter link). With the value of the position being what it is, it is difficult to envision the 24-year-old finding a new team willing to make a long-term financial commitment.

7:24pm: Saturday has produced the latest development in the ongoing saga between the Colts and Jonathan Taylor. The All-Pro running back has formally requested a trade, as noted (on Twitter) by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Taylor met face-to-face earlier today with owner Jim Irsay to discuss his situation. The former is entering the final year of his rookie contract, which has opened the door to the tension which has increased recently. Irsay made it clear earlier this week that no extension offer has been made yet, and that none will be made until after the 2023 season.

Providing further clarity on the matter, ESPN’s Stephen Holder tweets that Taylor (who recently changed agents) actually asked to be moved “several days ago.” The team’s response, he adds, was not definitive in the affirmative or negative. That could add further to the drama which has been escalating, amidst a lack of interest on the team’s part to commit long-term to its most high-profile offensive player and the wider financial realities which explain why that is the case.

Taylor had expressed a desire to remain in Indianapolis before contract talks hit a wall, and Irsay fanned the flames with public remarks about the nature of the running back market. They were not aimed specifically at Taylor, but they underscore the reality that running backs have not generated financial interest from teams in the way most other positions have. That fact has been a topic of conversation amongst key active players at the position.

An ankle injury limited Taylor to 11 games in 2022, a season in which the Colts’ offense struggled mightily. He recorded a career-low 861 rushing yards (on an average of 4.5 per carry), a far cry from the previous year. The 24-year-old led the league in production on the ground (1,811 yards, 18 touchdowns) in 2021, which seemed to cement his status as a fixture in Indianapolis for years to come. He is currently on the PUP list — as Mike Chappell of Fox 59 tweets, Taylor failed his physical — and questions will be asked about his ability to return to pre-injury form this season.

Irsay has shown a willingness to invest early in serval key Colts players over the years, but the RB market has understandably influenced his stance with respect to Taylor. With teams around the league showing an aversion to signing backs to lucrative second deals, it will be interesting to see how much of a trade market develops for either a one-year rental or a club willing to part with draft and financial capital to acquire the Wisconsin alum. Irsay’s latest remarks on the matter will no doubt add fuel to the fire in this situation.

“If I die tonight and Jonathan Taylor is out of the league, no one’s gonna miss us,” Irsay said when speaking to the media on Saturday (Twitter link via James Boyd of The Athletic). “The league goes on. We know that. The National Football [League] rolls on. It doesn’t matter who comes and who goes, and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.”

With the franchise tag extension deadline in the rearview mirror, the Colts’ negotiations with Jonathan Taylor may bring the next major checkpoint for a freefalling running back market. This partnership may be experiencing turbulence.

The Colts and the 2021 rushing champion have held extension discussions, though those did not sound especially serious. And Jim Irsay has interjected regarding the recent effort by running backs to assess their options as a group.

“We have negotiated a CBA,that took years of effort and hard work and compromise in good faith by both sides..to say now that a specific Player category wants another negotiation after the fact,is inappropriate [sic],” Irsay said (via Twitter). “Some Agents are selling ‘bad faith.'”

As the Jeff Saturday decision and recent Colts quarterback endeavors have shown, Irsay is not afraid to speak his mind and make demands of his front office. Irsay’s comments obviously carry weight, given his position as the team’s longtime owner, and Taylor’s agent has chimed in. Hired this offseason, First Round Management’s Malki Kawa replied (via Twitter) to Irsay, indicating “Bad faith is not paying your top offensive player.”

Since that response, Kawa has liked a few tweets suggesting a Colts-Taylor separation could happen and responded to a post from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport by indicating he doubts the situation can be salvaged (Twitter link). Taylor had said in June he wanted to retire a Colt. The direction of the running back market does not provide much leverage for Taylor, whose contract expires after the season. As the Cowboys, Giants and Raiders showed, the Colts can also use a low-cost franchise tag to keep Taylor off the 2024 market.

Following last week’s tag deadline that left Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard tied to $10.1MM tenders for 2023, Taylor expressed disappointment in the state of the running back position. Although it took many years for the league to collectively catch up with the thinking Mike Shanahan showed with the Broncos in the 2000s, when the Super Bowl-winning HC responded to Terrell Davis‘ career-altering knee injury by plugging in a handful of backs in an effort that saw six players surpass 1,000 rushing yards from 1998-2006, the NFL has effectively labeled this position as disposable.

While the 2020-21 round of extensions went better for teams than the Todd Gurley–Ezekiel Elliott–David Johnson–Le’Veon Bell batch did in the late 2010s, no back has approached the Christian McCaffrey–Alvin Kamara salary tier since those contracts were agreed to in 2020. The Giants-Barkley talks settled in at barely $13MM per year and steadily decreased, as New York upped its guarantee number. Jacobs, McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler and others have joined Taylor in expressing dismay at what has happened to their position’s market. It actually cost more for the Steelers to tag Bell in 2017 ($12.1MM) than it did for the Cowboys, Giants and Raiders to cuff their top backs this year.

“The market is what the market is,” Colts GM Chris Ballard said, via The Athletic’s James Boyd (subscription required). “But saying that, like I’ve always told you, you pay good players. You pay guys that are gonna help you win, regardless of the position. We think very highly of Jonathan. … We think that’ll play out over time and work out the way it should either way.”

Taylor won the 2021 rushing title by more than 500 yards but missed six games due to injury last season. Despite Irsay saying Taylor was “healed up” from his offseason ankle surgery, the Colts stashed the fourth-year back on the active/PUP list to start camp. A big year would seemingly give Taylor some momentum to push for the McCaffrey-Kamara tier, especially as the salary cap keeps climbing, but this offseason’s wave of setbacks to the RB market presents an unstable future for the position’s veterans. This exchange between Irsay and Taylor’s agent will increase attention on how the Colts proceed with their All-Pro talent.