According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Indianapolis Colts remain at a standstill regarding trading their star running back Jonathan Taylor.
The Colts are hoping for a ‘Christian McCaffrey-esque’ trade capital return to actually move Taylor, which for historical reference, was between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers on October 20, 2022, and netted the Panthers the 49ers’ following picks: 2023 2nd round, 2o23 third round, 2023 forth round, and 2024 5th round pick:
“Where we’re at is essentially where we’ve been, which is several teams interested in Taylor,” said Rapoport on GMFB on Thursday morning.
“Willing to offer a significant pick package, but maybe not quite what Ed Dodds, who is running personnel now in place of Chris Ballard, who was fired, wants, and what the organization wants.”
“They want a Christian McCaffrey type package for Jonathan Taylor. It’s clear they don’t have it yet. Obviously, they would’ve already made the trade.”
“The other part of this thing is, this is not really someone they want to trade. This is someone they believe is a big part of their future. They’d like to build around him. So it would take a big package to get the Colts to move on from him.”
There’s been some school of thought that the Colts could even be coveting a first round pick to actually part with Taylor, who team owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon potentially considers a major cornerstone of the recently jumpstarted rebuild—regardless of who the next general manager is for the franchise.
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That would make a great deal of sense, given that Indianapolis is without its 2027 first round pick, which unfortunately looks like a possible Top 5 pick now and belongs to the New York Jets due to last year’s trade deadline Sauce Gardner deal.
At any rate, it doesn’t appear as though the Colts ideal asking price has been quite met . . . yet. However, with Indianapolis reportedly holding out until closer to the trade deadline early next week to maximize Taylor’s trade return, it’s possible a very interested suitor could potentially cave and meet their significant asking price to win the Taylor trade sweepstakes over competitors.
To me, some of this seems like some posturing by the Colts though—although I applaud them for holding out hope of maximizing Taylor trade return until closer to the trade deadline, given they arguably didn’t get full trade value return on either DeForest Buckner and Quenton Nelson earlier last week.
Taylor has been one of the Colts best running backs in franchise history, as he’s second to only franchise leader Edgerrin James in rushing yards (2,208) and carries (1,699) but is the Horseshoe’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with 77 respectively.
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That being said, he turns 28-years-old in January, and while he’s been a great player for the franchise, remains a strong Ring of Honor candidate, and is on a Hall of Fame track, NFL running backs typically do not age gracefully into their early 30’s—meaning Taylor may only have 2-3 elite years left. That’s realistically the same amount of time it takes to complete a successful rebuild for a franchise—if all actually goes according to plan.
For what it’s worth, Rapoport also noted that the Colts are holding out hope for either a 3rd or 4th round pick for starting slot wide receiver Josh Downs, who’s a pending free agent that requested a trade from Indianapolis earlier last week and has drawn interest from at least a handful of wideout needy teams.
