Week 5 saw the return of Jonathan Taylor to the Colts’ lineup, after he agreed to a three-year extension over the weekend. That deal marked an end to the questions surrounding his future in Indianapolis, and confirmed a lack of interest on the part of other teams with respect to acquiring him. 
Taylor’s trade request – borne out of the team’s decision not to engage in extension talks – was initially denied, but in time the 2021 rushing champion was allowed to seek out a deal sending him elsewhere. The teams most closely linked with Taylor were the Dolphins and Packers, both of which were reported to be willing to pay him at or near the top of the market. That ended up being the case for the former second-rounder, but his $42MM pact came from Indianapolis after trade talks slowed down.
As The Athletic’s Dianna Russini confirms, the Colts did not receive any firm offers or engage in “serious conversations” regarding a potential Taylor swap (subscription required). Indianapolis was believed to have included wideouts Jaylen Waddle and Christian Watson in their asking price for hypothetical deals with Miami and Green Bay, respectively. To no surprise, those players proved to be non-starters. Another factor which represented a barrier to a deal getting done, of course, was Taylor’s contract status.
2023 marks the final year of the Wisconsin alum’s rookie contract, meaning he would have needed to be franchise tagged or signed to a multi-year extension by an acquiring team to justify sending draft capital to the Colts to finalize a trade. Indianapolis initially set the price at a first-round pick (or a package of similar value), but that later came down as the relationship between team and player seemed to be beyond saving. Instead, Taylor’s return to practice paved the way for a warming of relations and an agreement being struck which will seem him earn $26.5MM in guaranteed money. Russini notes that the commitment required on a new deal, rather than the cost of a trade, was the main roadblock to a swap being worked out.
With Taylor having secured the third-highest AAV ($14MM) amongst running backs, it will be interesting to see if the position’s market can rebound in the coming free agent period after seeing its downward trend continue in 2023. With a long list of notable names on expiring contracts, though, it would come as a surprise if teams spent considerable resources at the RB spot, as their aversion to acquiring Taylor illustrated.
I call “shenanigans”!
Not really surprising. This is not an indictment of Taylor’s talent, but given the high asking price, giving up what was necessary to acquire Taylor AND then having to shell out for a new deal was too much. I also think that many teams probably thought the same as I did; the Colts never really wanted to trade Taylor. If someone blew them away, they may have, but they were sitting on that to try and negotiate a contract. If Indy ever did come to that conclusion, though, it wasn’t going to be until up against the deadline. The first priority seemed to be get Taylor under contract.
That didn’t mean that teams weren’t interested, but it would have been an expensive ask, and a trade that big probably wasn’t going to come together this long before the deadline (especially while the Colts were still negotiating with Taylor).
If he were available as a FA, I think this is still likely the same.
Maybe A suitor or two, but nobody lined up for this same contract.
Plenty of initial interest, but once contract request gets to a certain level – they are almost all out.
Im glad JT got paid, but I hate this for the Colts. They bid against themselves.
But its still really just two tags in disguise.
I agree.
Can’t imagine any GM engaging is ‘serious’ talks with the comedy club that’s Volts management / ownership. Irsay is looney as any cartoon
The Colts only had to give the guy cash. Everybody else had to give him cash -AND- give the Colts some picks. Given the uncertainty of Taylor’s career path going forward (2 good/terrific years + 2.5 injury-marred years = ???) it makes sense that nobody offered the Colts much in the way of picks. I would have offered up a 4th or 5th at best.
High – not understanding your math. 2 good years I get, but 2.5 injury marred years. He’s in his 4th year!!! He missed 6 games last year & 4 so far this year. He had 861 yards in 11 games last year; a tick below 80 yards per game, so that translates to 1341 if it had been a full season. He still might get 1000-1200 yards this season.
Irsay must be shocked that a flood of offers didn’t come in for a RB who just had an explosive 18 yard performance.
Moss is better