Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

After a dreary several months that included an NFL grievance against the NFLPA, the state of the running back position perked up over the weekend. Jonathan Taylor secured a surprising extension agreement, ending his standoff with the Colts and giving a depressed market a vital update as the year winds down.

Taylor’s $14MM AAV checks in third among running backs, behind only the extensions Christian McCaffrey ($16MM per year) and Alvin Kamara ($15MM) signed in 2020. With Kamara needing an inflated $22MM salary in the contract’s final season to prop up the per-year number, McCaffrey’s deal has stood alone since the Cowboys released Ezekiel Elliott. Taylor’s three-year, $42MM pact contains no dummy contract year, making this a true $14MM-AAV agreement.

[RELATED: Colts Did Not Engage In Serious Taylor Trade Talks]

The fine print for the former rushing champion is in, per OverTheCap, which indicates Taylor signed for $19.35MM fully guaranteed. The $26.5MM reported guarantee covers some additional injury guarantees, which pertain to the 2025 season. In terms of fully guaranteed money, Taylor’s deal sits behind McCaffrey ($30.1MM), Derrick Henry ($25.5MM) and Bijan Robinson‘s rookie deal ($21.96MM). Taylor became the first back since Nick Chubb in July 2021 to sign an eight-figure-per-year contract, and the Colts agreement resembles the one the Browns authorized two summers ago.

Like Chubb, Taylor signed a three-year extension. The rest of the active big-ticket RB contracts covered four (McCaffrey, Henry, Joe Mixon) or five (Kamara). CMC’s deal tied him to the Panthers for six years since he signed it with two years left on his rookie contract. Jones re-signed with the Packers in 2021, serving the same purpose as the Chubb and Taylor three-year re-ups due to those being contract-year extensions.

This timeline would allow Taylor to potentially cash in again, albeit ahead of his age-28 season. Although Taylor’s deal is not as friendly as McCaffrey’s, the Colts deviating from their stance against extending him provided a nice reward for his rookie-contract production.

Taylor received a $10.25MM signing bonus and will see his 2023 and ’24 base salaries ($1.74MM, $7.8MM) fully guaranteed. Taylor’s new agent did well to secure a year-out guarantee structure for his 2025 salary as well. The contract calls for an $11.98MM base salary in 2025; $7.15MM of that total is guaranteed for injury at signing, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. That sum becomes fully guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2024 league year. This stands to give Taylor three years’ worth of security, seeing as the Colts would need to cut or trade him before that March 2024 date to avoid that $7.15MM 2025 guarantee vesting. Taylor’s 2026 base salary ($11.98MM) is nonguaranteed.

The Colts give pay Taylor’s signing bonus in two installments, per Florio, with a $2.56MM payment coming Oct. 20 and a $7.69MM guarantee coming March 29, 2024. The 2020 second-round pick was tied to a $4.3MM base salary this season; Saturday’s agreement obviously generated a better outcome. This contract gives Taylor some security for his age-25 and age-26 seasons and removes a big name from the 2024 free agent market. Although the threat of an Indianapolis 2024 franchise tag helped drive the wedge between Taylor and the team, the Colts bending in ways the Giants and Raiders did not helped produce a resolution. (The Giants, Raiders and Cowboys also have veteran quarterbacks under contract for 2024; the Colts pivoting away from that years-long strategy, via Anthony Richardson, helped Taylor’s cause.)

Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Austin Ekeler and Taylor fill-in Zack Moss are among the backs on track to hit free agency. Taylor’s deal likely will not lead to that lot of high-profile backs matching him, as an even snazzier buyer’s market could form in 2024. But it does provide a positive development after an offseason filled with releases, pay cuts and trade requests going nowhere.

While Taylor previously had the Indy backfield to himself, it should be expected Moss will retain a role after his early-season production. The 2022 trade-deadline acquisition amassed 195 scrimmage yards in Indy’s win over Tennessee on Sunday. That showing does help to illustrate why teams have shied away from big payments to RBs, but Taylor’s ramp-up period will undoubtedly end with him back in the starter role.

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.

The Colts-Jonathan Taylor saga came to an end on Saturday with the parties finalizing a three-year, $42MM extension. The deal coincides with the former rushing champion’s return to game action, and it illustrates the degree to which fences were mended before an agreement was reached.

As Taylor rehabbed his lingering ankle injury – an ailment which led to his PUP designation to start the year and invited questions about his true health status – it seemed clear his relationship with the Colts was beyond repair. Indianapolis had denied the 24-year-old’s extension request, and allowed his agent to explore a trade. No deal materialized, though, setting Taylor up for a return to action in Week 5.

The former second-rounder added to the uncertainty surrounding his tenure with the Colts when speaking publicly for the first time this season, but that is now no longer in doubt. Attitudes on both sides seemed to improve recently as Taylor rehabbed; that process drew praise from the organization, SI’s Albert Breer notes. Now that a multi-year pact is in place, Taylor will look to return to his 2021 form while the Colts move forward with their top rushing option.

Having previously taken a public stance against running backs meeting to discuss the position’s downward financial outlook, owner Jim Irsay made one of the league’s top commitments with this Taylor contract. The former’s remarks in the wake of the deal – which will see Taylor earn $26.5MM guaranteed – confirm his expectation that a return to full health and productiveness will take place following a brief easing-in period.

In a conference call with local reporters, Irsay acknowledged (via Fox 59’s Mike Chappell) that he felt the extension was put together “too soon” in Taylor’s contract year but expressed enthusiasm over the prospect of having the Wisconsin alum in the fold through 2026. Talks on a deal – and, along the way, attempts to thaw relations – took part recently, with Chappell noting franchise icon Edgerrin James was involved in the process. If all goes according to plan, the team’s offense will be founded on the play of Taylor and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson for the foreseeable future, a prospect Irsay added he is encouraged by.

“[Taylor’s] a SPECIAL player and this extension is important knowing the impact he’ll make as our team develops under [head coach] Shane [Steichen],” a statement from Irsay reads in part. “I have no doubt he’ll continue to create highlight plays and memories for our fans. He deserves this deal and I’m happy for him.”

Designated for return from the Colts’ reserve/PUP list this week, Jonathan Taylor is practicing with his team for the first time since last season. The former rushing champion’s status for Week 5 is unclear, but he confirmed Thursday he is healthy. For a second straight day, Taylor was a full practice participant.

Although Taylor underwent what has been classified as a minimally invasive ankle surgery in January, he has either taken much longer than expected to recover or used the injury as an excuse to stay away from the team amid trade talks. Asked about the extended rehab timeline, the fourth-year running back said (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter and the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson) “no surgery is the same” but added he is ready to return.

In his first comments since the July trade request, however, Taylor has refrained from discussing his Colts future. Taylor said he is “here right now” but added he is committed to returning to action (via Fox 59’s Mike Chappell). The disgruntled back is set to begin a contract year late. The Colts have the option of trading of him until October 31, but this long-running issue could also be put aside for the time being.

With Taylor calling his contract situation an “offseason issue,” the Colts could be set to activate him. They can do so at any point until October 25. If Taylor is not activated from the PUP list by then, he would stay on the PUP list for the rest of the season. That would be highly unlikely, as it would lead to Taylor’s contract tolling to 2024. Shane Steichen has not ruled out Taylor from playing against the Titans on Sunday. Considering what has gone down between player and team over the past 2 1/2 months, Taylor’s debut — whenever it happens — will be one of the most interesting in recent NFL history.

Already expressing disappointment about the state of the running back market, Taylor shifted from wanting to retire as a Colt to asking for a trade. Jim Irsay played the lead role in the relationship’s deterioration, sending a much-discussed tweet criticizing running backs for gathering on a Zoom call to discuss the seismic offseason at their position. A subsequent Taylor-Irsay meeting did not go well, and while the owner attempted to walk back his comment by saying it was not aimed specifically at Taylor, the damage escalated. Taylor’s recently hired agent became a prominent player in this impasse as well, and the three-year Colts RB1’s demeanor changed upon returning to Indy’s facility.

Taylor, 24, is in a difficult position with regards to his contract. Although the Colts have taken care of a number of core players before their contract years under Chris Ballard (Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Braden Smith and Shaquille Leonard among them), the seventh-year GM cited Indianapolis’ 4-12-1 2022 record as a reason the team was not planning to extend Taylor this year. The team declined a Taylor extension request this offseason. Barring a trade before the deadline, the Colts will still have the option of franchise-tagging Taylor — on what will be the NFL’s second-lowest tag number, ahead of only kickers and punters — in 2024.

The Colts have discussed Taylor in trades, doing so during the final week of August. While the Dolphins and Colts engaged in discussions, doubt surfaced about Indianapolis’ desire to grant Taylor’s request. Irsay initially said the Colts would not trade Taylor, but the team is believed to have since dropped its asking price — from an unrealistic place (a first-rounder or equivalent value) to pushing for a second-rounder — in recent weeks. The market for Taylor, which was never believed to be robust, looks to have cooled. That may well have prompted Taylor to stand down and begrudgingly return to the team.

In his most recent healthy season, Taylor won the rushing title by more than 500 yards. This ankle issue doubles as Taylor’s only notable injury during his pro or college careers. It had been widely suggested Taylor was exaggerating the injury to apply pressure on the Colts. If the Wisconsin alum truly needed more than eight months to recover, that would stand to affect his trade value as well. Teams had been leery of trading prime draft assets for Taylor and agreeing to a top-market extension. The ankle issue being a true nagging concern would introduce another complication.

The Colts have used Zack Moss as their primary back over the past three weeks, and the ex-Bills second-round pick has played fairly well. Moss has gained 210 rushing yards over the past two games. That said, Taylor has proven to be one of the NFL’s premier backs when healthy. If activated, he should regain his starting role quickly. Though, it would not surprise to see Moss remain in the mix with the now-Anthony Richardson-led offense.