The Colts have entered seller mode, unloading All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson two weeks before the deadline. Nelson’s upcoming trek to Seattle will likely precede other trades, with Indianapolis believed to be shopping fellow contract-year lineman DeForest Buckner as well.
It is far less clear the Colts will move Jonathan Taylor, whose summer extension has him under contract through 2028. As it stands, the Colts look to be against moving the All-Pro running back. Specifically, Adam Schefter reports Carlie Irsay-Gordon does not want to trade Taylor.
While Schefter’s most recent Pat McAfee Show appearance could end up helping the Colts drive up the market for Taylor, if the Indianapolis owner truly does not want to move on, the team will not. She will certainly have final say on the matter. That said, if the team receives an offer it believes would better serve the franchise in the long term, minds can be changed. Interest has come in for the veteran starter.
Taylor, 27, signed a two-year deal worth $44MM in August. That pact came to pass shortly after the Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs deals broke the $22MM AAV barrier at the position. Taylor has more tread on his tires compared to those game-breaking RBs, and his injury history is at least a mild concern. Though, the 2021 rushing champion stayed healthy last year and has played every Colts game this season. His contract also offers some flexibility.
Chris Ballard’s second Taylor extension included a potential escape hatch. His $15MM 2027 base salary does not become fully guaranteed until Day 5 of the 2027 waiver period (Feb. 19). That could help an acquiring team view the seventh-year veteran as a rental who becomes a pay-as-you-go option. The Colts would be hit with $20MM-plus in dead money if they moved on before the trade deadline, but with Ballard gone, having assets to help rebuild the team down the road may supersede an immediate dead cap hit.
Taylor led the NFL with 20 touchdowns last season; his eight rushing TDs this year pace the league. With Daniel Jones struggling after signing a two-year, $88MM extension and the recently extended Alec Pierce still on IR after aggravating his heel injury in Week 2, Taylor is driving the Indy offense. His run lanes may be thinner post-Nelson, but the Colts could field an overmatched offense during the season’s second half if they move on from their accomplished running back before the November 10 deadline.
Irsay-Gordon took over the Colts after her father (longtime owner Jim Irsay) died last year. One of her first big contracts on the job being an extension for Taylor could speak loudly here, as Taylor was a centerpiece player of the final rosters over which her father presided. So was Nelson, but the Colts had run into trouble on the extension front with the future Hall of Fame guard this summer. Taylor and the team agreed to terms, and the Colts may well be ready to help Jones — or his successor — in 2027 by retaining the impact back.
Schefter does not expect the Colts to deal Taylor, but the veteran reporter does include Josh Downs as a possible option for the team to move. The former second-round pick is in a contract year — for a team that authorized a near-$30MM-per-year deal for Pierce — and would be of interest for clubs looking for slot help.
With the Browns and Cowboys unlikely to trade Jerry Jeudy and George Pickens, respectively, teams will undoubtedly be interested in seeing what it will take to acquire Downs, whom NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates has come up in trade talks.
The 2023 draftee totaled 802 receiving yards in his second season, doing so despite Anthony Richardson’s historic accuracy struggles. He posted 566 yards last year, with Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. higher-profile cogs in a Jones- and Philip Rivers-piloted offense. Downs is at 26 catches for 307 yards this season. He is the Colts’ leading receiver presently, but Pierce will be expected to be the No. 1 target when he returns from injury.
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