Colts do not trade Jonathan Taylor as team-imposed 4 PM deadline passes on Tuesday

The Indianapolis Colts will be holding on to disgruntled star running back Jonathan Taylor, at least in the interim period, as the team imposed Tuesday 4 PM EST deadline came and went without striking a blockbuster deal.

The Colts did not receive what it felt was a “fair-value offer” for Taylor, as the franchise was seeking at least a first round pick or the equivalent in trade value back.

The ramifications are that by remaining on PUP to begin the regular season, Taylor will miss at least the first four games of the 2023 regular season, no matter where he plays.

However, given that he never practiced all of training camp—as his ankle has not been medically cleared yet, he was likely going to miss at least two weeks (maybe more?) anyways to get back into in-game shape and conditioning (even if the ankle is healthier):

It’s possible that Taylor could still be traded by the league’s October 31st trade deadline (much like the San Francisco 49ers Christian McCaffrey was last season), but this makes a deal less likely in my opinion—unless the Colts are clearly blown away by an offer.

As it stands, the contentious relationship between the Colts and Taylor (and his agent representation) only continues. Taylor is under contract for the last year of his rookie deal in 2023, and he’ll need 8 games of being active to become a 2024 free agent. Even then though, the Colts still have the ability to franchise tag him ahead of next season.

The Colts still hold all the cards contractually. That being said, the issue is whether having a disgruntled former team captain around the locker room is a good thing when trying to develop a new culture and identity under first-year head coach Shane Steichen and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson. Taylor had been a consummate pro in his career up until training camp.

The hope is that both sides can eventually work towards mending this fractured relationship, and that Taylor can remain a Colt for the foreseeable future with a multi-year extension ultimately in the cards—but there’s significant work to do on both ends.

Call me selfish, but I want to see both Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor run their dynamic and dangerous RPO game purely from a ‘Football is fun’ standpoint. That has a chance to be one of the more exciting and productive pairings in all of football this year—even if it comes late.