Jonathan Taylor trade situation latest sign Jim Irsay is running things, which remains very bad news for Colts

The Indianapolis Colts appear primed to waste yet another superstar’s career, acquiescing to Jonathan Taylor’s request for a trade by allowing the running back to seek out possible trade partners interested in landing the former rushing leader. This isn’t to the level of malpractice and negligence that occurred with Andrew Luck’s career. But it still emphasizes the most concerning thing about the Colts’ current operation: owner Jim Irsay is pulling all the strings. 

Irsay being in charge is nothing new and an NFL owner impressing their will upon a football roster and front office is hardly breaking news. But this is no ordinary NFL owner we’re talking about here. 

Despite sporting a 55 percent career winning percentage in his Indy tenure, Frank Reich found himself fired after Week 9 of last season by Irsay, who proceeded to not only replace Reich with Jeff Saturday — an ESPN analyst with zero coaching experience above the high school level — but also brag about Reich’s head-coaching record during the presser announcing Saturday’s hire.

Again, the Taylor situation is different. But it’s pretty emblematic of a larger systematic problem for this organization right now. You can trace these issues back to the Carson Wentz “debacle” of 2021. A year after making the playoffs with Philip Rivers, the Colts dealt high draft capital to the Eagles for the former No. 2 overall pick. A Week 18 egg cost Indy another postseason berth and Irsay held it over Reich’s head in a very personal fashion. When the Colts struggled with Matt Ryan under center, he cut bait. 

Since then, it’s clear Irsay’s imprint is all over every single decision this organization makes. Anthony Richardson going No. 4 overall was reasonable but it was clear Irsay gave the front office a firm edict to draft a quarterback, regardless of who was available. It was also clear Irsay said to start Richardson in Week 1 regardless of whether the rookie is ready or not. 

Also quite clear? The Colts better take a hard-line stance with Taylor. Irsay recently conceded the organization hasn’t even exchanged contractual numbers. When Taylor requested a trade, Irsay provided some public comments that — quite understandably — didn’t sit very well with his star running back. 

“If I die tonight and Jonathan Taylor is out of the league, no one’s gonna miss us,” Irsay said earlier this offseason, via The Athletic. “The league goes on. We know that. The National Football [League] rolls on. It doesn’t matter who comes and who goes, and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.”

An NFL owner has no business saying that about a franchise-caliber player and a former second-round pick on his rookie contract. It’s disrespectful and it only serves to alienate players on the roster. The Colts owner would be much better served spending his time playing guitar than playing fantasy football. 

Irsay also pointed out how the current Collective Bargaining Agreement should prevent these contractual issues: “These days you hope you have less contractual problems because the way the CBA is and they work a lot of things through.” He’s not *wrong* per se, but he’s not really right either: the CBA shouldn’t have any impact on Taylor’s ability to request a better contract from his employer, it just prevents him from fully holding out. Welcome to the era of the Hold IN!

A lengthy diatribe on the matter from Irsay also provided accidentally blunt insight into the thought process of NFL management. Many teams are willing to chew up and spit out running backs on cheap rookie contracts before replacing them with someone else on a rookie contract. That’s fine but, again, there’s no need to disrespect Taylor repeatedly in this process.

Particularly when the Colts are trying to groom and develop a rookie quarterback under the tutelage of a first-year head coach in Shane Steichen. An elite bellcow running back would go a LONG way towards helping Richardson’s development, especially when Richardson’s ability to run would emphasize and complement Taylor’s game perfectly, while simultaneously making life easier for the offensive line in a new scheme and system. 

Giving Taylor what amounts to a three-year deal (disguised in typical NFL fashion as a five-year deal) with loads of incentives and guaranteed money up front for the next two years would line him up perfectly with Richardson’s rookie contract. If you’re going to spend on a running back, do it while your quarterback is on his rookie deal. That’s not bad and might even be good business! 

Making matters worse is what the Colts want in terms of compensation for Taylor. Despite spending the entire offseason telling us the running back position is devalued and Taylor could be “out of the league” and no one would care or notice and it would be insane to pay Taylor significant money on a long-term deal, Indianapolis wants a first-round pick in return. 

Essentially Irsay spent the whole summer telling Taylor he’s not worth what he thinks he’s worth and now is trying to tell 31 other NFL teams Taylor’s worth way more than Irsay’s been saying he’s worth. None of it makes any sense, which is perfectly par for the course in Indianapolis these days.