The Indianapolis Colts are going to need a team to come in with a big offer to actually trade Jonathan Taylor.
The Denver Broncos now have more incentive than offer to give the Colts exactly what they’re looking for.
For the Colts, Taylor is a player under contract through 2028. He doesn’t have to be traded away even as they sell off a bunch of players on expiring contracts, because Taylor isn’t in the last year of his deal. He signed an extension just this summer.
That contract status of Taylor means the Colts can hold out for an offer that knocks their socks off.
The Broncos might have to be prepared to do that, because their newest injury news sets them up to need to deal for an RB before the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline.
Denver was one of the teams listed in ESPN’s article this weekend about the Colts listening to trade offers for Taylor. And of those listed teams, it’s the Broncos who might have the largest immediate need.
Broncos Injury News Sets Up Jonathan Taylor Trade
The Broncos just lost RJ Harvey to an injury.
They placed him on injured reserve this weekend after he sustained a knee injury during practice in the lead-up to Week 8.
Denver is playing the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, but they won’t have Harvey.
The IR stint for Harvey means that he’ll be required to miss at least four games. It’s not clear exactly how bad the knee ailment is for Harvey, and he could be out longer than the four games — but it’s four games minimum.
The Broncos have Jonah Coleman and J.K. Dobbins — but Coleman is a fourth-round rookie, and Dobbins is an injury-prone veteran.
Certainly, neither of them are Taylor. If there was ever a nudge given to a team to go hard after a player, it was this Harvey injury for the Broncos.
Jonathan Taylor Trade Cost
Reports have indicated that Taylor could cost a handful of draft picks. The ESPN comparison was to the Christian McCaffrey trade from the Panthers to the 49ers — which cost a second-round pick, a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick.
The Colts would likely be even more amenable to a deal if a first-round pick was offered. But short of that, it seems like Indy will want both quality and quantity in its draft pick haul.
Indianapolis probably wouldn’t hate dealing Taylor to Denver — there are worse rivals and potential future opponents that JT could end up with.
Broncos’ Jonathan Taylor Trade Link Means More After Injury News