Jonathan Taylor likely didn’t expect to be involved in trade rumors six weeks into this season.
The Indianapolis Colts‘ superstar running back just signed a contract extension in the offseason, but the Colts’ season is on the verge of falling off the rails.
Indy is 2-4, having just lost to the previously winless Tennessee Titans.
The Colts also just fired their general manager, Chris Ballard.
If they don’t win games in the next few weeks, it feels like everything is on the table ahead of the NFL trade deadline in early November.
And that appears to include Taylor, with a bunch of analysts and reporters noting it as a possibility.
Taylor, for his part, isn’t thinking heavily about it.
“I haven’t given it any thought,” Taylor said, via The Athletic’s James Boyd. “That’d be crazy right now. Especially we’ve got a great Minnesota Vikings team that we have to go against. It would be a discredit, a disservice to my teammates and this whole organization to think about what could, what should, what may be. It’s what’s happening right now. Right now it’s a Thursday. We’ve got there and we’ve got to focus on third down. It’s not gonna get any easier. No one’s gonna feel sorry for us. Oh, our general manager is gone. No one’s gonna feel sorry for us. They’re gonna say, let’s try to kick them while they’re down. So we’ve gotta pull ourselves up and we’ve gotta fight.”
The rest of the Colts’ orbit is likely contemplating it more intensely, though. It would be a huge move.
And one team — the New York Giants — would serve as a fascinating destination.
Jonathan Taylor to Giants?
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper named the Giants as one top trade fit for Taylor.
It’s a fascinating direction, and one that would put Taylor in a big spotlight in the New York media market.
It would also make sense. The Giants can’t figure out running back, and getting Taylor would make it a much easier decision.
Last week, they played Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary and Najee Harris all for snaps at RB.
They then cut Harris, but it’s still an odd setup because Skattebo is getting much less work than anyone expected.
Taylor would solve the Giants’ problems by removing any real decision-making and just bringing in a workhorse to be on the field almost all the time.
What Giants Can Offer
The Colts are depleted in draft picks because of the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Giants would be a reasonable trading partner because they possess all of their own early-round picks over the next two seasons. They don’t have extras in the early rounds, so maybe they’d be hesitant, but the Colts could at least ask for pretty much anything because the Giants do have their own picks.
New York would have to feel good about its chances this season and in the next couple to really trade away first- or second-round picks for Taylor, but maybe that’s in play.
Colts’ Jonathan Taylor Linked to Giants Trade