The Indianapolis Colts and Jonathan Taylor might have just a few days left together.
As of Friday, it still looks like Taylor will suit up and play for the Colts in Week 9 on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. But then the NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10, and Taylor could be moved by then.
Taylor has been an unusual case from the beginning, because he has two years remaining on his contract that he just extended over the summer. He’ll be on this current deal through 2028, meaning there’s no true urgency for the Colts to trade him.
But a brutal start to the season in Indianapolis that has included a fired GM and multiple sell-off trades already has opened the door a lot wider to a Taylor trade. At this point, it seems very possible to happen.
Updates continue to trickle out on this, but one from late Thursday night by NFL insider James Palmer is particularly notable.
Jonathan Taylor Expects Trade
As part of his segment after Thursday Night Football, Palmer shared that Taylor is actually expecting to be traded.
“There are teams like the Vikings or the Giants or the Broncos or the Packers who are still interested in Jonathan Taylor,” Palmer said. “They’ve all contacted the Colts. There’s been a couple of offers in there, but nothing to the level that Indianapolis is looking for. My understanding is Jonathan Taylor expects to be traded. We’ll see if somebody gets up there.”
It does seem notable that this report says Taylor expects to be traded. He hasn’t quite let on to that during his press conferences, but it’s fair for Taylor to have seen all the reporting and think this could really happen.
It’s always tough for players to get traded from a life perspective — a lot changes in short order — but it sounds like Taylor is probably being realistic about how this process could end.
Jonathan Taylor Latest Comments
Taylor did speak with reporters in Indianapolis on Thursday, and it mostly sounds like he’s just ready for this to be over, however it turns out.
“No one wants uncertainty,” Taylor said Thursday, via ESPN. “Until the past couple weeks, it’s kind of been the same thing. But it won’t be until Tuesday at [4 p.m.] where you’ll know exactly what’s going on, you’ll know exactly what the verdict is.”
The Colts still have a lot of business to take care of. It seems like Josh Downs and Grover Stewart, as well as potentially Keenan Allen and Spencer Shrader, could be traded — they’re all in the last year of their contract.
Taylor is the big wild card, but also the biggest potential trade chip left on the NFL market. And one way or the other, this saga will be over soon.
Colts’ Jonathan Taylor Own Trade Expectation Tells Whole Story