The New York Giants may have to play most or the entire rest of this NFL season without their franchise quarterback, Jaxson Dart.
The news that emerged Tuesday afternoon suggests that Dart may miss a large chunk of time with a knee injury sustained in a Monday Night Football loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
That’s going to create all kinds of theories about what the Giants should do, from in-house options to free agency to trades.
And if they want to take a big but risky trade swing, one option stands out among all the rest.
How about the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson? It’s an idea that’s out there.
Anthony Richardson to Giants?
The Sporting News’ senior NFL writer Vinnie Iyer suggested this idea in an article on Tuesday afternoon.
After naming a bunch of safe veteran options (think Gardner Minshew and Carson Wentz), Iyer ended his column with Richardson.
“This is the absolute wildcard trade option,” Iyer writes. “Richardson, the disappointing No. 4 overall draft pick from 2023, wasn’t moved in the offseason by the Colts, who are about to be big sellers at 0-2. Riley Leonard didn’t inspire filling in for Daniel Jones last season, but he does have some experience as the No. 2.”
Iyer makes a fair point that if the Colts don’t turn things around in a hurry, they can either bench Jones to play Richardson, or they can trade Richardson and start looking immediately toward the future.
The Giants might have the setup A-Rich needs to succeed, too.
“Indianapolis has nothing to lose taking calls on Richardson at this point,” Iyer writes. “The Giants, between Nagy and offensive assistant Greg Roman, who once got the best out of Colin Kaepernick and Lamar Jackson as running quarterbacks, can give Richardson the reclamation support he needs.”
This doesn’t feel so much like a case of whether the Giants would do this. Richardson is a tools-y QB, much like Dart. The question is whether the Colts would play ball.
“The Giants have nothing to lose, either. Dart is their franchise quarterback when healthy,” Iyer writes. “They won’t be expected to win much with Winston, anyway, given their defense has issues. It’s more likely they go a route such as Minshew or (Andy) Dalton, but it would be a lot of fun to see what they can do calling plays for Richardson with some notable coaching and personnel support.”
Anthony Richardson Contract
Richardson’s contract does play a role here.
He’s in the final year of his rookie deal. If the Colts don’t trade him this season, he heads to free agency after the year.
While the return cost might not be high, Indy will likely consider dealing Richardson if there isn’t an obvious path to him signing a new deal to stay in town.
The former No. 4 overall pick could likely use a change of scenery. Maybe the bright lights of New York to fill-in for Dart could be the answer.
Colts QB Named as Jaxson Dart Replacement Option for Giants Injury