The Indianapolis Colts and Quenton Nelson could soon find themselves in a tricky spot.
The Colts just fired their GM, Chris Ballard, and are on the verge of having their season crumble.
Nelson hasn’t yet agreed to a contract extension with Indy, making him a player they would risk losing if they make it to the end of the season without any kind of deal.
And so that has brought about trade rumors. Nelson is one of a number of veterans that the Colts could consider trading — and if that happened, it would be unusual.
Quenton Nelson Trade Rumors
The Colts have a whole list of players who could be on the move if the right offer presented itself.
“High-profile veteran players such as offensive lineman Quenton Nelson, defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, and wide receivers Josh Downs and Keenan Allen are on contracts that expire at the end of the season,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote as part of a new article on Wednesday. “If the Colts (who are without a 2027 first-round pick as a result of last year’s Sauce Gardner trade) want to try to regain some draft capital, they could look to deal some players who they don’t view as part of their future.”
A list with names like Nelson, Buckner and Downs is a scary one for Colts fans, who surely don’t want to see their team lose those players.
Above the rest, Nelson would present a fascinating NFL case study.
What Would Make Quenton Nelson Trade Different
Offensive linemen like Nelson seem much more likely to extend with their current team than other positions.
There are a bunch of top linemen who spend most or all of their career with one team. Nelson seemed destined to be one of them.
And because that’s a trend with some of the best offensive linemen, they aren’t often available in trades, particularly in the middle of the season.
“What Indianapolis does with Nelson will be fascinating,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote as part of a new article on Wednesday. “He’s a legacy Colt, a 2018 first-round draft pick and frequent All-Pro. But the team did not aggressively pursue an extension this summer, and rarely do premier O-linemen become available at the deadline.”
The fact that the Colts and Nelson made it this far without a contract extension certainly raised this as a possibility, even before the Ballard firing and rough start to the season on the field for Indianapolis.
But now it’s getting more real. Nelson could really end up on the move. There aren’t many players like him who have gotten traded in the middle of the season before.
Colts’ Quenton Nelson Trade Rumors Point to Unusual NFL Outcome