The Indianapolis Colts are definitely selling players before the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline.
They traded Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, which started the sale.
The Colts are likely far from done. The next two guys that a lot of analysts seem to think will go are WR Josh Downs, who requested a trade, and DT Grover Stewart. Both of those players are in the final year of their current contracts and would be free agents at the end of this season.
That makes them a lot different from Jonathan Taylor, whose name continues to come up but who seems not as likely as that duo to be traded.
Taylor isn’t in the last year of his deal, which changes the equation entirely.
The latest update here came from Sports Illustrated’s national NFL writer, Albert Breer.
Jonathan Taylor Trade Update With Cost
Breer laid out quite simply the reason that Taylor won’t be a sure thing to move before the deadline. He also summed up what it’s going to cost.
“Less likely is Jonathan Taylor getting moved,” Breer writes. “My understanding is that Indy would need a significant haul to part with the face of its franchise, who signed a three-year extension earlier this year and is perhaps the only real marketable star left on the roster.”
A “significant haul” is up for interpretation, but it’s safe to assume the Colts would really want at least one first-round pick to move Taylor.
Indianapolis doesn’t currently have its 2027 first-round pick. The New York Jets do as part of the return in the 2025 Sauce Gardner trade.
Gardner has been great at cornerback for the Colts, but the rest of their roster hasn’t made it worth having him up to this point.
Good News, Bad News on Jonathan Taylor for a 1st-Round Pick
The good news for the Colts’ chances of getting a first-round pick for Taylor is that the Tennessee Titans just got two first-rounders from the Chicago Bears for Jeffery Simmons.
Simmons is a stud defensive tackle, and that’s a position generally held in higher regard at the top level in the NFL — shown by Simmons making more money per year than Taylor. But if Simmons can fetch two firsts, maybe the Colts can find one for Taylor.
The bad news is that when the Carolina Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey in the middle of the season earlier this decade, they didn’t get a first-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers. Running backs simply aren’t valued as highly as you’d think they are — it’s probably the biggest imbalance between fan perception and team perception in the league.
Taylor is one of the best RBs there is and would demand a solid return. It’s not clear if the Colts could get a first-rounder, though.
Here’s What It Would Take For Colts To Trade Jonathan Taylor