The Minnesota Vikings are among the teams reportedly having interest in the Indianapolis Colts’ Jonathan Taylor ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline. Nonetheless, the question is whether they want to give up the draft capital but make the financial commitment.
Alec Lewis, The Athletic’s Vikings reporter, noted that what could prevent Minnesota from making a blockbuster move for Taylor is the money. Taylor is under contract through the 2028 season after signing a two-year contract extension worth $44 million.
Minnesota has other pending free agents this offseason and other players needing contract extensions. As a result, the Vikings will need to analyze whether a Taylor trade makes financial sense.
“The complexity with Jonathan Taylor that I don’t think that many people have talked about, and it’s not the sexiest discussion point, but it dovetails exactly with what I’m just talking about as far as the amount of money that the Vikings are potentially going to have to spend to maintain some of their core players, potentially pay some kind of quarterback—extensions for Jordan Addison, Dallas Turner,” Lewis said on the Nov. 2 edition of “The Alec Lewis Show.”
“There are just a lot of players that are going to need to be paid, and Jonathan Taylor is owed upwards of $16 million if he’s on a team’s roster in 2027. Then that bumps up to around $17 million if he’s on the roster in 2028. Now, you might be saying, ‘Well, you could just rent him and cut him,’ but you’re not going to rent him for a second-round pick plus and then just cut him a year later. That’s not serviceable.”
Vikings Insider Not Ruling Out Potential Jonathan Taylor Trade
Meanwhile, Lewis noted the latest on the Taylor situation, and he still can’t rule out the possibility that the Vikings will put together an offer that allows them to land the Colts star.
“I’ve said from the beginning of this, probably three weeks ago, someone sent me a Twitter message like, ‘What do you think about Jonathan Taylor?’ And I said at the time, I can’t rule it out,” Lewis added. “I can’t rule that out as a possibility, knowing the amount of impact he could make on an offense that needs some kind of gasoline thrown on the fire to jump-start this thing.”
Taylor has played 412 snaps on offense so far for Indianapolis, leading to a 62.8 overall PFF grade. The Colts star has carried the ball 148 times for 610 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 4.1 yards per attempt on the ground and forcing 19 missed tackles as a runner.
Meanwhile, in the passing game, Taylor has caught 21 passes on 28 targets for 202 receiving yards.
Colts Urged to Trade Jonathan Taylor Before the Deadline
Despite Taylor not being on the wrong side of 30 and under contract for a couple more seasons, WTHR-TV’s Dominic Miranda stated that now is the time to trade the 27-year-old running back.
“As bad as it hurts, I understand there’s a lot of emotional equity here put in by Colts fans,” Miranda said in an Oct. 30 video from 1075 The Fan. “As bad as it hurts to see a guy who’s been an absolute beast since he stepped foot in Indianapolis and probably has three to five really good years left in the tank.
When you’re talking about Jonathan Taylor, under contract through 2028, 27 years old, in the absolute prime of his career, you have to maximize that value while you can. Because if you don’t, then you can’t really say you’re operating in the best interest of the franchise. I just don’t know if keeping him really sets you up for success later.”
Vikings Insider Reveals Big Hurdle for Potential Jonathan Taylor Trade