NFL Rumors: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, Jim Irsay Meet amid Contract Dispute

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Indianapolis Colts’ star Jonathan Taylor is the latest running back to experience the struggle of securing a lavish, multi-year contract.

After team owner Jim Irsay told ESPN’s Stephen Holder that he had not yet offered the running back a contract extension as he enters the final season of his rookie deal, Taylor met with team owner Jim Irsay on his bus Saturday during training camp, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Shortly after the meeting, Rapoport broke the news that Taylor formally requested a trade out of Indianapolis.

The relationship between Irsay and Taylor’s camp have gotten publicly tense over the past few days after Irsay spoke out on the situation surrounding the value of running back contracts around the league, going on to say that “some agents are selling ‘bad faith.'”

Soon after that, Taylor’s agent Malki Kawa clapped back on his own Twitter account, telling Irsay that “Bad faith is not paying your top offensive player.” A clear shot at the Colts’ lack of negotiations with his client.

Unfortunately, it seems like things haven’t gotten much better, though Saturday’s meeting is at least a decent sign.

ESPN’s Stephen Holder broke down just how bad things are between the two parties while responding to a fan’s question on Twitter. He wrote that things “seem to be unraveling and that everything is on the table right now,” adding later that the relationship is “”much worse than you think.”

Tensions are high around the league when it comes to running backs this offseason, especially after Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard have all failed to secure long-term deals, instead receiving the franchise tag from their respective organizations.

Pittsburgh running back Najee Harris suggested that the players association should explore ways to improve pay for running backs, possibly even renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement, which sparked Irsay’s tweet.

“For them to say that the running back position, you’re slotted at this much money, I don’t think that’s right, because of what we’re asked to do,” Harris told reporters in Pittsburgh. “There’s a lot of running backs who’s doing receiving. There’s a lot of running backs blocking and all that stuff. For you to just say ‘running back’ and that’s our market, and if it doesn’t hit that, then it goes down lower, that’s not right. They need to change that.”

In his first three professional seasons, Taylor has established himself as one of the elite rushers in the NFL, leading the league in rushing in 2021 with 1,811 yards to go along with 18 touchdowns.

Last season was the first time that Taylor had to miss time due to an ankle injury, playing in just 11 games and landing on injured reserve late in the year. He finished out with 861 yards and four touchdowns.

Taylor showed up to training camp but was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list Tuesday afternoon, per Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. The designation could be attributed to the arthroscopic procedure he underwent on his ankle in January.