NFL Rumors: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor Requests Trade amid Contract Fight, Irsay Comments

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has formally requested a trade following a meeting with owner Jim Irsay on his bus Saturday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Taylor’s agent, Malki Kawa, notably retweeted and seemingly confirmed Rapoport’s report.

Irsay responded with a surprising quote:

Meanwhile, the owner told Albert Breer of MMQB that he does not intend to trade Taylor at any point, “end of discussion.”

The relationship between the Taylor camp and Irsay and the Colts clearly soured after the owner issued this tweet regarding running backs encountering significant trouble getting paid like their peers this season:

Kawa made his opinions on the matter clear in some Twitter responses:

Taylor previously told reporters this summer that he’s seeking a contract extension and wanted to be a Colt for life. But now he’s seeking a trade after just three seasons in town.

Star running backs have notably tried and failed to get suitable long-term contracts from their teams this offseason, including the Los Angeles Chargers’ Austin Ekeler, the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs and the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Pollard.

Taylor is also on that list, and he was reportedly “visibly frustrated” during a meeting with other running backs about their current predicaments, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

As for Irsay, he previously told ESPN’s Stephen Holder that his tweet wasn’t directed at Taylor specifically:

“The comment wasn’t really directed at Jonathan,” Irsay said in a phone interview.

“We haven’t exchanged any contract numbers with each other or anything like that. So, it’s not like we’re in the midst of that. I think we had a tough season last year. Didn’t win a lot of games. This is a year about coming back together and having a great year and we’re really depending on Jonathan to team up with [quarterback] Anthony Richardson to try and pull together to have a great year.”

Irsay also made clear, though, that the team would not be offering Taylor a contract extension this offseason.

“We love Jonathan, we need Jonathan,” Irsay said. “Our hope is Jonathan has an outstanding year and that we have a good year as a team and then we get his next contract done. That’s the hope. We think the world of him as a person, as a player. It’s just timing. When your time comes to get paid, then you get paid.”

Irsay also offered this comment, which Taylor and his camp may not entirely agree with at the moment:

For his part, Taylor said publicly that he understood why players have requested trades.

“You see why guys request trades,” Taylor said last month, per Holder. “They just want to feel valued by not only their coaches, their teammates, but the organization as well.”

One can infer that Taylor no longer feels valued by the organization after this week’s events, and now the ball is apparently in the Colts’ court regarding Taylor’s reported trade request.

Taylor, 24, was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The former Wisconsin star broke out in 2021 by posting NFL highs of 2,171 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns. That followed a season with 1,468 total yards and 12 scores. He missed six games due to ankle injuries last season, but he still eclipsed 1,000 scrimmage yards (1,004 total).