The news yesterday was that the Colts have given Jonathan Taylor and his agent permission to seek a trade. This struck some as big news. I don't see it. If teams were beating down the Colts' doors with offers, there would be no need to release this news. More likely there are not a ton of suitors.
Consider: the season starts in a little over two weeks. Teams have gone through training camp and preseason with the players they have. Those who saw a need recently for a running back (Jets, Patriots) have signed a veteran. So for Taylor to be traded, there needs to be a team that 1) needs a starting running back, 2) wants to give the Colts a decent pick to acquire Taylor, and 3) wants to give Taylor a contract that makes him happy. All of those are big asks, especially when you consider that the team with the greatest need for a starting running back would be the Colts themselves, if they trade away Taylor.
For the sake of discussion, here's how I think the trade market breaks down.
Teams with zero interest in Taylor: Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Jacksonville, L.A. Chargers, L.A. Rams, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, N.Y. Giants, N.Y. Jets, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Tennessee, Washington. I count 22 NFL teams (23 if you include the Colts) who have a clear starting running back (and in some cases a solid No. 2) who's young, healthy, under contract or all three, and don't need to bring in a starting running back, or have shown no interest in the past of making a draft pick investment or hefty financial commitment to the position. Taylor does not make sense for any of these teams.
Teams that might make sense for Taylor: Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay. I don't think most of these teams make sense either, but I'll go through them one by one.
Arizona has 28-year-old James Conner and nothing else. Potentially they could view Taylor as an upgrade; certainly he has a longer career ahead of him. But the team seems to be tanking and investing big money or picks in a running back makes little sense.
Buffalo has James Cook who it seems ready to feature. But if they have any reservations about him, they could bring in Taylor and move Cook to a sidekick role. I don't think they'll do that, but it can't be simply dismissed.
Chicago has several starting options, but none are proven featured guys. Still, I think they'll give Khalil Herbert a shot, with D'Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson fallbacks.
Dallas has Tony Pollard. They could at least mull the idea of a dynamic 1-2 punch like when Ezekiel Elliott was in his prime. But financially it doesn't seem likely, particularly with them committing $10M to Pollard for this season.
We like Isiah Pacheco, but maybe his health is in question, or Super Bowl champion Kansas City wants an upgrade in a proven franchise guy. I doubt it, but it can't be ruled out.
Las Vegas could lift the franchise tag from Josh Jacobs and trade for Taylor. But why? He's just a year younger, would cost as much if not more money, and a draft pick or two would be required. Why not just pay Jacobs?
Miami didn't sign Dalvin Cook. But since that time DeVon Achane got hurt, Jeff Wilson is dealing with some sort of injury, and Raheem Mostert probably will get hurt. Again though, we're talking about money and picks when the team has already spent a decent amount of money and a third-round pick on the guys already on the roster. So maybe, but I don't think so.
Philadelphia has Gainwell, Swift and Penny. Taylor is better than all those guys, and they're trying to win a Super Bowl. This seems remotely possible to me, although again, if the Eagles were worried about their running back situation, why wait until now when there were some capable veterans out there.
Tampa Bay is going with unproven Rachaad White as its starter. I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a thought that they'd pursue Taylor. Working against it is the fact that they seem more like a rebuilding/tanking team for Caleb Williams than one that wants to commit big money or picks to a running back.
Long story short. The team that most needs Taylor is the Colts themselves, with a bunch of limited or worse backups. Maybe the relationship is totally broken, but I simply don't see a lot of options for him to be traded in the next couple of weeks.
Unless the Dolphins are willing to give up a good pick and money to bring him in, perhaps shipping off Mostert or Wilson in the deal, I'm not sure how something gets done.
--Andy Richardson