What has Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said about the Jonathan Taylor trade request? Some would say too much.
With the NFL running back crisis reaching its pinnacle, Jonathan Taylor formally requested a trade from the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday following a meeting with owner Jim Irsay. Taylor is in the final year of his rookie contract and has not received the long-term financial commitment he desires.
This is nothing new, of course. NFL trade requests are an offseason staple and there are several ongoing holdouts around the league due to contractual disputes, including a very similar situation in Las Vegas with Raiders star RB Josh Jacobs.
The league has decided it will no longer pay running backs, which can make it tough for a star of Taylor's caliber to feel properly appreciated. The Colts should explore trading him, as opposed to losing him for nothing in a year, but Jim Irsay doesn't appear ready to grant Taylor's request.
In fact, Irsay has been rather vocal about the matter. His comments can be accurately described as … strange.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay perfects super villain persona with Jonathan Taylor comments
Most owners would play coy or make political statements when their best player demands a trade. The Colts are at the very beginning of a rebuild centered on No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson.
The Taylor era was doomed to end eventually, especially with how the RB market is shaping up. He's the most established weapon on the team — no wonder Indy wants him to stick around — but hey, if the Colts really wanted to keep him, they could pay him.
Seeing as that's not going to happen, the logical next step is to bite the bullet and trade Taylor. Even with RB value in the dumpster and Taylor entering the final year of his contract, he's 24 years old and arguably the best player in the NFL at his position. Somebody would give up assets to get him.
Alas, Jim Irsay is very adamant. The Colts will not trade Jonathan Taylor.
This reads as a rather childish text from Irsay, who clearly is married to the business side of football more than the player relationship side. But okay, the Colts aren't going to honor the request. Taylor is under contract, he doesn't have the control in this scenario. So be it. That's all Irsay needs to say.
But, it doesn't stop there.
Okay, Jim. We get it. The Colts are the gold standard organization. Taylor won't get traded. Understood. Just, don't say anything else, okay? It's bad PR.
Wait… oh, no.
Oh, Jim. This one is hard to fully grasp. Irsay appears to be wrestling with his own mortality while simultaneously painting Taylor as self-important and out of touch. Well, unfortunately, it's Irsay who comes off as out of touch here. Taylor has earned some level of consideration from the franchise after leading the NFL in rushing in 2021 and quickly ascending the ranks of the best RBs in football.
If anything, Irsay is accidentally offering up a pretty strong indictment of fan culture and how we treat the human beings who make our favorite sports leagues run. He's not entirely off base — we'd all move on — but maybe we should take a second to appreciate the folks behind the facemasks who put on a show for us every Sunday at great personal risk.
That's simply the thought of one man, however, and this man does not own the Indianapolis Colts. Jim Irsay does and he therefore has some say over Taylor's NFL future, much to the RB's chagrin. We will certainly get more updates on this situation as training camp unfolds, but for now, expect the Colts-Taylor stalemate to continue.