It's remarkably difficult to figure out exactly what the Indianapolis Colts want in regards to the Jonathan Taylor situation. Taylor, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract and has not been offered an extension by the Colts, has requested a trade. The running back's request came hours after meeting with team owner Jim Irsay several weeks ago and comes in the midst of frustration for Taylor and NFL running backs in general in regards to compensation in-line with workload and contributions to their respective offenses.
The Colts were, at first, seemingly unwilling to explore a trade and honor Taylor's request. Then, suddenly, they changed gears, but with a notable twist: A trade needed to get done by Tuesday, an artificial deadline put in place by the Colts according to NFL rumors.
Why Tuesday? Well, logic would suggest it's because that's the day teams need to trim their training camp rosters down to 53 before Week 1. While a trade gets slightly more difficult after Tuesday, it's not impossible after that point. The deadline is entirely self-imposed and may be just that the Colts want to put the drama with Taylor behind themselves ahead of Week 1 so they can focus on football.
We'll soon find out how real the Colts are about Jonathan Taylor trade deadline
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported on Tuesday morning that Indy has yet to receive substantial offers for Taylor. This comes after ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that two teams have made offers to the Colts, with six teams inquiring in total. Clearly, those two offers weren't enough.
With the deadline on a trade coming up, we'll soon find out just how real that limit is for the Colts. Will they truly shut off all negotiations after the deadline passes if Taylor is not traded by the end of the day? Or was that deadline leaked out to drum up the interest and try to squeeze out a big, last-minute offer from a team desperate to add a new running back?
And if he's not traded, what will it take for the Colts to reopen the door around the trade deadline? Will they need to be a losing team? Furthermore, will Taylor report, or will he continue to hold out and risk losing out on paychecks if the Colts don't find him a new home?
It seems like bad business to limit the market at the start of the season. If the Colts were to keep things open-ended, they could drum up offers all the way through to the trade deadline later this year. This writer believes the deadline to be a bluff to get a big offer before the season starts.
If it is, in fact, a bluff, we're about to realize how serious they were. Stay tuned!