Chucklez

JT is travelling with the team to Philly, if that means anything. Could just be to avoid fines... but I mean, we haven't heard any fireworks between JT and the team in a while now. Could just be letting time pass for the media to lose interest and then quietly just get back to it? Probably just me being hopeful but who knows.

I got about 14 words into reading this and your complete and utterly baffling use of capitalised letters on seemingly random words was too distracting for me to read any further on.

Explain why. Seriosuly, what did they do (or not do) that warrants this reaction from you? How many sacks did they give up while they were in? What was their pressure rate on the QB while the first team was in? Heck.... pull up the footage and show me some screenshots of some plays where they were bad. Anything.... You can't just say "they stunk" because that fits your narrative....

And before anyone chimes in with "no RB is worth $10m a year" - yeah.... they are. That's just the premium you pay for an elite RB. Which JT is, so long as he is healthy - if he is cleared and healthy, i have no problem paying him $10m a year for 3 years - maybe somthing like $23m of which is guaranteed. Edit: this screenshot came out very small, copied text here: RANK PLAYER TEAM 2023 SALARY 1 Bijan Robinson Falcons $13.72M 2 Christian McCaffrey 49ers $12M t-3 Alvin Kamara Saints $11M t-3 Saquon Barkley Giants $11M 5 Aaron Jones Packers $10.96M 6 Nick Chubb Browns $10.85M 7 Jahmyr Gibbs Lions $10.73M 8 Derrick Henry Titans $10.5M 9 Tony Pollard Cowboys $10.09M 10 Dalvin Cook Jets $8.6M

This is exactly my point. He won't cost $15m a year because no one will pay him that. But he is definitely worth up to $10m a year.

This logic doesnt track either. Its not like we didnt sign a RG free agent because we were worried about a $4m difference on Taylors' contact vs other RBs that we could have.... You do realise that if we signed Taylor to say a $12m per year contract, his contract (as a huge offensive weapon/piece for us) would only work out to use up 5% of our entire cap space? And oh by the way, the NFL cap is only projected to increase from the curretn $224.8m this eason to $256m in 2024, and then again to $282m in 2025. These are projections, but thats a pretty strong projection. And on top of ALL of that, we have a QB on a rookie contract, so there is even MORE cap space for our team to throw around.

How could they not? Peyton Manning and his family are not the only family in the world who have "Manning" as their last name. How could they deny someone customising a jersey with that last name on it?

Yeah you guys are in a really good spot here, either way you potentially win big. Outcome A) - Fields shows that he is good and you can add some really good weapons for him with your 2 first round picks. Outcome B) - Fields shows the NFL is too big for him, you guys have a bad season and he can't cut it, you come away with a high pick already and you can use the other pick to make sure you can move into position for one of the big 2 QBs and move on. Either way, you will have options.

It's always a risk getting any player's Jersey. Heck, anyone who bought a manning jersey mustve surely thought to themselves that would be a safe pick because he would never be let go by the colts before he retired.... right?..... Like it has been posted up above, its very very rare for a player to stick with a single team their entire career. And its even riskier with rookies obviously. We could get 2 years down the line and Richardson stinks and is traded away for peanuts, or is cut.... Or he could be league MVP and he stays with us for the next 10 years..... Or he could get a career ending shoulder/neck injury.... anything can happen. Personally, I'd lay off getting a Richardson jersey until like midway through next year (depending on how he looked this year and the start of next). But even then, if you applied that logic to Taylor, youd have bought one of his and now look at where we are at with him. It's all a crapshoot. The safest pick is a nameless jersey or your own name on the back.

This could well be true. JT just needs to realise that isnt what the RB market is.... whether that is fair or not isnt really the point (personally i think RBs are being completely screwed over, but thats also besides the point). He is worth whatever people are willing to pay him. I could go tell my boss i think I'm worth double my salary as well, doesnt mean i'll get it. He is sour and upset, and i get it, he will just need to realise he isnt going to get what he wants, the only question remaining is have all of the bridges between him and the colts been burnt in the process of that? If they have, thats a massive shame, and it will be his own fault for handling this so poorly.

Genuine question, would you rather have JT on this team, or a WR who's contract is in the $12m range (assuming that is what it would take to sign JT- and thats on the higher end of the scale)? Here is a list of WR's for roughly that money: Corey Davis ($12.5m) Hunter Renfrow ($15.8m) Allen Lazard ($11m) Jakobi Meyers ($11m) Curtis Samuel ($11.5m) An old Deandre Hopkins ($13m) An old Odell Beckham Jr. ($15m) like..... come on. And if we are looking at what the RB Market currently actually is - here is the WR's for $8m - roughly $10m Zay Jones ($8m) An old Adam Thielen ($8,3m) JuJu Smith-Schuster ($8.5m) Russell Gage ($8.5m) An always hurt Tim Patrick ($10m) An old Michael Thomas who hasnt played well in years ($10m) Brandin can never stay with a team Cooks ($10m) Marquez Valdez-Scantling ($10m) Are you really telling me that JT isnt worth having as an offensive weapon over these guys?

Fair enough, and this would be my approach too. 100% he needs to show that he isnt still injured, how can any player expect an extension if they cant show they are healthy? I guess my beef is more with the NFL cognoscenti in general about their attitude towards game changing RBs rather than you or anyone on here specifically. A game changer is a game changer, no matter the position. Especially if they are at a "cheap" position., why would you not want to sign them (assuming they are healthy)?

There is a funny thing going on with RBs right now in the NFL which is contradictory to me. They are being devalued, because "you can win without an elite RB", right? So the entire RB market has depreciated in terms of their contract values. I get that. But then people are saying "There is no point in paying a really good running back because you can win without one." But this makes no sense... A really good RB is a really good running back, and because their "value" or contact value has depreciated so much.... you can have a really good RB for not really all that much money. So why the heck wouldnt you sign JT? Let's be real for a moment, JT unquestionably makes the Colts a better team.... right? The difference between him and Deon Jackson is noticable. Same with the difference between a player like Justin Jefferson and Alec Pierce. Justin Jefferson is going to set you back $30m a year, but a really good RB like Dalvin Cook is only going to set you back about $6m - $8m a year... Sure it is a passing league, but you cant tell me that those upper echelon RBs dont have an impact on your team. JT has been the engine of our offense - and if you need to pay him $10m a year, that to me is worth it. Yeah he carries an injury risk because hes a RB..... you gonna tell me WRs dont carry an injury risk too? The NFL Cap is the highest it has ever been.... $10m to heck, even $15m a season (Which aint even gonna happen because they are "devalued") on a RB is not really all that much for someone who has a real impact on your team's chances of winning or not.

I still disagree with the logic here and specifically with applying it to JT all of a sudden. If you asked any Colts fan 5 weeks ago what their opinion of Taylor was and what the expectation for him this coming year are, they would almost universally have been excited for this season and expecting him to be coming out guns blazing. Now with the contact sitch coming to light, all of a sudden its all doom and gloom and he probably cant play anymore, or he is breaking down. The timing of all of this doom and gloom on him is just a bit too convenient for the nay sayers now. JT is still an elite RB and a game changer.

Did you actually pay any attention to the game? Did you see our starting OL vs the Bills starting DL? While there is always room for improvement in general, our OL held their own and you could even argue "won" against the Bills starting DL. It's only preseason and its all very vanilla, but there are positive signs for our OL compared to last year. RG is still an issue, but thats a heck of a lot easier of an issue to deal with than LT being a problem like it was entering last season.

This argument about the number of carries has always baffled me.... First of all, not every carry is the same, not every tackle is the same, and not every player reacts to being tackled the same. Some players are bigger and tackles imapct them less, some players are more protective of themselves, some arent. Just blanket stating that every carry is equal and that therefore equals the "tread" you have as a player, is just ridiculous. Sure it can be an indicator, but if you are going to sit there and tell me it is more important than someone's literal age, then get outa here. Taylor is 4 years younger than Zeke, but because he has just over 100 more carries, he has "more tread".... Nah.

Dont forget the 2011 season before we got Luck. That season was the definition of pain as a fan.

I think he will still probably get the 1st quarter, the kid just plain and simple needs the game reps.

I think it became apparent to everybody watching the first preseason game that once AR came back and played reasonably fine and didnt seem completely overwhelmed after his initial INT (that wasnt entirely on him, but it still was an ill advised throw), that he would be named the starter, there is just so much more potential there and it doesnt look like he is the type of player to crumple under the pressure or to become "broken" by starting "too soon". Get him in there and let him fly.

This is the crux of the problem for NFL RBs though. This only works if you continue to stay healthy year after year... but the RB position is the position that doesnt stay healthy year after year (unless you are a freak like Derrek Henry - who lets face it, is a unicorn). They want multi year extensions with some guaranteed money because of the risk of their position, and teams understandably dont want to pay them that because of that risk.... its a sticky situation that i can see from both sides, buts its definitely not fair on the RBs.

$8m in 1 year is more than enough to last you your entire lifetime, and your kids' too. Just live within your means. You dont have to go and by a $4m mansion or 5 Ferrari's etc. Nevermind whatever he will have made over the course of his entire career when he retires around early 30s...... And hundres of thousands of dollars to take care of the beating you body took is chump change when youve made like $40m in your 8 years of working. Give me $40m over 10 years or so and watch me never work a day in my life again after being 30 years old.

I know it's all relative, but I would not be turning my nose up at like $8m a year. That would set me up for life.....

Despite it all and the fact that this could've been handled much better by JT and his agent, I actually feel pretty bad for JT. He has been the engine to our offense and one of the only bright spots the last few years. No one can deny the impact he has on our team and how good he is. It's a damn shame the market for RB's is what it is, but here we are. I for one hope that not all of the bridges were totally burned and the Colts and he can all come to a common ground and get him back playing and happy (or as happy as he can be with the situation) again.

No problem, I don't recall ever seeing it anywhere before myself, but then again I don't have 40 years of looking at depth charts experience. I am "only" 33 so I haven't even been alive as long as you have been following the NFL/football.

The "casual" fan is not buying season tickets my dude. And JT being injured or not is not stopping season ticket holders buying their season tickets. Players get injured all the time, even if JT was entering camp fully healthy with no concerns whatsoever, it is entirely possible that in game 1 he breaks a leg or tears his achilles and is out for the season anyway. This is the NFL.... injuries happen, if anyone is buying a season ticket expecting to see any 1 player every other week, they should probably be putting mommy and daddy's credit card down. We have you surrounded. Place the tinfoil hat on the ground and move away.