philba101

I know hindsight is always 20/20, but the Colts should have traded for Ekeler when he was available this summer. I would rather be paying a RB $8 million/year who catches 100+ plus balls and scores double digit TD's (something none of our current WR's have ever done) than wasting our time teaching a lesson to the current RB on our roster who has made it clear that he no longer wants to play for us. This strategy by Ballard and Irsay (whether they were caught off guard or not) is hurting our group of players that suit up every week. S*** or get off the pot on this one. Trade him for a player that will immediately help our team and never look back. Yes, it is okay to take less for a player than you thought you might get. Why? Because that same player is not worth anything to your team if he refuses to play for it.

I was curious about this as well. Just what is Ballard seeing that makes him think this relationship is repairable? Taylor's agent is sure not hinting at anything. Taylor himself doesn't seem to be furthering that narrative. Maybe the Colts are taking this approach so they can say when they finally get rid of him, that they left an open door for this relationship to get repaired, if Taylor elects not to explore that, then the Colts can use that as justification to trade him for less (than a 1st-rounder) and move on. Maybe Ballard and Irsay know exactly what they are going to do with Taylor after four games, but right now it at least publicly looks like they are either not sure what to do or are content to let this drag out.

It is a fair point. If he is injured and out of shape he is not very valuable offensive player to us or any other team for that matter. All things being equal, if you asked teams around the league if they wanted to start their season with a healthy JT or a healthy Zack Moss at RB, I am guessing everybody is going to pick Taylor. Don't get me wrong, I am not defending Taylor here. He deserves most/all of the blame for this ongoing drama. I think he is being very selfish, if he is lying about his injury, even worse. I guess my point is, if you are Ballard and Irsay, at what point do you decide it is time to just move on and trade him? Is that after 4 games, or 8 games? I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't like the optics of letting this drag on all season and into another offseason. I don't think that functionally helps this team now or moving forward.

It is a legitimate thought process. If we stack another 4 and 12 season onto last year, regardless of expectations, there could be significant fallout. An objective evaluation of this team puts that record well within reason. For the players' sake, hopefully we win 5+, 6+, or even 8+ games. In the worst case scenario, it is not unreasonable to think that many veterans might want to move on to a more competitive franchise. On the flip side it would also complicate the team's ability to bring in new talent outside of the draft. Players watch this more carefully than we imagine. It is not surprising that everybody wants to play for a winner.

I agree with and understand most of what you are saying here. I understand what the Colts are hoping Taylor will do, I am just not convinced that he will do it. I do respectfully disagree that the Colts aren't out much with Taylor on the sidelines, in that case I feel like he is both hurting himself and his team by being selfish. I also get the part about setting a bad precedent with trading a player every time they get disgruntled and request it. On a local radio program the other day, they mentioned that three Colts players have requested trades from the team in the last 12 months. (Hines privately, and Gilmore and Taylor, publicly). This trend bothers me even though I understand there are always going to be a lot of unhappy people anytime a team finishes 4 and 12. I just don't want this to trend to continue if we do something like produce another 4 and 12 season this year.

I get what you are saying. I get the "next man up mentality," but it has to be frustrating to those players to not have their best player suited up for each game. I just know that players on the team and around the league watch management carefully when situations like this take place. I worry if players feel that Ballard/Irsay have their backs and are doing everything in their power to make this team better every week regardless of this year's expectations.

Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated. As I have stated, I have no problems with the Colts "simply waking Taylor to the reality of the situation he is in" as you put it. I am not defending Taylor in any way here. What I can't figure out is what is the Colts end game with this approach? Why would the Colts not be worried about getting anything for Taylor? Regardless of where you stand on this ongoing drama, the reality is that this situation takes the Colts best offensive player off the field. Like an injury of a star, that directly affects the performance of the team right now. People on this forum have said "well who cares, we (the Colts) are not expected to do anything this year anyway. That may or may not be true, but the guys who will be lacing it up for the next 17 weeks don't want to hear that. They want to know that their GM and owner are doing everything in their power to help them feel like they can be a winning team. This approach by management doesn't feel that way to me. Of course that is just my opinion. Maybe consider that there are opinions other than your own next time before starting a post with an insult.

I agree, so why are the Colts doing this whole "we want to repair this relationship" game right now? What experience with Taylor's new agent makes them believe this is achievable?

Certainly the Colts knew this could possibly backfire on them right? What was/is their contingency plan if Taylor doesn't come crawling back to them and ask to play at some point? Are we going to PUP list him all year, maybe suspend him? Again, this leaves the Colts 23-24 roster with nothing to show for their efforts, and again leaves this whole situation in other's hand. I am having real trouble understanding why management insists on playing this long-game with Taylor and praying that they somehow come out of this whole fiasco smelling like roses. Our GM looked like a teenager sitting at the press conference yesterday, slumped over with his hat pulled down over his eyes and bemoaning how this situation "really sucks." You are the GM, are you expecting someone else to fix this problem? I don't understand this approach.

And why are you (or the Colts for that matter) convinced a contender is going to pay top compensation for a player who hasn't proven that he is healthy yet? Did they naively believe Taylor would come crawling back to them and beg to play when he didn't get traded? The down side to this foolish game that the Colts are playing is that they have nothing as long as Taylor sits on the sideline. Taylor's value then goes up over time? I suppose what you are saying could happen, but this is a big assumption/gamble by the Colts. If no one ponies up any compensation for Taylor and he sits out all year, what do you have to show for it as a franchise this season? The upside is supposed to be that we taught him a lesson and can go through all this drama again next off-season? This kind of thinking/approach by management leaves all of the outcomes in other people's hands. Trade him to the highest bidder and be done with it. Get a weapon for your rookie QB out of it and never look back.

Also: R. Blankenship P.J. Walker D. Patmon M. Haack M. Badgley K. Coutee P. Dorsett N. Kalinic F. Rhyne L. Clark

Well stated.

Just to clarify, I am not defending Taylor. I wanted him gone. Are you saying that Taylor wasn't tradeable because he hadn't passed a physical? Rapoport and Garafolo both said that the Colts had multiple offers on the table but didn't take them because they wanted a least 1st-round pick which was not offered. Why are teams making offers if Taylor is not tradeable? Not being argumentative because I respect your opinions, but I am truly confused here.

I agree with you here, and I am going to be here rooting them on. I am not supporting Taylor in any way here. What I am upset about is that management/ownership has allowed this situation to come to this at the beginning of another season. We are starting another season with this distraction hanging over our heads, and we relegated our rookie QB to playing the first quarter of the season without the team's top offensive weapon. I just wanted the drama over. According to Rapoport and Garafolo the Colts didn't trade Taylor because they didn't get at least a late first round pick. I would have been happy with a 2nd or 3rd and maybe a player like Mostert or J. Wilson Jr. Move on and play the season like you described without all the distractions.

Unfortunately, this is the Colts kicking themselves also for committing to not having their top offensive weapon for awhile.

According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the Colts received multiple offers for JT. However, they wanted at least a late 1st rounder which they did not receive. Therefore, they decided not to trade him. Were the Colts being unrealistic in expecting to get a first-round pick for a player coming off an injury who no longer wants to play for them? The obvious answer is yes. They should have got some picks and a player who could help now, and move on from JT. Instead, Ballard and Irsay are going to ask their rookie QB to go at least the 1st quarter of the season without our top offensive weapon. So we taught JT a lesson. Big deal, that decision hurts this team right now and the drama continues to hang over the team going forward. That is a lose-lose start to the season in my mind.

Depends what you trade him for. If we could have gotten a draft pick and Jeff Mostert from the Dolphins then you take it. Right now our expected #1 RB is Zach Moss. Moss is coming off a broken arm, has never played more than 13 games in a season, and never topped 456 yards in a season.

I understand all of those things, I really do, but none of them help this team right now. Do we really want to tag a player who sits all year so we can go through all this drama with him again next season? Maybe we can teach him a lesson next season by refusing to trade him. Then we will have made our point two offseasons in a row, how cool would that be? (saracasm if you cant tell)

I get the whole we taught Jonathan Taylor a lesson ideaology....but how does that help the Colts right now?

You are correct. Again how does this benefit the Colts? We taught Jonathan Taylor a lesson? We got nothing unless he steps off the sideline. Just what we want, a reluctant player punching the clock for six games so he can get credit for the season, and then bolt out the door at the end of the year.

Assuming he is not injured, trade him. The guy stated that he doesn't want to play for the Colts. We shouldn't be holding anyone captive who doesn't want to be a part of our team. We sure did a good job of demanding a number one pick for him. Congratulations! That has left the Colts with what exactly? He is of no value to anyone sitting on the frickin PUP list. Furthermore, the problem/distraction still remains for the team. Can't wait for someone to try to convince me that this was all a part of Ballard's master plan to make this team a contender. You know it's coming.

Nope. PUP list.....what a waste How does this help the Colts roster? Ballard and Irsay need to get their s**** together

Colts not activating Taylor from the PUP list. That means he will miss the first 4 games even if traded. https://nfltraderumors.co/colts-not-activating-rb-jonathan-taylor-from-pup-list/ What a waste. The Colts should have just dealt him to the highest bidder. This will be an ongoing distraction for the team. In my eyes Ballard and Irsay are off to another rocky start this year.

Melvin Gordon just released by the Ravens........Will JT play or not since it doesn't look like he is getting traded today?

The Jets have released 2nd-year RB Zonavan Knight. Knight accumulated 400 all purpose yards in just seven games last season with the Jets. He may be somebody to look at depending on what happens with Taylor in the next 24 hours.