Jonathan Taylor comments on his contract/Request trade (Merge)

[2006Coltsbestever]

24 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

 

I think it has happened a lot. We just didn't know it. How many players have had concussions and sent back out to play!

 

I don't know if that happened with JT but it has happened with others.

It has happened, but it is because the player wants to play and wants to win - Philip Rivers 2007 AFC Title Game, my point is, a player knows if can or cannot go, he can't be forced to play. If he is injured and doesn't want to play, he won't. If Taylor played injured, that is of his own doing and probably felt like he could play. 

[throwing BBZ]

3 hours ago, philba101 said:

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. 

 

 Perhaps. Yet best done pre-draft 2024.

[1959Colts]

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/report-packers-dolphins-were-willing-to-make-jonathan-taylor-among-highest-paid-running-backs-in-nfl

 

Report: Packers, Dolphins were willing to make Jonathan Taylor “among” highest-paid running backs in NFL

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

45 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

 

Ok. We have seen players at practice who are not practicing. Wasn't JT shown on the side watching his teammates practice early in training camp??

Yep, hoodie and all, then Taylor did this after practice 

[RollerColt]

25 minutes ago, 1959Colts said:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/report-packers-dolphins-were-willing-to-make-jonathan-taylor-among-highest-paid-running-backs-in-nfl

 

Report: Packers, Dolphins were willing to make Jonathan Taylor “among” highest-paid running backs in NFL

 

 

Since this keeps getting repeated, we’ll repeat an answer:

 

The Dolphins GM spoke yesterday and proved this to be false. There were no deals or offers made. 
 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/dolphins-gm-calls-talks-with-colts-about-jonathan-taylor-exploratory/sn-amp/

[LJpalmbeacher2]

3 hours ago, PeterBowman said:

Is it just me or is it since the Colts called out New England for deflating footballs that the sports media been extra harsh on Colts management and ownership.

 

Since Deflategate colts have seen few good days. It also seems the Ravens, who tipped off the colts on deflated balls, have had more difficult days but to a much lesser degree. 

Coincidences I'm sure. LoL

[LJpalmbeacher2]

4 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

Since this keeps getting repeated, we’ll repeat an answer:

 

The Dolphins GM spoke yesterday and proved this to be false. There were no deals or offers made. 
 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/dolphins-gm-calls-talks-with-colts-about-jonathan-taylor-exploratory/sn-amp/

 

Who really knows, But the leagues owners are against Fully Guaranteed contracts AND RB's getting paid what they deserve. A owner, in  this case Irsay, probably would be going against the league rewarding a RB their true worth.  

[Defjamz26]

https://x.com/yuckbgr/status/1696995004630147373?s=46&t=Wvd3D2aVDNMUixcyKKG_xA
 

this seems to Imply that Irsay was once again meddling, although it also points to Saturday. This is an underrated part of the story that not many other media people are talking about.

[csmopar]

5 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

https://x.com/yuckbgr/status/1696995004630147373?s=46&t=Wvd3D2aVDNMUixcyKKG_xA
 

this seems to Imply that Irsay was once again meddling, although it also points to Saturday. This is an underrated part of the story that not many other media people are talking about.

So some random person on twitter is saying Irsay is meddling. Good grief man, find a better source

[Moosejawcolt]

3 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

K that makes absolutely no sense. They just extended Jones who is a more complete back and they paid him $500,000.00 for a roster bonus, I  believe. So they will trade for Taylor and pay him big money? That's why people like her have no credibility. 

[GoColts8818]

24 minutes ago, csmopar said:

So some random person on twitter is saying Irsay is meddling. Good grief man, find a better source

Yeah all the random just posting stuff from twitter isn’t helping.  Just because someone says they are an insider and says something about the Colts doesn’t make it news or true.  For the record that’s not a shot at anyone.  People have the right to post what they want rather I think it’s not helping or not.

[NewColtsFan]

2 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

K that makes absolutely no sense. They just extended Jones who is a more complete back and they paid him $500,000.00 for a roster bonus, I  believe. So they will trade for Taylor and pay him big money? That's why people like her have no credibility. 

No credibility?   I believe the Packets GM has already confirmed they had interest and spoke to the Colts.    
 

Or has something changed?    

[Moosejawcolt]

7 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

No credibility?   I believe the Packets GM has already confirmed they had interest and spoke to the Colts.    
 

Or has something changed?    

Didn't see that and I am wrong bout Pakcers reaching out. That being said, I bet it was a low pick I'd it e sn made it that far.  I vrt thr conversation probably started with asking if Taylor would player under current dealsnd his camp said no.. Exploratory to me does not mean offering a huge contract as reported by some.

 

[tdblue17]

So I keep hearing from the so called NFL insiders that Miami made serious offers for Taylor but at the same time no first or second round offers were included by any team. If that is the case then what kind of serious offer did Miami truly make when they don’t have a 2024 3rd or 4th round pick? Am I missing something? 

[Shive]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It has happened, but it is because the player wants to play and wants to win - Philip Rivers 2007 AFC Title Game, my point is, a player knows if can or cannot go, he can't be forced to play. If he is injured and doesn't want to play, he won't. If Taylor played injured, that is of his own doing and probably felt like he could play. 

The assertions I've seen have been that Saturday pressured Taylor into playing when he wasn't ready, Taylor ended up playing (nobody made him, but guilt tripping someone into doing something is a real thing), made his ankle worse, then when he wanted to start talking contract extension, the same team says "sorry, not with your hurt ankle". That's paraphrasing a bit, but in essence that's where this all started. Saturday trying to get some wins to get the full-time job...

 

Its not verified fact, but from an individual that has been consistent with sources inside the organization. I think it also explains why things escalated the way they did.

[Superman]

6 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

 

How come there are no reports about what the Dolphins offered?

[esmort]

3 hours ago, philba101 said:

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. 

 

He has to pass a physical and play eventually or he will be in the same predicament next season. He also has to play well enough when he does play that another team would be willing to give him a big contract next year. As soon as he does this he will have trade value.  The Colts aren't out that much if he if he sits on the sidelines, he is only hurting himself. You don't trade him to the highest bidder unless they pay what the Colts want. That sets a bad precedent and makes other players more likely to follow suit.The Colts arent going anywhere this year anyway so if he wants to play this game the Colts can make an example of him. If irsay wanted to be really vindictive he could crush JTs career prospects. JT has no leverage and needs to quit being a malcontent.

[esmort]

1 hour ago, Shive said:

The assertions I've seen have been that Saturday pressured Taylor into playing when he wasn't ready, Taylor ended up playing (nobody made him, but guilt tripping someone into doing something is a real thing), made his ankle worse, then when he wanted to start talking contract extension, the same team says "sorry, not with your hurt ankle". That's paraphrasing a bit, but in essence that's where this all started. Saturday trying to get some wins to get the full-time job...

 

Its not verified fact, but from an individual that has been consistent with sources inside the organization. I think it also explains why things escalated the way they did.

 

Im not buying that narrative.

[esmort]

3 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

Who really knows, But the leagues owners are against Fully Guaranteed contracts AND RB's getting paid what they deserve. A owner, in  this case Irsay, probably would be going against the league rewarding a RB their true worth.  

 

RBs deserve what the market says they are worth, which right now isn't that much.  College players need to choose a different position or get over it.

[Shive]

4 minutes ago, esmort said:

 

Im not buying that narrative.

You don't have to, but all of the local beat writers have been saying that its not just the contract and that the issues run deeper and further back than this past spring. I imagine the truth will eventually come out, but for now, we'll all be believing the narrative that makes sense for us.

[Superman]

36 minutes ago, Shive said:

You don't have to, but all of the local beat writers have been saying that its not just the contract and that the issues run deeper and further back than this past spring. I imagine the truth will eventually come out, but for now, we'll all be believing the narrative that makes sense for us.

 

Isn't it important to scrutinize these claims logically?

 

If Jeff Saturday pressured Taylor into playing hurt, it was sometime during the season. Some people have said it was in November. And those people would have us believe that this was the incident to which we can track Taylor's dissatisfaction with the Colts. The narrative is that he doesn't want to play for this team anymore because he doesn't trust that they have his best interests at heart after that incident.

 

But if that's true, why would Jonathan Taylor stand in front of a camera and a microphone in June, months later, and say he wants to retire as a Colt? Throughout the offseason, he gave no indication that he didn't want to be with the team anymore. If he didn't trust them, felt like they didn't care about his health and best interests, wouldn't it make sense that he would have requested a trade much earlier in the offseason, and then stayed away completely during the minicamps and OTAs? Would he have been smiling, happy, and talking about how much he was looking forward to playing for the Colts in 2023, saying that the contract situation was basically up to the Colts?

 

It doesn't make sense, and it's plain to see.

 

What does make sense is that he and his reps kept asking for a new contract, and then he realized it wasn't going to happen, and requested a trade. It makes sense that this entire situation is about the fact that the team told him no, and now he wants out.

 

But now, 9 months after he was supposedly pressured into playing injured, we have these media guys talking about 'wait until you find out why Taylor is so upset with the Colts, this goes back a long time,' and then they want us to believe that he wants out because Jeff Saturday tried to get him to play injured in November? Are these media guys incapable of analyzing the situation and at least presenting the timeline and context?

 

This narrative doesn't hold up.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

2 hours ago, esmort said:

 

RBs deserve what the market says they are worth, which right now isn't that much.  College players need to choose a different position or get over it.

 

I'm going to half agree/disagree with you. As the saying goes "RBs are a Dime A Dozen" I'll agree and the average-good RB can be easily replaced....like for example the colts current Rb's not named JT. But imo, elite RB's are not easy to come by and are very important in many facets, not just rushing and are worth what money they seek. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

10 hours ago, csmopar said:

Technically they can tag him three times. 

 

I doubt the colts would pay the money that multiple tags would cost. 

[csmopar]

4 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

I doubt the colts would pay the money that multiple tags would cost. 

Hence why I said “technically”. Just cause they can, doesn’t mean they will. 

[RollerColt]

8 hours ago, Superman said:

This narrative doesn't hold up.

Oh it holds up alright... It holds up the popular notion that the Colts are a terrible organization that treats its players badly. And although it's not true, it doesn't matter to these people because they're going to get clicks and popularity points for dissing on the team. 

 

They're probably the same type of people who just go along with saying "Nickelback sucks" without ever stopping to ask why.

[Crunked]

Just a funny/disturbing thought....With Rookies dang near everywhere on the roster, and vets that need to demonstrate they are better than last year, Kelly, Raimann, Nelson, Moore, and the health of Leonard just to name a few.......terrified that we might only win about 4 games.....AGAIN.....and apparently that is in Ballards wheel house of not re-signing anyone.....we will lose the few good players we have.....wonder what number is good enough to re-sign players....I am cheering for that many wins......../sarcasm

[philba101]

17 hours ago, csmopar said:

I’m not sure but Billy Madison would make more sense than what I just read .

 

colts aren’t worried about getting anything for him. This was done to simply wake Taylor to the reality of the situation he is in, fair or not.

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.

[Solid84]

6 minutes ago, philba101 said:

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 think the Colts are maybe not fine with it but accept the situation. This year is not about winning, but for Steichen to evaluate the team, give AR reps and hopefully improve as a team. Taking the "the best offensive player off the field" will give more reps to other players.

[philba101]

2 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

I think the Colts are maybe not fine with it but accept the situation. This year is not about winning, but for Steichen to evaluate the team, give AR reps and hopefully improve as a team. Taking the "the best offensive player off the field" will give more reps to other players.

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.

[philba101]

11 hours ago, esmort said:

 

He has to pass a physical and play eventually or he will be in the same predicament next season. He also has to play well enough when he does play that another team would be willing to give him a big contract next year. As soon as he does this he will have trade value.  The Colts aren't out that much if he if he sits on the sidelines, he is only hurting himself. You don't trade him to the highest bidder unless they pay what the Colts want. That sets a bad precedent and makes other players more likely to follow suit.The Colts arent going anywhere this year anyway so if he wants to play this game the Colts can make an example of him. If irsay wanted to be really vindictive he could crush JTs career prospects. JT has no leverage and needs to quit being a malcontent.

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.

[RollerColt]

6 minutes ago, philba101 said:

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.

It’ll get better once the team starts to win again. Winning solves a lot of problems. 

[philba101]

2 hours ago, Crunked said:

Just a funny/disturbing thought....With Rookies dang near everywhere on the roster, and vets that need to demonstrate they are better than last year, Kelly, Raimann, Nelson, Moore, and the health of Leonard just to name a few.......terrified that we might only win about 4 games.....AGAIN.....and apparently that is in Ballards wheel house of not re-signing anyone.....we will lose the few good players we have.....wonder what number is good enough to re-sign players....I am cheering for that many wins......../sarcasm

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.

[csmopar]

1 hour ago, philba101 said:

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.

But I would counter with this: is he truly the best player? He hasn’t played at that level in two years. And he’s not conditioned now, so is he truly the best

[RollerColt]

8 minutes ago, philba101 said:

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.

The team has made some steps in the right direction to solve this.

 

#1, they didn't rehire Saturday and got Steichen. Shane is respected and highly regarded by his players. If you have a good coach, players will want to come. 

 

#2, they got their guy at QB. We don't know if Anthony will be good or not yet. But he has signs of being something special. If he shows that talent and ability and balls out a few times this year, then players will want to come. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I think if Taylor stays here Steichen will be a real reason for this.

 

Adam Schefter has been the one reporter who had gotten things right about this situation. He said that colts were hoping these 4 games he can’t play will give them time to mend fences. Then Ballard echoed that during his presser. 

[philba101]

20 minutes ago, csmopar said:

But I would counter with this: is he truly the best player? He hasn’t played at that level in two years. And he’s not conditioned now, so is he truly the best

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.

 

[BProland85]

Can we all just boycott all this JT talk as I’m sure most of us are tired of talking about it? The team is what it is and I’m not expecting JT to be a part of it for better or for worse. 

[richard pallo]

21 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

This is certainly the type of offer I would have expected the Colts to be wanting in return.  They have said all along they wanted a 1st equivalent.  I would bet if they asked the Colts for another pick say a 5th rounder a deal would have been struck.  They were probably determined to hold onto those players.  We will never know I guess.

[Solid84]

1 hour ago, philba101 said:

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.

Ballard has stood by his guys (sometimes to a fault?) and paid his guys, but the reasoning for not doing so with JT is sound. Players always want to get paid and don't much care about the reasons for why they aren't getting paid. It is what it is.

 

The best thing JT can do is suit up, ball out and get paid during the season. His current tactic is unlikely to get him what he wants and frankly a little ridiculous.

[Solid84]

1 hour ago, philba101 said:

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.

JT isn't going to make a 4 win team into a 9 win team or even a 7 win team. I feel pretty confident in saying Steichen & CO has no intention of going out there to only win 4 games - they want to win and play to win each game. But we're not a playoff team unless everything clicks for AR fast and JT isn't going to change that.

 

We're not in a total rebuild, but it is a soft rebuild. That's why Gilmore wanted out. Could other vets like DeFo end up wanting out too? Maybe, but playing JT won't change that...