Three ideal Jonathan Taylor landing spots as Colts grant disgruntled RB permission to seek trade
Last month, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay informed ESPN the team would not be trading Jonathan Taylor. The organization appears to have since changed its stance on the matter, as ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday that the Colts granted the disgruntled running back permission to seek a trade.
The price to acquire Taylor won't be cheap. According to ESPN's Stephen Holder, Indianapolis is seeking a first-round pick or a "package of picks that equates to as much" in exchange for Taylor.
Despite a steep asking price, the prospect of adding a 24-year-old, former NFL rushing champ to one's backfield is bound to pique the interest of a handful of teams.
Here are three potential landing spots for Taylor:
Miami Dolphins
A no-brainer destination, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has already reported that the Dolphins are expected to explore a trade for Taylor.
Miami entertained the idea of adding Dalvin Cook for months before being passed over in favor of the New York Jets. In Taylor, they'd get themselves a player who is four years the junior of Cook and whose upside (1,811 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2021) far surpasses Cook's, who has averaged 1,166 and seven rushing touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Taylor's 4.39 game-breaking speed would fit seamlessly into Mike McDaniel's high-octane offense and help even out a unit that ranked No. 6 in total offense in 2022 but just 25th in rushing offense.
Washington Commanders
Much like Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. in Miami, Washington's running back duo of Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson is commendable, albeit unspectacular. Since 2021, the pair has combined for 18 total touchdowns on 709 touches. In comparison, Taylor accounted for a league-high 20 total touchdowns in 2021 alone — on 372 touches.
In seven of Ron Rivera’s 12 seasons as an NFL head coach, he’s had an offense that has ranked within the top 10 in rushing attempts. Taylor, who has the 4th most rushing attempts in football since entering the league in 2020, would give Rivera a true bell-cow running back to run his offense through and ease the pressure off second-year quarterback Sam Howell.
Chicago Bears
Projected RB1 Khalil Herbert flashed in spot duty last season, while unheralded free-agent signee D'onta Foreman has made a career off of outperforming expectations. Still, the idea of Taylor sharing a backfield with Justin Fields may be too tantalizing for Chicago to pass up.
With $14.1M in current cap space (and a projected $70.3M in 2024 per Spotrac), the Bears are better financially equipped to handle a Taylor contract extension than essentially any other team in football.
Chicago led the NFL with 3,014 rushing yards in 2022, but 1,944 of that yardage came from either Fields or offseason departure David Montgomery. Taylor would not only serve as a replacement for Montgomery in the Bears backfield but give the team a bonafide upgrade who can help alleviate some of the rushing duties placed on Fields.
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