Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard won't get much for Anthony Richardson.
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Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard won't get much for Anthony Richardson.
The Indianapolis Colts went from having huge question marks at the quarterback position last offseason to looking like the whole problem was solved by midseason. Last year around this time, it was a question of which of the lesser of two evils would start.
Will it be the former first-round pick in Anthony Richardson that so far hasn’t looked like he’s the guy? Or the journeyman quarterback Daniel Jones who has shown for years that he’s not either? Jones played really well for much of 2025 (some were throwing out MVP speculation), but then his play tailed off and he got hurt. And, he was on a one-year deal, so the Colts are getting to deal with that mess now.
On the flip side, it seems like everyone in the Colts’ building is finished with Richardson. General manager Chris Ballard talked at the Scouting Combine about what to do with Richardson, and “we’re going to keep him” never came out of his mouth.
“You never know what’s going to happen, and things change, but yeah, we like Anthony,” Ballard said. “I’m not going to say he needs a complete fresh start. Anthony’s still young. He’s still developing, so we’ll see what the future holds, but I mean, I still believe in [his future].”
So, what do the Indianapolis Colts do with Anthony Richardson now?
Jason La Canfora of Sports Boom assesses the Richardson situation pretty well.
“Regardless, Richardson, still just 23, won’t be back with the team; the problem for the Colts, as we hear it, is getting anything back in return of any particular worth,” La Canfora writes. “Richardson has clashed with the coaching staff, performed very erratically and has been very injury prone from running the football in such an aggressive manner.”
According to La Canfora, the Colts will likely be giving him away.
“While he still has some supporters in the scouting community based on his athletic prowess and potential upside, he’s not viewed as a viable starter for 2026 and rather someone who would have to compete over time for the right to start,” he continued. “That’s not going to bring much in return.”
Indianapolis Colts won’t get much in return for Anthony Richardson
La Canfora, as he is often want to do, spoke to some NFL executives and none were dying to bowl the Colts over with an offer for the former fourth-overall draft pick.
“We’re not interested,” said one quarterback-needy NFL general manager. “He’s too much for a project for us to take on right now. It’s not the right fit.“
The G.M. then speculated that the Colts were likely to get a fifth-round pick in exchange for Richardson’s services.
“I wouldn’t go down that road now,” said another executive, who doesn’t see Richardson as an NFL starter. “Too much injury risk. Look, if you really did your work on him at Florida, they were running five plays. It wasn’t a real offense and the Colts haven’t done much to bring him along. Would I give them a six, maybe a five, if I had a situation where I want to create some packages and get him on the field inn certain situations? I could see that. But he would be a pass for me now as a starting option.”
At this point, it seems like the NFL views Richardson as a gadget guy to be sprinkled into an offense. There doesn’t seem to be a world where he’s a starter until he proves otherwise.
“The Colts might not want to move him in the division,” said a longtime NFL evaluator, “but I think Jacksonville would be a good landing spot. Have him behind (Trevor) Lawrence, run RPO (run-pass option) stuff. He’d be a good fit with (Jaguars) coach Liam Coen. He has some working knowledge of Indianapolis.”