On Saturday, Jonathan Jones of The Athletic and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the 2-4 Colts, whose personnel department is now headed by Ed Dodds following Chris Ballard’s ouster, will wait a week or two before determining their trade deadline strategy. If they climb back into the AFC South race, they may not want to sell key pieces that could assist in a playoff run, but they are also without their first-round pick in 2027. As such, accumulating draft capital could become Dodds’ top priority if Indianapolis continues to struggle.
Fowler’s ESPN colleagues, Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter, confirmed as much on Sunday, and they listed a number of players who have attracted external interest. Chief among them is RB Jonathan Taylor, as ESPN’s Stephen Holder reported earlier this week.
Jones hears that owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon loves Taylor, and the ESPN pundits likewise say Irsay-Gordon considers the three-time Pro Bowler a key part of the organization and an important piece of any upcoming rebuild. Given that, it would take premium draft pick compensation to convince Colts brass to part with Taylor, with Holder reporting that other teams may already be prepared to part with a second-round pick.
If Indianapolis were to consider a Taylor trade, its asking price would be bolstered by the significant interest he is generating. Jones names the Giants and Vikings as possible landing spots, and in light of the running back difficulties Big Blue is experiencing in its quest to win the watered-down NFC East, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post hears John Harbaugh’s squad will indeed invest in a high-end RB like Taylor when the time is right. Because Taylor is under club control through 2028, acquiring him would qualify as an investment and not a mere rental to help chase a playoff berth.
In addition to the Vikings, Rapoport and Schefter name the Packers, Seahawks, and Broncos as teams that have considered, or will consider, a push for Taylor. However, a league source tells Dunleavy that the Colts are unlikely to engage in the type of teardown that would include trading franchise stalwarts like Taylor and guard Quenton Nelson.
Nelson, though, is another player who has garnered the interest of rival execs, per The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero (who also says no one on the Colts’ roster, including Taylor, is untouchable). Nelson is in the last year of his contract and will turn 31 in March, and he and the club reportedly did not make much headway in recent extension talks.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, 32, is also in a platform year, and the Rapoport/Schefter tandem report he is a sure bet to depart in free agency in 2027 anyway. A Buckner trade would thus come as no surprise — as we heard previously — and the 49ers could be in the mix for his services. San Francisco selected Buckner with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2016 draft and traded him to Indy in March 2020 in exchange for a first-rounder.
Fellow contract-year veterans like DT Grover Stewart and WR Keenan Allen also profile as trade candidates if the Colts decide to sell.