Jonathan Taylor
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor’s wife, Ayanna Taylor, posted two TikTok videos over the weekend addressing trade speculation about her husband amid the team’s rough start to the season.
“We’re in a situation that we’ve never been in before,” she said via TikTok. “This may be the first time we may not be on the same team, and we might get traded.”
Jonathan Taylor, who is under contract through the 2028 season after signing a $44 million extension in August, said last week that he hasn’t given “any thought” to hearing his name in trade rumors, and after Indianapolis’ 16-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings dropped the team to 2-5 on the season, he made it clear he doesn’t mind his wife adding her voice to the chorus.
“I think it’s been out there already, so I think her adding (to it) doesn’t really change anything,” Taylor said after going for 95 yards and one touchdown against Minnesota, via The Athletic. “You know everybody’s on TikTok these days. So, you just have to come into work and stay focused.”
Former Colts general manager Chris Ballard leveraged the franchise’s future last season, trading Indianapolis’ 2026 and 2027 first-round picks and wide receiver AD Mitchell to the New York Jets in exchange for cornerback Sauce Gardner. Ballard was relieved of his duties after the Colts lost to the previously winless Tennessee Titans last week, and Ayanna Taylor pointed toward the void left by his absence as a potential indicator that her family’s time in Indianapolis could be nearing its end.
“So, let’s look at the situation that they’ve put themselves in,” she said. “They have a losing record, they just fired their 10-year GM, and they have no (first-round) draft picks. How are they gonna get new leadership to come in when they really have no options to transform the team?…
“That’s what brings us back to my husband,” Ayanna Taylor added. “Do they keep him as a contender moving forward in the future? Or do they just trade him and cut their losses for as much assets and value as they can?”
Unlike Taylor, the Colts’ other primary trade candidates, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and star left guard Quenton Nelson, are on expiring contracts, which, in theory, would position the star running back to yield the highest return on the open market. Meanwhile, Ayanna Taylor is waiting, along with the rest of the NFL, to see how Indianapolis approaches the November 10 trade deadline.
“The waiting game is on,” she said, then asked fans to weigh in. “I want to know your guys’ thoughts and what you think. Are we gonna stay on the Colts and just ride in the sunset with them? Or is my life about to completely flip, and I’m about to start a whole new chapter of my life? Let me know and follow along because apparently my life is now a Colts transaction watch.”