Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor officially requested a trade from the team and even if owner Jim Irsay believes it won’t happen, there’s a strong chance a team deals for the star running back.
Taylor’s tenure with the Colts took an extremely sharp decline in the last few weeks of July. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Taylor was understandably seeking a new deal.
However, between the state of the running back market, his agent making negotiations public and Irsay continuing to comment on the situation, it appears the bridge has been burned between the two sides.
A trade will be difficult to pull off at max value for the Colts. No one is trading first-round picks for running backs anymore, and Taylor is coming off an ankle injury that required offseason surgery. He opened training camp on the active/PUP list despite passing his physical.
The other difficult part of this situation is that a team would be making this trade with the understanding of signing Taylor to a new contract or renting him for just one season.
While a trade is not obligated to happen, here are five teams the Colts could trade Taylor to
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A team that has been linked to the running back market for the entire offseason is the Dolphins. Second-year head coach Mike McDaniel certainly would find a way to implement Taylor into his scheme, which is heavily based on speed. They spent a third-round pick on De’Von Achane, but Taylor would be the thunder to the rookie’s lightning.
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Though the Bills don’t necessarily feature a prominent rushing attack, pairing Taylor with Josh Allen and the rest of that offense would be intriguing for Buffalo. Taylor would join a solid backfield that already has James Cook and Damien Harris, though one of those players may be included in the deal.
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Yes, Breece Hall is awesome and certainly capable of leading a backfield on his own. But the Jets have made it clear they want to add more talent alongside him. They hosted a visit for free-agent Dalvin Cook, and Aaron Rodgers reportedly just agreed to a pay cut. If he’s is available, the Jets may look into adding a ridiculous 1-2 punch between Taylor and Hall.
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The Vikings parted ways with the aforementioned Dalvin Cook this offseason, and Alexander Mattison currently leads the depth chart. Behind him is a combination of Kene Nwangwu, Ty Chandler and DeWayne McBride. Adding Taylor to this offense to take some additional pressure off Kirk Cousins has to be intriguing for the Vikings.
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The Buccaneers appear to be a team without an identity right now as they figure out their quarterback position. However, they may feel adding Taylor can help whoever winds up under center between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. Rachaad White enters his second season as the presumed starter with Chase Edmonds and Ke’Shawn Vaughn behind him. Maybe they hope the addition of Taylor can keep them competitive in a wide-open NFC South?