When it comes to Jonathan Taylor's trade request, the Indianapolis Colts have stuck themselves between a rock and a hard place. The unwillingness to pay their best offensive player a big contract — despite now being the time to do so with Anthony Richardson on a rookie deal — has left them in a difficult spot with the regular season roughly a month away.

Finding a trade for Taylor, a star running back set to land a big payday after his rookie deal, is a tough sell to teams. But Taylor now longer wants to play for the Colts after a meeting with owner Jim Irsay. Following some comments from Irsay about the NFL's running back situation, Taylor felt like his services were not valued enough by Indy.

However, the possibility of the Colts landing a good trade for Taylor isn’t looking great, according to team executives who spoke to Jeff Howe of The Athletic.

Howe writes that “there’s a feeling around the NFL that too many factors are working against a potential trade. Eight high-ranking decision makers polled by The Athletic were skeptical a team would be willing to pay both the draft compensation to complete a trade along with the contract to keep Taylor on the roster for several years.”

A pair of executives suggested that teams may be more inclined to sign someone like Dalvin Cook or Ezekiel Elliot to fill a need for a running back. Another said that the price of Taylor's contract and the price of players and/or picks it would take to get him are too high.

Jonathan Taylor made a name for himself with a special 2021 season in which he rushed for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns, both league highs. Coming off of an injury-riddled 2022 season, the Colts seemingly prefer to build more around Richardson and aren’t looking to shell out for their star RB.

The Kansas City Chiefs, surprisingly, have been floated as a potential landing spot for Taylor. With Patrick Mahomes, they can potentially afford to spend resources on a running back despite having depth in the position. But with no strong suitors and so little time before the season, the situation seems certain to spill into the regular season.