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It appears the Indianapolis Colts have a frontrunner for their starting quarterback position. This is true even though the man in the second chair says his health is better. But here is one obvious Colts trade candidate entering the 2025 training camp.
The Colts and Anthony Richardson have denied the possibility of a trade. The team says it wants to give the third-year player another shot to take control of the team. But his completion percentage (59.5 as a rookie and 47.7 last year) suggests a new environment might be best for him.
Colts might deal QB Anthony Richardson
All it takes is one quarterback injury for another team, and the interest in Richardson would grow. He’s already been tabbed as the most likely to get dealt, according to bleacherreport.com.
Gary Davenport said Richardson’s high draft status has faded into the reality of what he hasn’t been able to accomplish on the field.
“Yes, Anthony Richardson was a top-five pick in the NFL draft,” Davenport wrote. “Yes, Richardson is built like a fullback and has arm strength to spare. To say he’s wildly athletic is an understatement. Unfortunately, he’s also wildly inaccurate. He’s injury-prone—Richardson has missed more games in two years than he has played in. His decision-making hasn’t been good, either—Richardson has more interceptions than touchdown passes. His passing success rate of 36.0 percent ranked dead last among qualifying quarterbacks in 2024.”
Of course, there’s the problem with Daniel Jones looking better at the position.
“If that competition truly is fair and open, Jones is going to win,” Davenport wrote.
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Different folks debated whether Richardson can stick around and earn snaps at the NFL level. One AFC executive laid it out, according to golongtd.com.
“There’s a lot of data that would support him failing,” the AFC executive said. “But the more I watched (before the ’23 draft), this guy does too many things that nobody else can do. Sometimes when you see that much talent you’ve just got to swing the bat.
“The minute you start being afraid to be wrong, then you’re kind of not valuable. Then you’re conservative and end up being 8-9 every year. People don’t understand there’s not a quarterback tree in the backyard.”
Of course, one of the big issues these days is health. Colts head coach Shane Steichen said it’s status quo, according to colts.com.
“No timetable on the return,” Steichen said. “But we're going to do his rehab, and once the doctors clear him to throw we'll ease him back into it.”
Steichen recently said he expects Richardson to return at some point during training camp.
Late late season, Steichen said the Colts were not ready to give up on Richardson, according to nfl.com. He commented about deciding to go with Joe Flacco for the remainder of the year.
“It's a tough decision,” Steichen said. “But I thought it was the best interest of our football team. I feel like Joe gives us the best chance to win right now. With that being said, I'm not giving up on Anthony by any means, I'm really not. He's a young player with a ton of talent. He'll use this time to continue to develop and grow as a professional.”
