The Indianapolis Colts surprised the NFL when they opted to send second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson to the bench in favor of Joe Flacco after their Week 8 loss to the Houston Texans. And while the move makes sense considering Richardson's struggles and Flacco's strong play when filling in for him this season, some teams were surprised to see the Colts go away from their supposed quarterback of the future.

As a result, Richardson's future with the team is suddenly up in the air, although reports have indicated that Indianapolis still believes he can become a superstar talent under center. In the event that's not actually how they feel, though, teams have been checking in on Richardson in the wake of his benching to see if the Colts would be interested in trading him.

Could the Colts actually trade Anthony Richardson after benching him?

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Considering how the Colts used the fourth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft on Richardson, it would be pretty surprising to see them trade him so soon after investing a top draft pick on him. Then again, the fact that the team decided to bench him in the first place wasn't expected, so it seems like all options may be on the table here.

Despite that, a trade involving Richardson seems unlikely at this point in time. Flacco is 39 years old, and while Richardson has struggled this year, there's still reason to believe that he can iron out some of the kinks in his game behind the scenes and become the superstar quarterback the team envisioned him becoming when they drafted him. For now, though, he resides on the bench, and with teams calling to check in on him, you can expect these trade rumors to linger up until we reach the NFL trade deadline.