After spending the first three seasons of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, quarterback Anthony Richardson is reportedly likely to request a trade this offseason. Per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, it shouldn’t be surprising to see Richardson request a trade since the Colts are sold on former Giant Daniel Jones as their long-term answer at the quarterback position. However, the Colts still haven’t given Jones a new contract extension, but once the team does, it will put “icing on the cake” that Richardson wants out of Indianapolis. Unfortunately for Richardson, the trade market won’t be very friendly to him anyway after having one of the worst campaigns coming out of Florida in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Colts Former First-Rounder Anthony Richardson Trade Request Seems “Inevitable”
The reason is that Richardson is too inconsistent. While it’s still unclear where he stands in his recovery process from his “eye injury,” when healthy, Richardson hasn’t played at a high-level. Richardson returned to the team for practice in December, but Colts head coach Shane Steichen reported that the quarterback still had vision issues. However, the issues have already stemmed from the 2024 regular season.
Richardson took himself out of action during one matchup against the Houston Texans. The quarterback admitted that he felt “fatigued,” which feels like a wild excuse to ask to sit for one play. Meanwhile, the Colts might’ve found their franchise quarterback in Jones. Despite suffering a season-ending Achilles injury, the veteran still recorded 3,101 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, with a 63.0 QB rating through the regular season.
With that, even if they need to find a strong backup option to wait until Jones is “ready to go,” they will likely find options in free agency rather than depending on Richardson, who hasn’t been the most reliable.
Free Agency Likely Suits Richardson Best
It feels impossible that anyone would want to take a chance on Richardson via a trade. While the Colts could attempt to honor his request, the team has a better chance of releasing him. Still, at 23-years-old, there is still plenty of football left to play for Richardson. Time isn’t an issue for the young, undeveloped quarterback, and he probably just needs a scenery change to get him back to some type of speed.
There are plenty of teams like the Cardinals, Panthers and Steelers that could use a backup quarterback. Each team have their own unique situation with Aaron Rodgers retiring soon, even if he does return for one more season, while the Panthers are not necessarily sold on Bryce Young just yet. Arizona seems like the likely destination, with the team probably taking a quarterback in their first-round selection after the anticipated Kyler Murray release, and could share the snaps with Richardson to step in for Jacoby Brissett.