The Colts intend to trade former first-round QB Anthony Richardson, and the Steelers should stay far away, James Harrison says. The former Steelers OLB discussed the team’s quarterback situation, including the leaguewide comings and goings. With the Colts news, many have connected the dots to Pittsburgh. But Harrison doesn’t like the picture that reveals.
“Here’s my issue, and what I’m hearing a little bit of. I guess it’s a question of if he really wants to play. Like, if he’s ready to put in the work”, Harrison said of Richardson. He pointed out that he had the same injury—an orbital bone fracture—that the Colts quarterback had last year. “Two, three weeks at most. They did not need to put that man on IR, so that’s telling. So all the stuff that you heard before about his willingness to do whatever needs to be done to actually play and all that, that comes into question”.
The fourth-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Anthony Richardson is swiftly approaching bust territory. He has an 8-7 overall starting record, but his statistics are underwhelming. One key concern is his 50.6-percent completion rate. He has also thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, 13 to 11, and averages 6.9 yards per attempt.
In his most extensive play in 2024, Richardson had an 8-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio. While he also rushed for 499 yards and 6 touchdowns, he fumbled 9 times. And he has dealt with issues throughout his career, most egregiously last season.
Anthony Richardson lost a starting competition with Daniel Jones, who, despite coming off a major injury, the Colts placed the transition tag on. They’ve already made clear their plans to move on from Richardson, if they can trade him, so clearly he should be a desirable target to the Steelers.
Richardson suffered a fractured orbital bone in pre-game warmups prior to the Colts’ Oct. 12 win over the Cardinals. The team placed him on IR the following day, and he stayed there the rest of the year. To James Harrison’s point, he missed four games with an orbital bone fracture in 2011.
Despite facing questions about his work ethic and general football intelligence, his teammates have long defended Richardson, particularly claiming that he is highly competitive. But Richardson being competitive on the bench doesn’t help the Steelers.
It’s worth noting that if the Steelers want Anthony Richardson, they will have to trade for him. For practical purposes, the Colts have no incentive to release him because his contract is guaranteed. But given the circumstances, the price to acquire him would probably be rather low.
For James Harrison, considering Richardson isn’t even worth the Steelers’ time. He questions the young quarterback’s toughness and took issue with the Colts signing Philip Rivers after Daniel Jones’ injury rather than checking on their former first-round pick. And now with Indianapolis trying to trade him, they’re not going say if the rumors are true if there’s an issue of him wanting to play.