{"id":759334,"date":"2026-02-18T01:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759334\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T01:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T01:22:16","slug":"anthony-richardson-trade-reality-with-colts-is-inevitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759334\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Richardson trade reality with Colts is &#8216;inevitable&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Anthony Richardson and the Colts sound ready for a breakup. <\/p>\n<p>Given the Colts\u2019 commitment to starting quarterback Daniel Jones, it is now viewed as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47850287\/indianapolis-colts-2026-roster-outlook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">inevitable<\/a>\u201d that Richardson, the team\u2019s 2023 first-round pick, will seek a trade ahead of the 2026 season, according to ESPN\u2019s Stephen Holder.<\/p>\n<p>Richardson, 24, has played just 17 games across his first three NFL seasons.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38518374\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/indianapolis-colts-quarterback-anthony-117966241.jpg\" alt=\"Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson\" class=\"wp-image-38518374\"  \/>Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has been no request just yet, according to team sources,\u201d Holder wrote Tuesday, \u201cbut it is beginning to feel inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richardson got left in the dust when Jones won last year\u2019s preseason position battle and led the Colts to an 8\u20135 record before rupturing his Achilles in Week 13.<\/p>\n<p>By that point, the former Florida standout was also sidelined after sustaining a freak orbital fracture in an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/46572199\/colts-richardson-inactive-hurting-eye-mishap-band\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">equipment mishap<\/a>\u201d involving elastic bands last October.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the snaps went to a returning Philip Rivers and 2025 sixth-rounder Riley Leonard, who impressed Colts brass during practice and in the regular-season finale \u2014 further muddying Richardson\u2019s position on the depth chart.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38518379\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/throws-nfl-football-game-jacksonville-116933797.jpg\" alt=\"Daniel Jones Indianapolis Colts\" class=\"wp-image-38518379\"  \/>The Indianapolis Colts have reaffirmed their commitment to starting quarterback Daniel Jones. AP<\/p>\n<p>After the season, Indianapolis reaffirmed its commitment to running it back with Jones under center when he recovers, which would imply an extension is on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>Richardson\u2019s rookie season was cut short after four games due to a shoulder injury, and while he started 11 games in his second year,\u00a0he drew the ire of teammates when he pulled himself out for one play against the Texans in Week 8.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming Richardson\u2019s vision fully recovers, signs point to him pursuing a career elsewhere \u2014 which will test his value on the trade market.<\/p>\n<p>As outlined by Holder, several young quarterbacks \u2014 Kenny Pickett, Sam Howell, Justin Fields and Taylor Heinicke \u2014 have been flipped for draft capital across the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no reason to think the Colts couldn\u2019t get something for a quarterback who will be just 24 next season and is a former first-round pick,\u201d wrote Holder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Richardson and the Colts sound ready for a breakup. Given the Colts\u2019 commitment to starting quarterback Daniel&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[1504,2772,7,392,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-759334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-anthony-richardson","9":"tag-daniel-jones","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116089019938798073","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}