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FILE – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) throws before the start of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 21, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/John Amis, File) <\/p>\nFILE – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) throws before the start of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 21, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/John Amis, File) <\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 The Indianapolis Colts have given quarterback Anthony Richardson permission to find a trade partner, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The person requested anonymity because no formal announcement is expected.<\/p>\n
Indy believed Richardson could become its long-time franchise quarterback when it drafted him with the No. 4 overall selection in 2023, but nothing has gone according to plan for the Colts \u2014 or the injury-plagued former Florida star.<\/p>\n
The news came two days after Colts general manager Chris Ballard told local reporters he still believed Richardson could succeed in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to say that,\u201d Ballard said when asked if Richardson needed a fresh start with a new team. \u201cAnthony\u2019s still young, he\u2019s still developing so we\u2019ll see what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time Ballard has granted a player permission to look for a deal. Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor also was given the designation during a protracted contract battle in August 2023. Less than two months later, Taylor agreed to a three-year extension worth $42 million with Indy.<\/p>\n
This time could be different.<\/p>\n
Richardson\u2019s progression has not gone according to plan since he won the starting job as a rookie in training camp. He appeared in just four games and finished only one in 2023 before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.<\/p>\n
When Richardson returned in 2024, he continued to deal with injuries and inconsistency.<\/p>\n
He started all 11 games in which he appeared that season but missed one game with a strained hip, two more with foot and back injuries and also was benched for two additional games after pulling himself out of a midseason game because he was \u201ctired\u201d after consecutive runs. He also finished that season with the lowest completion rate of any regular NFL starter, 47.7%, while throwing eight TD passes and 12 interceptions.<\/p>\n
That prompted the Colts to sign free agent Daniel Jones last March.<\/p>\n
Jones, the sixth overall draft pick of the New York Giants in 2019, beat out Richardson for the starting job last August. And as Jones thrived through the first half of the season, Richardson\u2019s injury problems continued.<\/p>\n
He suffered another right shoulder injury in May and a dislocated finger on his right hand in August before enduring a season-ending fractured orbital bone in a freak pregame accident in October. The combination of Jones\u2019 strong play and Richardson\u2019s continued injury issues limited him to just two games in which he completed just 1 of 2 passes for 9 yards.<\/p>\n
Jones could become a free agent again next month but is recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon that forced him to miss Indy\u2019s final four games. Indy lost all four and wound up missing the playoffs following an 8-2 start and is now attempting to sign Jones to a new deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re expecting him back for training camp, but the way he works and who he is, you know, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if it\u2019s sooner,\u201d Ballard said, updating Jones\u2019 status Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019ll be back and he\u2019ll be ready to go, and I think he\u2019ll have a good year. We\u2019ve hard great discussions with both of them (Jones and possible free agent receiver Alec Pierce), we\u2019ll continue to work this week and see if we can get something done. It\u2019s been very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that only makes Richardson\u2019s future in Indianapolis more uncertain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really good teammate, positive, wants to do the right thing,\u201d Ballard said of Richardson. \u201cSo it\u2019s trending in the right direction, still got a ways to go but he\u2019s cleared to play, and he is getting better, so we\u2019ll work from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) throws before the start of an NFL football game against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,8875],"class_list":{"0":"post-779015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nissan-stadium"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116140448960120315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779015","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=779015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}