Indianapolis Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor wants a pay bump as he’s in the final year of his rookie year.
Colts owner Jim Irsay has no plans to give into Taylor’s demands, though, which resulted in the All-Pro back requesting a trade Saturday, per multiple reports.
And even though Irsay has no intentions of trading Taylor, he believes the Colts are fine without the 24-year-old and even himself, for that matter.
“If I die tonight and Jonathan Taylor is out of the league, no one’s gonna miss us,” Irsay told reporters, per The Athletic’s James Boyd. “The league goes on. We know that. The National Football (League) rolls on. It doesn’t matter who comes and who goes, and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.”
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Irsay followed that up by further cementing his stance when it comes to Taylor wanting out of Indianapolis.
“We’re not trading Jonathan… end of discussion. Not now and not in October!” Irsay texted Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
While it’s bizarre behavior from Irsay, it’s not out of the ordinary for him.
Taylor wanting to be elsewhere, though, puts the Colts in quite a predicament. He’s just two years removed from an incredible season when he led the league in rushing with 1,811 yards and touchdowns with 18. He regressed last year, accumulating just 861 yards on the ground and four scores in 11 games.
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The Colts finished an ugly 4-12-1 a season ago and will either go with Gardner Minshew or rookie Anthony Richardson, who the Colts selected at fourth overall, as the team’s starting quarterback. Having Taylor in the backfield would certainly help whichever quarterback wins the job.
It would be wise for Irsay to try to smooth things over with Taylor, but things might be too far gone at this point for that to happen, threatening another Colts season before it even begins.
The Colts have missed the playoffs in six of the last eight seasons.
