Now we know why Taylor seemed happier

[Kray007]

New contract, everyone is happy. Greg Doyel was wrong.

[Spike]

Originally Posted by Kray007

New contract, everyone is happy. Greg Doyel was wrong.

Has that piss head ever been right?

[JAFF]

Originally Posted by Spike

Has that piss head ever been right?

Not often, ever once and a while

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Kray007

New contract, everyone is happy ...... Greg Doyel was wrong.

o


(ALMOST 3 YEARS LATER)



Why Colts RB Jonathan Taylor Could ...... and Should ...... Hold in for a New Contract

(By James Boyd)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/744...out-extension/



Jonathan Taylor’s legacy with the Indianapolis Colts is already solidified. He ranks 1st in franchise history in rushing touchdowns (69), and he needs just 1,629 more rushing yards to surpass Hall-of-Famer Edgerrin James (9,226) for the franchise lead. Taylor’s future inclusion in the Colts’ Ring-of-Honor is a mere formality ...... he may even wear a gold jacket alongside James someday.

Taylor’s more immediate future with the Colts franchise, however, is far less certain ...... he’s entering the final year of an extension he signed in 2023, and when asked this spring about his contract status, Taylor said he wants “to be a Colt for life.”

He has earned the chance to make that dream a reality, and perhaps he and the Colts can reach an amicable agreement in these two weeks leading up to training camp. If they can’t ...... 3rd contracts between a running back and the teams that draft them are pretty rare ...... Taylor should not hesitate to revisit a tactic that drove most of the Colts front office and Indy’s fanbase crazy.

Taylor should hold in.

To be fair to Taylor, he never technically “held in” when he demanded a new contract 3 years ago. The star running back said that he was dealing with a lingering right ankle injury from 2022 that required offseason surgery. an injury which sidelined him throughout training camp and for the first 4 games of the 2023 season. When Taylor finally inked a new, 3-year, $42 million deal on October 7th of 2023, however, following his sometimes bitter negotiations with late team owner Jim Irsay, he played the next day.

Some say Taylor’s sudden availability was a coincidence ..... others say that the new money had healing powers.

Jokes aside, the circumstances are much different this time around, and one could argue that Taylor, despite being 3 years older, has more leverage now than he did back in 2023 ...... the No. 1 reason is that the Colts’ franchise quarterback, Daniel Jones, is still recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon that he suffered last season.

That means, especially early on, the Colts’ offense will run through Taylor, just as it did last season when he tallied a league-high 323 carries and touched the ball a whopping 369 times in 17 games. Taylor could, in fact, be even more involved, as the Colts will try to keep their 29-year-old QB healthy while they attempt to reestablish the high-powered offense that they had through the first half of last season.

Speaking of all those touches, another reason why Taylor might have more leverage this time around is his health ...... 3 years ago, he fought for a new contract following a 2022 campaign in which he only played in 11 games. He appeared in just 10 games in 2023, but he has rebounded from those injury-riddled seasons in a big way, producing back-to-back campaigns of at least 1,400 rushing yards. He’s scored 32 total TD's during that span, and he led the NFL in total TD's last year with 20. What’s more, Taylor thrust himself firmly into the MVP conversation last year after exploding for a season-high 244 rushing yards and three TD's in a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin that placed the Colts atop the AFC standings at 8-2.

Of course, that all came crashing down when Jones tore his Achilles in early December. The Colts never won another game and missed the playoffs for a 5th straight season, but from Taylor’s perspective, that shouldn’t matter when it comes to landing another lucrative deal. He’s held up his end of the bargain on the current one, and then some ...... over the past 2 years, he ranks 3rd in the league in rushing yards (3,016) behind Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. He’s also tied for the 3rd-most total TD's behind Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs.

Gibbs, 24, is projected to make $19.9 Million annually on his next contract, per The Athletic’s Austin Mock, which would make him the 3rd-highest paid running back in the league. The 27-year-old Taylor, on the other hand, is projected by Mock to make $19 Million annually if he were to strike a new deal with the Colts. That raise would be $5 Million more annually than the contract Taylor signed in 2023, which was when he was obviously younger and logged fewer miles. Since that initial extension, Taylor has tallied the 5th-most carries (795) in the NFL.

It’s still reasonable to question if Taylor’s workload and durability are sustainable, and whether they’re worth investing in after he played a career-high 82% of the Colts’ offensive snaps last season. But if Taylor, who said that he’s ready for another bell-cow campaign in 2026, wants more financial insurance before he lays his body on the line again, the Colts aren’t in a great position to oppose him. In 2023, when Taylor was lobbying for a new deal, the Colts turned to veteran Zack Moss, who rushed for a team-high 794 yards and five TD's in 14 games. 3 years later, Taylor’s value has only increased as the Colts’ depth behind him has dwindled. Rookie 7th-round pick Seth McGowan and 2025 5th-round pick DJ Giddens, who had just 96 rushing yards in 9 games last year, are jockeying for the backup role ...... if either is relied on heavily in 2026, the Colts will be in trouble.

There’s also the other elephant in the room ...... general manager Chris Ballard’s contract. He’s entering the final year of his own deal, and a Taylor extension ...... or lack thereof ...... may serve as a litmus test for just how much power Ballard has at this point in his 10-year tenure. He’s typically rewarded home-grown talent, and with what looks like a playoffs-or-else season staring the GM in the face, can Ballard or the Colts really afford for Taylor’s contract situation to linger into the regular season like it did 3 years ago ??? If the Colts don’t want to pay up to keep Taylor for the long haul, he would be wise to test their resolve by holding in during training camp, which starts in 2 weeks.

For what it’s worth, Taylor said in June that he’s “definitely” learned from the last time he was in this position.

“Just understanding that, hey, some people are going to run with some of the media narratives, some people won’t,” Taylor said at mini-camp. “Just know that true Indianapolis Colts fans, they’ll be able to see through the weeds and understand exactly what’s going on and not just believe everything that they read.”

That was another company line from Taylor, which has been par for the course throughout his decorated career. But no one should underestimate his ability or willingness to break that persona to get paid ...... after all, legacy, unlike money, can’t be put in the bank.

“A lot of positions do a lot for their team, but specifically speaking for the running back position, I can just speak firsthand, we do a lot,” Taylor said in June of 2023, 6 weeks before he demanded a trade as part of a cut-throat negotiation plan that resulted in a new contract. “You just want to be treated fairly.”

o

[Mr. Session]

"True Indianapolis Colt fans"

They need to pay this guy or trade him. I don't want to hear about him, at all.

Just get it over with.

[Kray007]

It seems pretty straightforward to me. He’s 27 years old and still has a few years of tread left on the tires.

Extend him for 3 more years at $17 or $18 Million a year and you have him locked in until he’s 31 years old. Back end the contract so that if he drops off, you can cut ties and not suffer a huge cap hit.