Jonathan Taylor Fantasy 2023
Jonathan Taylor is coming into the last year of his rookie contract, and of course, he wants a new contract with the Indianapolis Colts. But after meeting with Colts owner Jim Irsay and nothing moving on the contract front after said meeting, Taylor wants out of Indy. Irsay has already said he won’t be trading the stud running back. But haven’t we seen owners say things they don’t mean before?
Maybe the right offer hasn’t come across his table just yet? Owners can say what they want but it would be hard to pass up the right deal should it pique your interest. If the Colts don’t want to pay Taylor (just as other owners haven’t been willing to pay other running backs these days), it would be wiser to get what you can for him before his value decreases.
Even with Irsay adamant about not wanting to deal with Jonathan Taylor, let’s play around with the idea. I have a few teams that would be great landing spots.
Kansas City Chiefs
There is a rumor that the Chiefs are garnering interest in the Colts’ running back. While I can’t see this going down because you would be trading to a team still in the conference, a deal is still a deal. The Chiefs have a decent running back group, but it could use a boost. Isiah Pacheco, the offseason darling from the 2022 rookie class, had a solid season out of the Chiefs backfield, rushing for 830 yards on just 170 attempts and had an outstanding performance in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been named as the top betting team for Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylor. pic.twitter.com/hsA5THaXvA
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) August 2, 2023
Clyde Edwards-Helaire could be on his last legs as the Chiefs didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, and Jerrick McKinnon is great for pass-catching work but isn’t getting any younger. If a trade were made, the Chiefs would continue to be one of the most dangerous teams in the league. Arming themselves with Jonathan Taylor, a back who led the NFL in rushing two seasons ago, would solidify a return to the Super Bowl.
Tennessee Titans
Some believed that the Titans were planning to move on from Derrick Henry this offseason (shout out to Akbar), but the Titans haven’t made any headway on that front. Could the Titans sell the idea of flipping Henry for Taylor? The Colts currently have the fifth-most cap space among NFL teams, according to Spotrac.com, and Henry can still play at a high level. A running back swap, with some added incentives, could be appealing enough for the Colts to make the move.
The Colts could believe Henry would be a cheaper option than Taylor until they find a replacement for him without paying Taylor above the current market value for the running back position while getting draft assets to help the Colts down the road. While this move seems unlikely to go down, it would be interesting to see two teams in the same division ink a deal out with two of the biggest running backs in the game.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Charges have a similar issue to the Titans in this scenario. They have a running back on their team that they don’t want to pay more money to. Austin Ekeler has vastly outplayed his current deal and was looking for more money this offseason and ended up settling for a $1.5 million raise. Ekeler is heading towards the dreaded “30-year-old” mark and trading with the Colts presents an opportunity to not only get younger at the position but adding Taylor to the Chargers offense would be a great fit as well.
Taylor could see a similar target share to what Austin Ekeler has in the past and would still hold the danger of breaking on at any given time. Pairing Taylor with the offensive weapons of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams as well as top quarterback Justin Herbert would make an already potent offense better. The Chargers have just over $11 million in cap space so some maneuvering is in order. I’m sure Justin Herbert would be happy to have Jonathan Taylor on the roster.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have been flirting with running back Dalvin Cook all offseason and now it looks like Cook is playing the Jets against the Dolphins to see who will be the highest bidder. Jonathan Taylor could be an alternative if they decide to add a bit more money to the pot to eventually extend Taylor. Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson are already on the team but both have dealt with injuries in the past. They also aren’t getting any younger as Mostert is heading into the 2023 season at 31 years old and Jeff Wilson is right behind him at 27.
Admittedly, both did average 4.9 y/a last season. Taylor has shown that he can handle a large workload by himself. Adding Taylor to the Dolphins backfield would add more of a “fear factor” to an offense that already sports dynamic wide receivers in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and defenses already have to worry about them in their sleep. Taylor would see fewer people in the box, allowing him to wreak havoc on opposing defenses and would move Tua Tagoviloa further up the quarterback rankings.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals’ front office and running back Joe Mixon were at a standoff for a good portion of the offseason as the Bengals wanted Mixon to take a pay cut to remain with the team. Eventually, Mixon took the pay cut and is on the roster for the 2023 season. But what if the Bengals are looking to move on from Mixon after this year? The best bet would be to try and get something for him, right? Moving on from Mixon and trading for Taylor would be a plausible move. Over the last three seasons, Taylor has drastically outperformed Joe Mixon in yards per attempt, touchdowns, and total rushing yards.
Taylor even outclasses Mixon in advanced stats. Over the last three seasons, Taylor has gained more yards after contact than Mixon (1,802 to 1,611) and even averaged more yards per reception than Mixon (9.4 to 7.7). Factoring in the age difference as Taylor is currently 23 while Mixon is 26, trading Mixon (and some other compensation) for Taylor could work out for the Bengals to help better compete in a tough AFC conference with Patrick Mahomes looming as the big bad.
As mentioned earlier, the NFL is weird when it comes to paying running backs. Jonathan Taylor is just the latest back to be affected by the change in culture but it doesn’t change the fact the addition of Taylor on any offense would level up the team to new heights. Hopefully, the Colts realize that they should be looking to help out their rookie quarterback and get Taylor back. As it stands now, both sides aren’t budging. A resolution needs to happen before we get deep into redraft season. Nothing worse for fantasy than losing a top-end running back in drafts because of contract disputes.
