According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the trade market for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Antony Richardson has so far been soft—meaning longtime general manager Chris Ballard hasn’t been compelled to move him quite yet:
Despite reported initial interest from trade suitors such as the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Commanders, Ballard himself has said that “nothing has materialized” earlier at the league meetings in Phoenix this week.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that those teams aren’t interested, it just means that none of those teams have come forward with a meaningful offer that has compelled the Colts to move Richardson at this time.
Realistically, the Colts could be looking at draft capital similar to the return that the San Francisco 49ers received for the former 3rd overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2024 4th round pick back in August of 2023.
Ideally, the Colts would still like to move Richardson and obtain meaningful value in return, but Ballard won’t trade him for the sake of purely trading him either—particularly for pennies on the dollar.
While the Colts would save $5.39M in a Richardson trade this offseason, that would be less than the current market rate to find a competent backup QB2 these days. The Colts already have 2nd-year quarterback Riley Leonard to potentially fill that QB2 role going forward, but he only has one career start under his belt.
It would still be surprising if Richardson remains on the roster until Week 1 of next year, after his camp requested permission to seek a trade. However, the Colts will pursue what’s best for them as well.
See More:
