If the Los Angeles Rams have any interest in trading for quarterback Anthony Richardson, or if the Colts backup has any interest in heading west to play for Sean McVay, then that information would still be considered privileged because rumors of a connection that started on Wednesday are purely speculative. But there are rumors because ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote that he could “sense” that Richardson would be open to playing for a coach “such as” Sean McVay. Not that either side is actually known to be interested.
Outside of that, there’s not a clear-cut need for teams, barring injury. One intriguing option is Anthony Richardson Sr., who is stuck behind Daniel Jones in Indianapolis. My sense is Richardson would be open to joining a premier playcaller such as Sean McVay as a developmental player so he can reset for 2026.
That is very hardly “news” that would carry any weight in the real world, but popular Twitter accounts have unsurprisingly spun it as a report that Anthony Richardson has come out and said he wants to play for McVay:
Both of these tweets flat out say that Richardson himself is open to going to the Rams, which is not at all the same as the actual source. Fowler clearly speculates that Richardson could be open to going to a play caller such as McVay, but anyone is allowed to say anything. That doesn’t make it true.
A great example would be the article I wrote on Tuesday clearly speculating that a player like Rashod Bateman could be a great fit for the Rams, if he were even available, which I myself said that he probably isn’t. Now imagine if twitter accounts took that article and wrote “Ravens shopping Bateman, Rams exploring options to acquire him”.
Well, that’s not the same.
In any case, the premise of the Colts trading Richardson as a purely speculative exercise in roster building is itself worthy of exploration. Indianapolis does seem happy with Daniel Jones so far and Richardson is potentially feeling antsy to have another shot at a quarterback gig, especially since he’s still so raw as a player at the position. To date, Richardson has still only made 27 starts since high school and almost half of those were in college.
If the Colts hang onto him through the end of his rookie contract, not including the fifth-year option for obvious reasons, then he will not be a free agent until 2027. Fowler’s speculation that Richardson would like to go somewhere that he can gain experience and learn from a coaching staff that has resurrected careers in the past (Baker Mayfield) does make sense. It’s just not being presented as concrete fact.
On the other side of it, the Rams already employ three quarterbacks, which is one more than Sean McVay usually likes to keep. If L.A. acquired another quarterback to keep, it would have to mean either sending a QB back to the other team or releasing one. Would it be better to have Richardson, an extremely athletic physical specimen who has never really played the position with much success before, or Stetson Bennett, a cheap third string player who McVay has already been developing for three years?
Is it really all that likely that Richardson could become the Rams starter in 1-2 years even if McVay did get the chance to work with him? Are Richardson’s weaknesses the type that McVay can work around? He’s had his greatest success with pocket passers Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford, with the latter being someone who needed no development by the time that he got to the Rams.
Isn’t Richardson riskier than just drafting someone next year? Or is the ceiling too high to deny?
This is not a real trade offer on the table, but as a Rams fan, would you be open to the team adding Anthony Richardson if they could?
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