Colts Not Taking Advantage of Rookie QB Contract

Source: Justin Casterline / Getty

It’s almost an NFL unwritten rule at this point that if you have a quarterback on a rookie contract, that’s your best time to strike in regards of a championship window and financial flexibility.  The most important position in sports is also the most expensive in the NFL and quarterbacks are making record dollars when they are up for a new deal, even if they aren’t the cream of the crop.  That means striking while the iron is hot should be the priority of every team with a young quarterback.  So why are the Colts not doing that for Anthony Richardson?

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It seems like since the Colts drafted Richardson fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft they have determined his skill set alone should be enough to make everyone else around him better.  They haven’t taken huge swings in free agency, they haven’t made notable trades and they haven’t developed anyone who has emerged as a top-flight in-house talent.  Yes, there’s Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., but Taylor missed some key time last season with a contract dispute and didn’t get any time with Richardson before he was out for the season and MPJ got a sizeable contract extension but he and Richardson haven’t been able to consistently get on the same page yet.  Outside of that, Alec Pierce has shown flashes, Josh Downs has been injured, Adonai Mitchell is making business decisions, the tight end room is irrelevant, and the offensive line is older and more expensive than last season.

Other teams have gone out to supply their rookie quarterbacks with as much as possible to succeed right out of the gate.  Look at the Chicago Bears with Caleb Williams, the Texans with C.J. Stroud, Dolphins with Tua, Chiefs with Mahomes, Bills with Allen, Bengals with Burrow, Jaguars with Lawrence, Chargers with Herbert, Titans with Levis, the Seahawks when Russell Wilson was a rookie, etc.  Teams take the opportunity with a promising young quarterback to build around them and pair as many talented players at impact positions around him to make he and the team successful quickly.  Whether it’s big names acquired in free agency, blockbuster trades, smart drafting or a little of everything, the teams above have all done what they can.

The Colts on the other hand, have been extremely conservative when it comes to building around Richardson.  They haven’t done everything they could do to make him successful and have left glaring holes on the roster at key positions in back-to-back seasons.  It’s an odd way to go about things and while Richardson’s health has obviously been an issue to start his career, the Colts also just haven’t gone out and swung for the fences on any moves.  Their biggest free agency signing the last two years was kicker Matt Gay and that hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.

The crux of all of this is the Colts are already into Year 2 of Anthony Richardson’s rookie deal and we don’t have any grasp of what he is as a quarterback.  He’s had highs and lows; he’s shown flashes but hasn’t been consistent.  His accuracy has fluctuated from brilliant at times to downright dreadful.  If he can’t show some sort of regular success in the remaining twelve games, then things are only going to be ratcheted up tenfold next season when he enters a critical Years 3.

Maybe the Colts are trying to get a better grasp on Richardson themselves but the best way to do that would be to actually surround him with as much talent as they possibly could.  Davante Adams is a name that’s currently being kicked around in trade rumors and the Colts haven’t even been considered as a possible landing spot.  They have the salary cap space to take it on and while he’s an older player he also would count as a big swing and a player who can instantly help Richardson harness some consistency.  He’d also help a wide receiver group that just lost Michael Pittman Jr. for multiple weeks with a back injury. It’s also a move the Colts just don’t ever make under Chris Ballard.  They’d rather stick with their guys than to take on an unknown commodity.

It doesn’t have to be Adams for the Colts, but at some point this team needs to have a “go for it” move in them to go from a team that can maybe contend for a Wild Card spot if things go their way to actually contending for (gasp) a division title!  It’d be nice to see the Colts get bold, especially with a rookie quarterback contract because the decision on Anthony Richardson is coming sooner than later for Chris Ballard and company and at the moment there hasn’t been nearly enough evidence to make him a top-paid quarterback but the other option is moving on from him.  Will they really want to do that just years removed from using the fourth overall pick on him?  The best way to avoid these conundrums and get some actual answers would be to do what they should have done from the jump the second they drafted Richardson and that would be go all out to supply him with as much talent as they possibly can.

They haven’t done it to this point, and I don’t understand why not.