Colts owner Jim Irsay stirred up the conversation about the running back market on Wednesday, with misguided allegations of buyer’s remorse and bad-faith negotiation. On Thursday, Irsay was careful to point out that he wasn’t talking about his team’s current star tailback, Jonathan Taylor
“The comment wasn’t really directed at Jonathan,” Irsay told Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “We haven’t exchanged any contract numbers with each other or anything like that. So, it’s not like we’re in the midst of that. I think we had a tough season last year. Didn’t win a lot of games. This is a year about coming back together and having a great year and we’re really depending on Jonathan to team up with [quarterback] Anthony Richardson to try and pull together to have a great year.”
Irsay’s Thursday remarks include an admission that the team has not made Taylor an offer on a second contract, only one season before he becomes eligible for free agency.
“We love Jonathan, we need Jonathan,” Irsay said. “Our hope is Jonathan has an outstanding year and that we have a good year as a team and then we get his next contract done. That’s the hope. We think the world of him as a person, as a player. It’s just timing. When your time comes to get paid, then you get paid.”
But his time to get paid is now. The Colts can franchise-tag him in 2024, if they choose. They can do it again in 2025, and then let him walk after six seasons of NFL wear and tear.
Irsay seems to dispute that the Colts would take that approach.
“We’ve always paid our players,” Irsay told Holder. “We’ve always believed in our core players going to a second contract. And that’s been how we’ve been successful in the last 20, 25 years. So, that’s not changed.”
Running back Edgerrin James would definitely disagree. He was required to play out his rookie contract. He was tagged once, he played under the tag, and then he left as a free agent.
The Colts seems to be squatting on Taylor because they can. The labor deal gives them exclusive control of his contract for four years, plus up to two more if they choose. And they can’t ever be compelled to give him a long-term deal.
That’s why he should have held out, frankly. High-end running backs after three years of service have to find a way to force the issue, before the team rides out the player’s best remaining seasons on a year-to-year basis.
