Jonathan Taylor Trade Rumors Heat Up As Four Teams Emerge As Potential Suitors

Jonathan Taylor has not asked for a new address, but four teams are reportedly prepared to offer one. ESPN's Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter report that the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings have either shown early interest in the Indianapolis Colts running back or are expected to before the Nov. 10 deadline. With Indianapolis sitting at 2-4, the front office faces a decision on a player who ran for 1,585 yards last season and still commands attention across the league.

Jonathan Taylor trade market begins to take shape

Interest from this many clubs says a lot about how Taylor is viewed outside Indianapolis. He rushed for 1,585 yards a year ago, the second time he has gone past 1,500 in a season, and teams tend to remember a résumé like that even when the current numbers look more modest. This season he has 492 yards and seven touchdowns, a respectable total for a back on a team that has lost four of its first six games.

None of the four teams has been reported to have made an offer, and Rapoport and Schefter frame the list as clubs that have called or are likely to. That matters, because early curiosity often fades once a team looks at the price. Still, a group of suitors this size usually gives a seller more room to negotiate than a single interested buyer would.

Colts weigh a Taylor trade before the November 10 deadline

Indianapolis has reasons to hold and reasons to sell. A 2-4 record leaves plenty of games to recover, and trading a star back in October would amount to waving off the season. On the other hand, the Colts can reportedly move on from Taylor's contract after this year at minimal cost, which means they could lose him for nothing in the spring when a draft pick is available to them now.

That tension is what gives the story its life. If Taylor keeps drawing interest from several teams, the Colts will have a hard time arguing that standing pat is the better value, particularly if the losses continue to stack up over the next two weeks.

The other side of the argument is harder to put a number on. Trading a player of Taylor's standing sends a clear message to a locker room that may still believe in the year, and some teams are simply unwilling to send that message. Whether Indianapolis is one of them will become clear soon enough.