Indianapolis Colts

The mutual interest between the Vikings and Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson should come as no surprise.

After the two teams played in Week 9 of the 2024 season, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell sought out Richardson, who had been benched at the time for Joe Flacco.

“Do me a favor and remember something,” O’Connell said to Richardson. “You’re a bad dude. . . . And you’re gonna play a long time in this league. . . . Go to work every day. Good things will happen for you. I still believe in you. I know these guys do, [Colts coach] Shane [Steichen] does, too. . . . And this organization loves you.”

The fourth pick in the 2023 draft, Richardson started four games as a rookie. In 2024, he had 11 starts. In 2025, he appeared in two games before suffering a season-ending eye injury when an exercise band malfunctioned in the locker room before a Week 6 game against the Cardinals.

Richardson had lost the starting job to Daniel Jones, who had finished 2024 with the Vikings after being cut by the Giants. The Colts have granted Richardson permission to seek a trade.

Richardson is under contract through 2026, with a compensation package of $5.385 million. A fifth-year option remains available, at a guaranteed salary in 2027 of $23.5 million.

Vikings executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, who is handling the General Manager duties for now, said earlier this week that the team would explore all their options at quarterback. One of those options is Anthony Richardson.

Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that the Vikings and Richardson have “mutual interest.”

The Colts have given Richardson permission to seek a trade.

The Vikings want to add competition to their quarterbacks room. J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in 2024, completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first season as a starter.

The Vikings finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

The Colts provided Richardson, the fourth overall pick in 2023, with competition in 2025, and Daniel Jones won the job. Richardson played only two games — 14 snaps — and threw only two passes last season. He was out much of the season with an orbital fracture.

He has 15 starts in three seasons, completing 50.6 percent of his passes for 2,400 yards with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Jones is scheduled for free agency later this month, but all signs point to the Colts keeping him as their starter with either a tag or with a long-term deal.

Earlier this week, Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said that he could see a future with Anthony Richardson still on the team, but things could change.

Apparently, they have.

Per Stephen Holder of ESPN, Indianapolis has given Richardson permission to seek a trade.

The No. 4 pick of the 2023 draft, Richardson lost the competition to be the Colts’ starting quarterback to Daniel Jones in 2025. While Jones was on a one-year deal, Indianapolis intends to keep him for 2026 and beyond as the club’s QB1.

Richardson has suffered several injuries in his short career, including an orbital fracture suffered in a pregame accident that sidelined him for much of last season. He started just four games as a rookie before he went out with a shoulder injury that required surgery. He started 11 games in 2024, missing starts due to injury and he was also benched. Richardson finished that season with a poor 47.7 percent completion rate, having thrown for 1,814 yards with eight touchdown sand 12 interceptions.

While Richardson was a first-round pick, his value and desirability on the trade market is unknown. There are few starting-caliber quarterbacks available in free agency. And Richardson is still just 23, turning 24 on May 22.

In his 17 games with 15 starts, Richardson has completed 50.6 percent of his passes for 2,400 yards with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 634 yards with 10 touchdowns, fumbling 12 times with four lost.

Alec Pierce is set to be one of the top receivers on the free-agent market next month.

The Colts would like to keep him, though General Manager Chris Ballard said this week that he’d prefer not to use the franchise tag to do so.

While Pierce is known for his ability as a deep threat, part of the reason why Indianapolis is trying to retain Pierce is his development into a more complete receiver.

“I think he’s made huge strides in his game,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said during the scouting combine this week. “Obviously, he’s a big home run threat for us, as we know. But the intermediate stuff, the way he’s coming in and out of breaks at the top of routes, the comebacks, the one-on-ones on the outside, running in-breaking stuff — he’s made a lot of strides in all those areas. Even the 50-50 balls down the field, he’s making those 70 percent of the time now. You throw it up and you’ve got a chance he’ll go make a play for us.”

Pierce, 25, caught 47 passes for 1,003 yards with six touchdowns in 2025. He’s led the league in yards per reception over each of the last two years, setting the mark at 22.3 in 2024 and 21.3 in 2025.

Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward suffered three concussions during the 2025 season and he said last month that the repeated head injuries led to thoughts about whether he will continue playing.

Ward had two stints on injured reserve due to the concussions, including one that kept him out for the final month of the regular season, and he said in January that he was still having headaches. Ward also said that his father thinks he should retire, but General Manager Chris Ballard said on Tuesday that Ward appears to be heading in the other direction.

“All indications are he’s wanting to move forward and play,” Ballard said, via Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.

Ward signed a three-year deal with the Colts last offseason and the team later traded for Sauce Gardner, but they only had the duo on the field together once in 2026. It looks like the hope will be that the duo will be in the lineup together more often in 2026.

Anthony Richardson’s first three pro seasons have not gone as he or the Colts would have planned.

But it sounds like Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 draft, should be ready for the start of the offseason program in April after missing most of 2025 due to an orbital fracture from a freak pregame accident.

“He’s getting better,” General Manager Chris Ballard said during his scouting combine press conference on Tuesday. “I know he met with another specialist. He’s getting better. He’s been cleared to play football.

“I’m proud of him. I’m proud of Anthony, man. I mean, here’s a guy that’s had to deal with a lot of injury stuff that happens. Unfortunate accident with his eye. He doesn’t win the job, Daniel [Jones] wins the job. I think the one thing that I don’t know everybody appreciates about Anthony — I do and I know some of his teammates do — he’s a really good teammate. Positive, wants to do the right things. So, it’s trending in the right direction. Still got a ways to go, but he’s cleared to play. And the eye’s getting better. So, we’ll just work from there.”

Richardson briefly appeared in two games in 2025, playing just 14 offensive snaps.

While the Colts seem highly likely to decline Richardson’s fifth-year option this spring, Ballard maintains Richardson could still have a future with Indianapolis.

“I see a future, yeah. I’m not going to — kind of like with any player, you never know what’s going to happen. And things change,” Ballard said. “But, yeah. We like Anthony.”

The Colts have two key offensive pending free agents who they’d like to retain going forward: quarterback Daniel Jones and receiver Alec Pierce.

General Manager Chris Ballard said at his scouting combine press conference that Indianapolis would prefer not to use the franchise tag for either player. But it’s an option if things don’t work out before both players hit the open market at the start of the new league year next month.

“It’s not what we want to do,” Ballard said. “It’s a tool we have. It’s not what we want to do, though.”

That’s part of why this week at the scouting combine is so critical, as agents come to town and start figuring out what the market will be for those pending free agents.

Ballard characterized discussions with both Jones and Pierce’s representation as “very positive.”

“We’ll continue to work this week and see if we can get something done,” Ballard said. “Look, when both sides are driven to get it done, it usually works out in the right way. I know four or five days doesn’t seem like a long time, but it can be in these situations.”

Jones stabilized the QB position for the Colts after years of inconsistent play at that spot, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,101 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions before suffering a torn Achilles

Pierce, a second-round pick in 2022, has led the league in yards per reception over each of the past two seasons. He finished 2025 with a career-high 1,003 receiving yards and 47 receptions with six touchdowns.

The Colts have until March 3 at 4 p.m. ET to determine whether or not they’ll use the franchise or transition tag this offseason.

The Colts made a great move at quarterback last year, getting quarterback Daniel Jones on a one-year, $14 million deal. Now, they have a big decision to make.

Re-sign Jones, risk letting him become a free agent, or use the franchise tag?

The challenge when it comes to using the franchise tag is obvious. It’s not cheap. The projected 2026 franchise tag for the quarterback position is $47.3 million.

That’s a massive commitment, especially in light of Jones’s current health. He’s recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, with no guarantee that he’ll be 100 percent when the season starts.

On the other hand, they risk losing him to another team that would pay more than whatever the Colts might offer. And the Vikings, in theory, could be lurking.

Last year, the Vikings wanted to pair Jones with J.J. McCarthy. Jones believed that coach Kevin O’Connell would work his usual magic with McCarthy, making it unlikely Jones would play. In Indy, Jones received a full and fair chance to win the job from Anthony Richardson — and Jones did.

This time around, Jones may believe he has a chance to play in Minnesota.

The Vikings developed a high opinion of Jones during their limited time with him in 2024. Their opinion of him was sufficiently high that some believed Jones had a chance to leapfrog Sam Darnold during the playoffs, if the Vikings had managed to win the wild-card game against the Rams.

Regardless, Jones remains under contract with the Colts. They have a week to decide whether to tag him.

The transition tag is also available. It would cost $40 million for 2026, giving them only the right to match an offer sheet.

It all comes down to Jones’s true market. Would someone offer him $40 million per year? But for the Achilles injury, maybe.

That said, the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $45 million per year in 2024, while he was recovering from the same injury. And the market, as Tua Tagovailoa once said, is the market.

The Colts need to figure out what the market for Jones may be, before deciding whether to apply the franchise tag.

The Colts have announced their coaching staff for the 2026 season.

Head coach Shane Steichen will have five new faces on that staff. The most significant addition is defensive line coach Marion Hobby. Hobby spent last season as a defensive analyst at his alma mater Tennessee and the former NFL defensive lineman has also been a position coach for the Bengals, Dolphins, Jaguars and Saints.

Strength and conditioning assistant Tyrell Brown, defensive quality control coach Jeremy Bruce, defensive quality control coach Dillon Doyle, and game management coordinator Aditya Krishnan are the other new hires. Performance science analyst Mikey Blazejowski, assistant defensive line coach Kalon Humphries, offensive quality control coach Diego Ortiz, and offensive quality control coach Brent Stockstill have new titles.

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, special teams coordinator Brian Mason, linebackers coach James Bettcher, Harriet P. Irsay fellow Isabel Diaz, strength and conditioning assistant Zane Fakes, senior assistant special teams coach Joe Hastings, defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, pass game coordinator/secondary coach Chris Hewitt, senior strength and conditioning coach Richard Howell, assistant to the head coach TJ Ingels, assistant linebackers coach Cato June, strength and conditioning assistant/performance therapist Sam Khym, tight ends coach Tom Manning, director of sports performance Mike Minnis, running backs coach DeAndre Smith, offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr., passing game coordinator Alex Tanney, quarterbacks coach Cam Turner, assistant offensive line coach Mike Watt, and wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne return from the 2025 season.

Every year, the coaching carousel spins first. Then, the quarterback carousel whirls.

It’s coming soon. Veteran quarterbacks will be cut, traded, signed. Teams will reshuffle their depth charts with changes at the most important position on the team.

In a recent item about the potential contract prospects of Packers (for now) backup Malik Willis, some of the veteran options were listed. Here’s a look at the various teams that will have decisions to make regarding veteran quarterbacks currently on the roster, or to be added once the new league year begins.

Dolphins: They have a decision to make about Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins owe him $54 million in 2026. The two-year (or one-year, if they choose to rip the Band-Aid in one motion) dead-cap charge for cutting Tua would be $99.2 million. They need to decide what to do with Tua, and whether to add a veteran — like Willis. They’d surely love to find a way to trade Tua, even if it means selling some of the cap charge to another team by attaching a draft pick to Tua’s contract. And since they owe him every penny of his 2026 pay, they could choose to keep him around. (That would fully guarantee another $3 million for 2027, however.)

Jets: Justin Fields likely will be cut. Half of his $20 million salary for 2026 is fully guaranteed. They’ll likely be looking for a veteran, possibly on a short-term basis, to run new coordinator Frank Reich’s offense.

Steelers: They’re willing to wait for Aaron Rodgers, which would take them out of play for a veteran in the early days of free agency. Willis or Cousins could be intriguing options, if they find out before March 11 that Rodgers won’t be returning.

Browns: Who knows what they’ll do? Deshaun Watson is under contract for another year, at $46 million. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are, too. Will the new half-regime led by coach Todd Monken want a veteran from the outside?

Ravens: In the unlikely event the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson, they’d need a new quarterback — presumably one with starting experience.

Colts: Daniel Jones, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, likely will be back. Anthony Richardson has one year left on his rookie deal; he’s under contract for 2026 at guaranteed pay of $5.385 million. If Jones leaves, the Colts would need another veteran.

Raiders: They owe Geno Smith $18.5 million for 2026. Another $8 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 13. Would someone trade for him at $26.5 million? He could be cut. The Raiders also could keep him as the bridge to Fernando Mendoza, if they make him the first overall pick.

Vikings: They want a veteran who’ll compete with J.J. McCarthy. That could make it harder to attract a veteran who’ll want a commitment that he’ll be QB1. Based on McCarthy’s performance and durability in 2025, however, most veteran quarterbacks with reasonable confidence would believe they can win a fair and square competition. If they believe the competition will be both fair and square.

Falcons: They haven’t committed to Michael Penix Jr. being the Week 1 starter, and for good reason. Penix is recovering from his latest ACL tear. Cousins could, in theory, return after being released. That seems unlikely. Another veteran is possible for the new-look football operation led by Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and Kevin Stefanski.

Cardinals: The moment Kyler Murray was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury that was supposedly healing, the message was clear — it’s over for Murray in Arizona. The Cardinals owe him $36.8 million for 2026, with another $22.55 million in 2026 pay and 2027 salary hitting the books early in the 2026 league year. If not traded, he’ll be cut. Willis could be an option for the Cardinals. Rodgers potentially could be a target, too.

With the Scouting Combine beginning soon, the carousel will start moving. Coaches and General Managers who take the podium on Tuesday or Wednesday will be asked pointed questions. Agents will meet with teams.