During Wednesday’s OTA media availability, Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback Anthony Richardson indicated that while he hasn’t rescinded his earlier offseason trade request, he is only going to continue to focus on the team and competing for the primary backup quarterback job (via ESPN’s Stephen Holder):
The Colts rising 4th-year quarterback recently attended voluntary workouts earlier this month, and to his credit, handled Wednesday’s media availability about as professionally and well as he could given the awkward situation he now finds himself in—still on the club after formally requesting a trade a few months ago.
While it was no indication of initial quarterback depth chart pecking order per head coach Shane Steichen, it was the Colts former 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft who was the ‘first man up’ with their first-team offense ahead of 2nd-year quarterback Riley Leonard during the team’s initial 11-on-11 non-contact drills.
Having overcome vision issues this offseason and last season after suffering a fractured orbital bone during a freak pre-game medical band incident, Richardson appeared to look pretty good with the Colts starting offense—all things considered during early OTAs:
Meanwhile, incumbent starter Daniel Jones, who was throwing during individual drills and seen running full-field sprints with trainers after Wednesday’s OTA practice, is still being limited to positional work during his ongoing rehabilitation from a 2025 season-ending torn Achilles—but by all indications, appears to be right on track for the start of team training camp in mid-July without restrictions.
If nothing else, the Richardson saga in Indianapolis remains interesting.
Jones hasn’t exactly been an ‘NFL ironman’ dating back to his earlier career with the New York Giants—and has a surgically repaired Achilles, so it would behoove Indianapolis to have a capable backup quarterback behind him.
Steichen’s personal preference seems to be a lean for Leonard, who played reasonably well as a starter in the Colts regular season finale last year, but it’s also a very limited sample size to form a clear conclusion from.
If he’s not traded sooner, Richardson appears to be on his inevitable way out of Indianapolis as a free agent at year-end regardless, and it makes more sense to provide those developmental 2nd-team quarterback reps to Leonard as the primary backup going forward. Unless, it’s clear that Richardson would otherwise give the team the best chance to win in relief as QB1, should Jones suffer another key injury that forces him to miss time.
