After longtime general manager Chris Ballard was fired Monday, it’s a reasonable expectation right now that the Indianapolis Colts (at 2-4) may look to trade off some of their veteran players to recoup lost draft compensation.
As you may recall, the Colts currently do not have a 2027 first round pick, as theirs went to the New York Jets, along with other pieces, in last year’s trade deadline deal for shutdown cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Newly appointed interim general manager Ed Dodds may be tasked with
trying to trade some sought after Colts veterans ahead of this year’s trade deadline in early November.
Let’s look at some of the Colts top trade candidates, that have value to other teams and could realistically be on the move for a clearly rebuilding team:
DeForest Buckner
Look, no one wants to trade Buckner, who’s consistently embodied what it means to be a member of the Horseshoe about as well as anyone during his entire tenure in Indianapolis.
However, Buckner is 32-years-old coming off neck surgery, entering the last year of his current contract, and was publicly frustrated after Sunday’s brutal loss. If the price is right, it makes sense to trade him to a title contender for the last stretch of his standout playing career, perhaps back to the San Francisco Bay where it all started for him.
It makes sense to me that a contender could be interested in the still highly productive veteran pass rushing defensive tackle, similarly to when the Colts traded a 2nd round pick for Anthony ’Booger’ McFarland of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which helped galvanize their interior run defense for a Super Bowl run—along with the return of starting safety Bob Sanders of course.
Buckner has 26 tackles (9 solo), 4.0 sacks, 18 QB pressures, 3 passes defensed, and a fumble recovery during all 6 starts in 2026.
Trade Compensation: 2027 2nd round pick
Possible Trade Suitors: Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers
Quenton Nelson
Unless the future Hall of Famer goes to interim Colts management or ownership and explicitly states, “I want out,” the pending free agent should remain in Indianapolis for the remainder of his playing career prime through a new lucrative contract extension, regardless of who the next general manager is calling the shots—and that should come from a mandate above by team ownership. Simply put, “Lock up Nelson for life!”
Since being selected by the Colts with the 6th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, Nelson has been a perennial NFL All-Pro and one of the best offensive guards in all of football. He’s still playing at a very high Pro Bowl level again, and at age 30 is still young enough to outlast a short rebuild with productive football still left in him—as great offensive guards can still age pretty gracefully until at least their mid-thirties.
Particularly one with great technique and fundamentals like Big Q, who should be a future Ring of Honor player for the Colts franchise, when his Canton-bound career is all said and done.
Nelson has started all 6 games for the Colts and has a +84.3 overall grade via PFF, having allowed 0 sacks and just 7 total QB pressures during his 248 total pass blocking snaps.
Trade Compensation: 2027 first round pick
Possible Trade Suitors: Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks
Grover Stewart
Buckner’s longtime running mate at defensive tackle, Grover Stewart, has been a consistent run stopping force in the middle of the Indianapolis defensive line and like Buckner, another longtime veteran leader of their defense.
At 32-years-old, he’s also starting to get a bit long in the tooth at defensive tackle for Indianapolis and while his play has dipped a bit this season, perhaps a change of scenery and playing for a contender could motivate ‘Big Grove’ to find his vintage run stuffing self again during a serious playoff push. There has to be a legit playoff hopeful, who’s looking to shore up their run defense, and Stewart could be that guy for them in the short-term as another pending free agent.
On the 2026 campaign, Stewart has 20 tackles (5 solo), 0.5 sacks, and a pass defensed during all 6 starts.
Trade Compensation: 2027 4th Round Pick
Possible Trade Suitors: Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders.
Jonathan Taylor
Look, I can certainly understand the rationale for trading Taylor at this time, he’s 27-years-old with a lot of mileage on his tires, and NFL running backs typically do not age all that gracefully into their early thirties, unless apparently you’re freak of nature Derrick Henry.
To me, this is similar to Nelson though, where unless Taylor asks out via a trade, I think the Colts would look to keep the star workhorse for the remainder of his playing career prime here—as another future Ring of Honor guy and NFL Hall of Famer, when it’s all said and done.
Plus, you still want to give fans a reason to go to Colts games and have stars they can be proud of and root for on Sundays, if the expected trade return isn’t going to be all that worth the while.
On the season, Taylor has 122 carries for 492 total rushing yards (4.0 ypc avg.) and 7 rushing touchdowns during all 6 starts in the 2026 season.
Trade Compensation: 2027 2nd round pick
Possible Trade Suitors: Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
Charvarius ‘Mooney’ Ward
With a myriad of injuries, including multiple concussions, since joining Indianapolis in the 2025 offseason, it’s hard to see much of a robust market for the 30-year-old cornerback, who’s had some up-and-down play this year.
While Ward clearly hasn’t played up to his current Colts lucrative contract, he has no guaranteed money for next year, meaning a contending team with a clear need for a proven veteran cornerback could potentially kick the tires on Mooney Ward finding his familiar self down the season’s stretch as a rental to shore up their secondary.
Ward has 18 tackles (12 solo) and 4 passes defensed during all 6 starts, with a +64.7 overall grade via PFF—including a +62.8 coverage grade.
Trade Compensation: 2027 5th round pick
Possible Trade Suitors: Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers
