According to ESPN’s Stephen Holder, who covers the Indianapolis Colts, 2023 fourth overall pick quarterback Anthony Richardson, who lost the starting job to Daniel Jones in 2025, is available to trade. Per Holder, “one particular team to monitor” is the Green Bay Packers, who need a new backup quarterback in 2026 after Malik Willis signed a $67.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins to be their starter.
Holder stated that the Colts have permitted Richardson to find a trade suitor, so he’ll have some
say in where he lands. He “would be attracted to a situation that pairs him with a proven QB developer,” and Holder said that Matt LaFleur checks the box.
Richardson, 24, only has one year left on his rookie contract, and he’ll be due $5.39 million in cash in 2026, which will be his cap hit for the Packers this year, if the team trades for him and doesn’t touch his contract. $5 million is about the cost for a veteran backup quarterback in today’s NFL already.
Whichever team trades for Richardson has the option to pick up his fifth-year option before May 1st, but I don’t think there’s a club out there that would pick up the $22.5 million figure at this point in his career.
The big question is what Richardson is worth, on top of the backup salary he’s already commanding, for just a one-year deal. Maybe the hope, on the Packers’ end, is that Richardson earns them more in a compensatory draft pick in 2028 (after Richardson hits free agency in 2027) than they’ll have to pay to get him in 2026, so the only real cost will be his 2026 salary.
That would be a pretty big risk, though, because 1) Richardson would need to see the field to improve his standing and Jordan Love will be the clear starter next year and 2) next year’s crop of quarterbacks in the draft is much stronger than the 2026 class, where maybe only the first overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, will be a first-round quarterback.
On top of that, the Packers would need to be net losers in compensatory free agency next year, like they were in 2026, to collect the comp pick. As of now, Green Bay has $84.6 million in cap space for the 2027 season, so they should be in a good position to actually be spenders unless they extend nearly all their contract year players (or make splash additions via a trade).
Right now, the 2026 Packers already have the third-worst purchasing power in the 2026 draft, since they’re down their first-round pick from the Micah Parsons trade. They also need to continue to add competition to the defensive line and cornerback rooms. If they make a trade for Richardson, it might have to be something like a sixth-round pick for the quarterback, which I’m not sure the Colts want as a return for a former top-five selection. It’ll be interesting to see what teams are ultimately willing to give up for him.
Richardson went 8-7 as a starter with 11 passing touchdowns and 13 interceptions over his first two years in Indianapolis. He also ran for 635 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. He battled with Jones for a starting job in the summer of 2025, and Jones was ultimately named the starter in mid-August. While in the backup role, he broke his orbital bone on October 12th, after being injured in a freak accident involving a resistance band during pregame warmups. That ended up landing him on the injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Currently, the backups behind Love in Green Bay are Desmond Ridder, a former third-round pick with an 8-10 record, who the Packers picked up in December, and Kyle McCord, a 2025 sixth-round pick who signed a reserve/futures contract with Green Bay after the season, following a year on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad.
In Richardson’s one game against the Packers in the regular season, he went 17/34 for 204 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a 41.8 passer rating back in 2024, which was actually the Willis breakout game. The Packers and Colts also had joint practices together in the summer of 2025, leading up to their preseason game. In that preseason game, Richardson went 6/11 for 73 yards and a 75.2 passer rating.
