According to NFL.com’s Marc Ross, rather unsurprisingly, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson isn’t projected to receive a 2027 5th-year team option by his current club, being eligible as
a member of the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft class:
Pick 4. Anthony Richardson
Indianapolis Colts · QB
Exercise the option? No.
Indy took a gamble when selecting Richardson fourth overall, and that gamble hasn’t paid off. He played four games as a rookie before a shoulder injury ended his season. He missed multiple games in 2024 with hip, oblique and back injuries, before losing the starting gig to Daniel Jones in the 2025 preseason. In October, he suffered an eye injury during pregame warmups that sent him to injured reserve, leaving the Colts to turn to 44-year-old Philip Rivers and rookie Riley Leonard after Jones was lost for the year with an Achilles tear. I’m not sure how long the Colts can continue to keep their eggs in this basket.
Currently, Richardson is entering the last year of his rookie contract with a cap hit of $10.82M (per OverTheCap), but Indianapolis could still pick up his 5th-year team option until May 1st of this upcoming Spring—albeit at this point, that doesn’t appear very likely at all.
That 2027 5th-year option would otherwise project to pay him around $22.9M, which again, at that exorbitant price point, even far less likely.
Due to a freak accident in which a medical band snapped in Week 6 pregame training work, Richardson, once the primary backup to starter Daniel Jones after losing a heated offseason competition in training camp and preseason, suffered what would be a season-ending fractured orbital bone, having been placed on injured reserve.
It was an incredibly unfortunate event for Richardson’s early career, as Jones went down to his own season-ending injury in Week 14, which was a torn Achilles, and the Colts could’ve theoretically turned back to their demoted former 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft and starting quarterback (instead of an unretired 44-year-old Philip Rivers and rookie Riley Leonard) to potentially right the ship and save their late season.
Who knows?
Had Richardson played well (which is a BIG IF) and with Jones’s uncertain injury status to begin 2026 and as a pending free agent, perhaps the still 23-year-old quarterback could’ve won the Colts starting quarterback job back outright.
We’ll never know, and may never now how Richardson’s career could’ve turned out otherwise in Indianapolis.
The oft-injured quarterback may have run out of opportunities in Indianapolis (while others somehow haven’t?), and with rookie Riley Leonard playing well in the regular season finale, the Colts may have found their long-term QB2—and may want to shed Richardson’s $10.82M cap hit to spend elsewhere to improve the remaining roster.
Richardson will always be a lingering enigma to me.
Maybe it was scripted enough early on by head coach Shane Steichen, but he showcased a lot of upside and ability as a 21-year-old rookie during a limited sample size of 4 starts during his rookie season before he was shut down with a season-ending right throwing shoulder injury. He looked like a legitimate franchise QB hopeful.
It’s easy to pile on Richardson these days, when his career arrow is obviously pointing downward, but there were some real flashes, even if inconsistent. Anyone saying otherwise is just playing up to revisionist history.
He clearly endured a sophomore slump in 2024, and there were reported maturity issues. While Richardson showed some improvements down that season’s late stretch, it was also against weaker NFL teams. Only completing 50% of his pass attempts during 11 starts also wasn’t sustainable, and he has to improve there.
Richardson was arguably the stronger on-the-field performer during this past offseason’s training camp and preseason over Jones, but the latter was doing all the little things off the field that matter that we didn’t see firsthand (i.e., showing up early, staying late, watching film study, and perhaps most importantly, understanding Steichen’s offense). That ultimately won Jones the starting job over Richardson this past offseason, and until Jones fractured his fibula and suffered a season-ending torn Achilles, the Colts were winning with that decision.
Really concerning for Richardson is that Jones mastered an offense in a matter of months last offseason, when the former Florida quarterback couldn’t show the same level of expertise in over two years in Indianapolis.
This is just a hunch, but it always has seemed to me like Richardson wasn’t putting in the time and effort in initially (especially during 2024), so while Indianapolis would’ve ordinarily been patient and suffered through the growing pains, there became a boiling over point (following the infamous in-game tap-out of 2024), where they weren’t going to waste their time and effort with Richardson any longer—if he wasn’t putting it in himself.
His top draft selection gave him initial leeway in the beginning, but that wasn’t going to last forever—if he wasn’t doing what he needed to be doing. After all, at QB playing the team’s most important position, he’s expected to be a top leader of their locker room—both on and off the field.
Yes, the Colts have made some mistakes too. Rushing Richardson as a Week 1 starter in 2023, and then not surrounding him with a proper veteran quarterback mentor to begin his career to shadow and a strong enough support system for a young quarterback that everyone knew would be initially raw and a bit of a passing project.
There was also some questionable play-calling to begin 2024, regarding the lack of utilizing his legs. That being said, we haven’t heard of those same maturity issues with some of his young quarterback contemporaries like Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, or Jayden Daniels. Richardson is responsible for a lot of what has transpired as well beyond the unfortunate injuries, which have largely been beyond his reasonable control for the most part.
His opportunities may have run out in Indianapolis, as team owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon was non-committal regarding his future team status in her recent end-of-season press conference, only indicating that she was going to stay in her lane regarding QB evaluations, felt sorry for his myriad of early career injuries, but that ultimately, Steichen and longtime general manager Chris Ballard would make the right choice for the franchise.
Right now, Richardson appears to be a strong trade candidate this offseason, and his time may be at its end in Indy—for better or for worse. With Jones rehabbing and questionable to be ready for the 2026 regular season opener, there could be at least a small crack of daylight that Richardson could surprisingly return though.
It seems rather unlikely, given current team vibes around W. 56th Street, and Leonard’s strong play (albeit in a losing team effort) to close out the Colts’ very disappointing 2025 campaign.
