The Indianapolis Colts didn't want to do the hard work of finding a trade partner for quarterback Anthony Richardson, so they are having the player do the looking. The issue is that the team might have little leverage in moving the QB.
Richardson might have immense raw skills, but he hasn't been a productive player in his three seasons in the NFL. He gets hurt too much, and when he has played, he hasn't been good. He completes barely more than half his passes and has more interceptions than touchdown passes.
Those aren't numbers any team would want, but general managers around the league also know that AR5 has immense arm strength and is capable of being a good runner. Maybe that will make it worth risking a trade for him. They aren't going to give Indy much in return, though; they don't need to.
Indianapolis Colts have little leverage in a trade of Anthony Richardson
General manager Chris Ballard has made it clear that the team wants Daniel Jones to return after being great for a half-season in Indy. Richardson is probably nothing more than a likely QB3 now, a backup to QB2 Riley Leonard. Other teams know this, too, and they also know that Richardson should be entering the final year of his rookie deal.
The Colts have until May 1 to exercise the quarterback's fifth-year option as he was a first-round choice in 2023. No reason exists to do that, and doing so should be a fireable offense. Richardson isn't good, and if he has his option picked up, the team would have to pay him $23 million in 2027.
In other words, teams thinking of trading for Richardson understand they can give Indy some kind of draft value (likely a late-round draft pick) or simply wait for Indianapolis to either release him or not re-sign him in 2026. Richardson will only be 25 years old when the 2027 season begins. That is definitely young enough to potentially have many years left to play in the league.
In 2025, Anthony Richardson has a cap hit of $10,816,282. The Indianapolis Colts save literally nothing if the team releases him. All of the cap hit for AR5 would transition to dead cap, though his release would open up a roster spot.
The only way to get a win with a move of Richardson is to trade him, but that is ultimately not going to be worth much. Instead, Ballard and the Colts will have to live with a terrible decision to take the quarterback with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft. That might eventually cost Ballard, Richardson, and head coach Shane Steichen their jobs.