Jonathan Taylor did not provide the Indianapolis Colts with any drama to begin 2026 training camp. He was at practice and ready to go, even if his future contract situation isn't. That might come soon.
While the Colts had their star running back participating in camp, two other teams weren't so lucky. The Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson and the Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs chose to show up, but not work out, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter. The RBs want contract extensions, and aren't getting them.
To be fair, Indianapolis has been through the same kind of situation with Taylor. In 2023, he missed training camp and the first four games of the regular season while seemingly recovering from offseason ankle surgery. The weirdness came when he finally got his contract extension, and then played basically the next day.
Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor took the high road that Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson didn't
Was he truly hurt? Or was he, for all intents and purposes, holding out? Whatever the answer, the running back got paid. The difference is that in 2026, Taylor and the Colts have the same situation, as he is entering the final year of his current deal, and he is choosing to practice. That's meaningful.
Robinson and Gibbs will eventually have to play for the Falcons and Lions, respectively, because if they don't, the team could toll the final years of their current deals, and the same situation would unfold next year. They are holding in (showing up to camp so as not to get fined), but in no mood to help their team until they get paid.
Try doing that at your own place of employment and see what happens. The employee might not like what does.
Both running backs are very good at their jobs, and they will eventually get paid a lot of money, but they are also getting paid through 2026, and they agreed to do so. Practice or don't practice, they have a deal to honor.
None of that, thankfully, concerns the Indianapolis Colts, though. 27-year-old Jonathan Taylor is in camp and told the media before the first day of practice that his agents and the team have had "some good conversations" about a possible contract extension, and that he has "faith" that a new deal will get done.
Maybe that even happens before te season, though general manager Chris Ballard isn't normally proactive about working out extensions. That almost cost him quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce this past offseason.
Maybe Taylor is just an intelligent veteran who knows, one way or another, he is going to get paid by some team. He's practicing with that safe knowledge. Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs? They aren't in that same frame of mind yet.
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