Stampede Blue
Before getting into the list, it is important to make the purpose clear. This does not mean the Colts should trade any of these players, and it does not mean they would accept these offers if another team called. Some players are worth more to Indianapolis than they would be on the open market, and in other cases, the hole created by trading the player would be bigger than the draft pick coming back.
This is simply an attempt to assign league-wide trade value based on age, talent, contract, position, production, scarcity and how NFL teams usually value similar players. The 2026 draft class was not included in the list.
Projected trade value: Fourth-round pick
Ward still has value because quality outside corners are hard to find, and teams are always looking for veteran defensive backs who can step into a starting role. He has played high-level football, has the reputation of a reliable cover corner, and would make sense for a contender that needs help on the outside.
The reason his value settles around a fourth-round pick is age and contract. Ward is a good player, but he is not the kind of young, ascending corner who would command a premium return. For the Colts, he may be more useful on the roster than he would be as a trade asset because Indianapolis needs proven cornerback depth around Sauce Gardner. Still, if a team were desperate for a starting-caliber veteran corner, a fourth-round pick feels like the realistic range.
Projected trade value: Fourth-round pick, possibly a third
Bynum is a good player, and he gives the Colts stability at safety, which is something they badly needed. He is smart, reliable, versatile and experienced enough to help organize the back end of the defense. Those traits have value, especially for teams looking for a steady safety rather than a boom-or-bust athlete.
The issue is positional value. Safeties rarely bring back major trade returns unless they are elite, extremely young, or on a bargain contract. Bynum is valuable, but he is probably more valuable to the Colts than he would be to another team in a trade. A fourth-round pick feels like the safest estimate, although a desperate contender could talk itself into a third if it viewed him as the missing piece in the secondary.
Projected trade value: Conditional third-round pick
Jones is the hardest player in this range to evaluate because his value depends almost entirely on how he plays this season. If he stabilizes the Colts’ offense, protects the football, and looks like a legitimate starting quarterback again, a conditional third-round pick would be very reasonable. Starting quarterbacks, even imperfect ones, have value because there are never enough of them.
If he plays like a bridge quarterback, the value drops quickly. That is why a conditional pick makes the most sense. A team trading for Jones would likely want protection based on starts,...
