Stampede Blue
According to ESPN’s Stephen Holder, the trust between demoted Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson’s camp and the Indianapolis Colts organization could be quickly deteriorating following head coach Shane Steichen’s somewhat surprising decision to choose veteran Daniel Jones as the team’s new starter instead:
“The agent, Deiric Jackson, stopped short of demanding a trade, but he wondered aloud whether coach Shane Steichen’s quarterback decision might have been predetermined when the Colts signed Jones in March to a one-year, $14 million contract,” writes Holder.
“‘We have a lot to discuss,’ Jackson told ESPN of his impending conversations with the Colts.”
“Trust is a big factor and that is, at best, questionable right now,” Jackson said via Holder. “Anthony came back and made the improvements in the areas he needed to improve. And by all accounts, he had a great camp.”
It’s worth noting that it’s Richardson’s agent advocating on his client’s behalf—and not specifically Richardson.
Those words did not come from Richardson’s mouth, who has so far said the right things (*at least publicly) following the controversial news.
We saw this previously with Jonathan Taylor’s agent Malki Kawa playing the roll of ‘bad guy,’ to get his client a lucrative multi-year deal during a contentious contract holdout between the Colts and their star workhorse back in 2023 during training camp and that early season.
It’s not always personal. It’s just doing business.
Obviously, this situation is a lot different though.
Richardson, the former 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, was initially selected by the Colts with the organizational mantra that with only 13 total collegiate starts at the University of Florida that he simply needed experience to begin his pro career.
To his credit, Richardson flashed during his first 4 starts in 2023 on the field before being shut down due to a season-ending shoulder injury. Last year though, Richardson endured a ‘sophomore slump’ on the field, and there were questions on whether he was putting in enough time off-the-field and had the needed maturity level to be the starting quarterback for the Colts—especially following his now infamous near midseason in-game tap out.
The organizational’s stance on Richardson did a 180, as he was then declared ‘not ready’ for the heavy responsibility that is the franchise’s starting quarterback position, and the requirements that come with it.
To be fair, Richardson did improve at least in some regards down last season’s stretch following his 2-game benching before missing the team’s final two games because of injury.
However, he entered this offseason in a legitimate starting quarterback competition between him and the $14.5 million man, Daniel Jones, who just bested Richardson this offseason for the Colts starting quarterback job.
By all accounts, Richardson seemed to slightly outplay Jones in training camp and preseason, but it was the things that Colts fans and the local media didn’t see on-the-field (practice habits, film study sessions, command of the offense and protections, etc.) that likely won the day for the...
