Talk about a turnaround. After months of acrimony, the Indianapolis Colts and Jonathan Taylor have agreed on a long-term contract extension.
The deal is a dramatic reversal from the dynamic of the past several months, when the Colts seemed determined not to pay Taylor, and Taylor seemed determined to go to a team that would.
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Jonathan Taylor Contract Details
Here are the terms of the deal, as reported by ESPN:
It’s for three years and $42 million, with $26.5 million guaranteed. The $14 million AAV makes Taylor the league’s third-highest-paid running back, behind only Christian McCaffrey ($16 million) and Alvin Kamara ($15 million).
Sources to ESPN: Jonathan Taylor and the Colts reached agreement on a three-year, $42 million contract extension, including $26.5M guaranteed, that makes him one of the league’s highest-paid RBs and clears him to make his season debut Sunday vs. Titans.
Taylor becomes the first… pic.twitter.com/uidsSbbyPi
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2023
The deal clears the path for Taylor to return to action — this week. He was listed as questionable for this weekend’s game against the Tennessee Titans on the Colts’ Friday injury report with the same ankle injury that kept him out of the season’s first four games.
However, the Colts on Saturday both removed Taylor from the physically unable to perform list and removed him from their Week 5 injury report — all but announcing he will play this weekend.
Before the extension, Taylor was in the final year of his rookie deal and earning just $4.3 million in base salary. He rightfully felt underpaid, considering he rushed for 3,841 yards and 33 touchdowns and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.
The Colts seemed unwilling to pay Taylor this year and even went so far as to allow him to seek out trade offers from a team willing to meet his demands. But the proposed compensation from teams like the Dolphins and Packers never met the Colts’ threshold.
The impasse finally broke in recent days when Taylor rejoined the team. Meanwhile, the organization and his agent Malki Kawa quietly reengaged in contract negotiations, talks that ultimately resulted in Saturday’s deal.
Jonathan Taylor Fantasy Analysis
From PFN Fantasy Director Kyle Yates
The news that Taylor has worked out a contract extension with the Colts puts to rest all of the uncertainty regarding Taylor’s status for the remainder of the year.
While we still don’t have any clarity on what exactly Taylor’s production will be in this new offense alongside Anthony Richardson, the dynamic RB has to skyrocket up rest-of-season rankings.
We cannot confidently move him into the top-five conversation with the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, Tony Pollard, etc., but he is certainly knocking on that door.
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If we get a dominant performance in Week 5 right out of the gate, JT’s going to be tough to acquire in fantasy football leagues.
This is great news for fantasy managers who took a chance on him in their drafts and hung onto him this entire time. They’re getting one of the most talented RBs in the NFL back and ready to roll at a key time.