Anthony Richardson’s future in Indianapolis is already hanging over Colts camp, and for two very different reasons.
The first has nothing to do with what happens on the field. Richardson requested a trade from the Colts this past offseason, but nothing came of it and he remains on the roster.
For a while, a deal may have made more sense to another team after August 1. That date matters because it falls on the fourth day of Colts camp, when Richardson’s $4.2 million roster bonus becomes guaranteed.
Move him before the third day, and Indianapolis wouldn’t have had to pay it.
There’s also a financial angle for any team thinking about taking him on. If Richardson is traded, the new club would be on the hook for only $1.1 million in 2026, without the roster bonus attached. That makes him cheap by NFL standards, and it would give a team a season to decide whether it wants to keep investing.
But the bigger reason Colts fans are paying attention is what’s happening on the practice field.
Richardson is set to hit free agency next offseason no matter what happens before Week 1 of 2026, and his market value is very much up in the air. It could climb if he ends up playing this season and plays well. Of course, that would also mean something went wrong with Daniel Jones, and that is not an ideal path for Indianapolis.
What has been reported from early camp isn’t helping Richardson’s case. James Boyd of The Athletic, who also appears on Indianapolis’s 107.5 The Fan morning show, has said Richardson has again been inaccurate with his throws. That’s a bad look for a quarterback entering his fourth season, especially with the Colts still in the early stages of camp and not yet practicing in pads.
The issues being described are basic ones. Richardson isn’t consistently leading his receivers, which forces them to turn back for the ball and kill their momentum.
He also isn’t showing the kind of touch needed to throw a receiver open. And because these first three days have come without pads, there’s no contact and no real game-like disruption to blame.
If he can’t separate himself in that setting, the concern is obvious.
That doesn’t mean Indianapolis is about to cut him loose. There’s no reason for that, and the Colts are comfortable carrying three quarterbacks if needed, especially with questions surrounding both Daniel Jones and Richardson. Keeping three passers who know Shane Steichen’s system matters.
Still, Richardson’s time in Indianapolis feels like it’s running short. The tools are there, but the accuracy issues remain, and if Jones is the long-term answer, Richardson should be headed toward what looks like the final season of his Colts career.
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