The Giants moved quickly to settle their quarterback situation, and that urgency helps explain why J.J. McCarthy ended up in New York while Anthony Richardson Sr. stayed put in Indianapolis.
After the Giants confirmed that Jaxson Dart will miss at least the rest of the regular season because he needs surgery to repair the serious knee injury he suffered on Sept. 21, attention turned to whether the team might chase another option. But before New York landed McCarthy in a deal with the Minnesota Vikings this past Monday - sending a 2027 fifth-round draft pick the other way - there was no real indication that Richardson was in the mix.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network/ESPN said he hadn't "heard" the Giants had any interest in trading for Richardson this fall. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano later laid out why that stayed the case, noting that New York never made a call to Indianapolis about Richardson's availability.
"The Giants never called Indianapolis about Richardson's availability, but my sense is that the Colts don't want to trade him right now," Fowler wrote. "Perhaps that changes, but Richardson is QB2 despite neither he nor third-stringer Riley Leonard having particularly good camps. Richardson would welcome the chance to learn behind the scenes in the [Sean McVay] or [Kyle Shanahan] trees, but that doesn't feel feasible, at least this season."
Richardson had asked for a trade in February, but the market never seemed to materialize. No team was believed to be willing to give up a meaningful asset for him before the 2026 draft got underway. He and Leonard spent August battling for the Colts' top backup job, and Indianapolis has opened the season 1-2.
The Colts, meanwhile, are presumably hoping Daniel Jones can rediscover the form that helped them win eight of their first 10 games last season. Even so, Jones' injury history likely plays into why Indianapolis is not eager to dump Richardson for little return with the Nov. 10 trade deadline still ahead.
"A guy we don't hear much about anymore is Anthony Richardson Sr., and I still wonder if someone will throw a late-round pick at the Colts for a chance to salvage his talent," Graziano added. "There was the whole kerfuffle in the offseason about him demanding a trade, but we never heard much about teams being interested in acquiring him. As the season goes on and the Colts get closer to the end of his rookie contract, maybe they're willing to take less to move on."
Richardson is on track to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season, so a Day 3 pick in early November could still be enough to pull a team into the conversation. The Giants, though, chose not to wait around for that possibility. Whether first-year Big Blue head coach John Harbaugh ends up regretting the move is a question that will have to wait.
In Other News...
Anthony Richardson's Colts Future Just Became A Real Midseason Watch
For now, the Colts are treating Anthony Richardson Sr. like a quarterback they still want in the building, even with the noise that has followed him around in recent months. According to ESPNs Jeremy Fowler, Indianapolis is not looking to move Richardson and has not been fielding trade calls, while the Giants have not even reached out about his availability.
Still, the broader picture has not gone away. The fact that a deal before the NFL deadline later this year remains possible keeps Richardson squarely in the middle of a midseason storyline, especially for a team trying to balance patience with urgency at the games most important position. For the Colts, this is less about chatter than about how long they can keep the conversation from turning into something more serious. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Came Uncomfortably Close To A Kicking Crisis Against Houston
Spencer Shraders afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium almost turned into a special-teams stress test before the Colts even kicked off against Houston. The kicker picked up a groin injury in warm-ups, then went on to handle the job anyway, making every field goal he tried and finishing the day with a game-winning 53-yarder that kept Indianapolis from having to sort out the chaos of an in-game replacement.
Still, the Colts had a plan ready if Shrader had been unable to go. Special teams coordinator Brian Mason said punter Rigoberto Sanchez would have taken over as the emergency kicker, a role he has handled before in college when he was responsible for all kicking duties. Indianapolis also had backup options lined up for snapping and holding, the kind of detail work teams usually hope stays invisible unless the situation turns uncomfortable fast. [Read more 🡒]
Laiatu Latus Slow Start Is Fueling A Painful Colts Fear
Laiatu Latu arrived in Indianapolis with the kind of first-round promise that usually changes the shape of a pass rush, and he gave the Colts enough of that impact as a rookie to leave real expectations for a second-year jump. Instead, through three games this season, the production has not moved forward the way the Colts hoped. His sack total and pressure numbers have both dipped from where they were before, and a chest contusion in Week 3 only added to the sense that the defender they are counting on has yet to find his stride.
For a Colts defense that has spent too much time searching for consistency up front, Latu's slump is more than a personal concern. Indianapolis needs him to look like the player who flashed last season, because the pass rush has not been reliable enough without that kind of edge threat carrying it. The worry now is not just about a slow start, but whether the team can afford to wait much longer for its top young rusher to rediscover the form that made him such an important part of the plan. [Read more 🡒]