Jonathan Taylor’s wish to stay in Indianapolis is turning into a long-term reality.
The Colts reached a two-year, $44 million extension with the star running back on Thursday, according to league sources who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The deal can climb to $47 million and includes $39 million guaranteed, keeping Taylor under contract through the 2028 season.
It’s another major payday for a player who already had one of the more complicated contract stories in recent Colts history. Taylor was heading into the final year of the three-year, $42 million extension he signed in October 2023, a deal that followed a public and at times bitter standoff with then-owner Jim Irsay and his agent, Malki Kawa.
Taylor and Irsay even traded barbs on social media before that agreement finally came together. This one moved much more smoothly, with Taylor in training camp and the Colts rewarding the 2020 second-round pick with a third contract from the team that drafted him.
The new extension makes Taylor the NFL’s second-highest paid running back by average annual value at $22 million. Only Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson is ahead of him at $22.25 million after Robinson’s three-year, $66.8 million deal Tuesday.
Taylor heard about Robinson’s contract after practice and made it clear he was happy for another running back to cash in, even if he was still waiting on his own situation to be settled.
“I gotta go talk to my agent, too,” Taylor said Tuesday. “… I have faith, so I’m gonna tap in and check in with him, now that you guys broke the news to me.”
Two days later, the Colts answered.
The move fits with how Indianapolis has talked about Taylor all offseason. Principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon and general manager Chris Ballard both praised him and called him a franchise pillar, signaling this outcome was always in the range of possibilities.
Taylor has been open about wanting to stay put. During minicamp in June, he said, “I’d definitely love to be a Colt for life.
I think I’ve already expressed that to them throughout the years,” Taylor said during minicamp in June. “… Hopefully they feel the same (way) because this is a special place.
Not every building is like this, and I’ve heard some stories now, especially from guys coming from other places, and it’s not like this elsewhere.”
The timing also reflects how well Taylor played in 2025. The 27-year-old suited up for every game and piled up 1,585 rushing yards, his best total since his first-team All-Pro season in 2021.
He also scored 20 total touchdowns - 18 on the ground and two through the air - tying Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the most in a single season in Colts history. Taylor is the only player in franchise history to hit that mark twice, doing it in 2021 and again in 2025.
There’s a bigger layer here, too. The extension locks in one of the Colts’ cornerstone players even as the organization’s future in the front office remains unsettled. Ballard is in the final year of his contract, and if Indianapolis misses the playoffs for a sixth straight season, his status could be in jeopardy.
For Taylor, though, the commitment is clear. Ballard traded up three spots to take him with the No. 41 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and despite some durability issues - Taylor has missed at least three games in each of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons - he has still grown into one of the league’s top backs.
His résumé backs that up. Taylor’s 90.5 rushing yards per game is the best mark among active players and ranks fifth all-time behind Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and Eric Dickerson. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler, leads Colts history with 69 rushing touchdowns, and his 7,598 rushing yards trail only Edgerrin James in franchise annals.
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