Raise your hand if you want to extend Taylor
 

A shade over $15 Million a year would make him the highest paid RB in the league, and if I’m the GM, I’m all in.

First of all, we’ll have a Quarterback playing on his first contract, which gives us a lot of cap leeway. Second, the cap is set to explode in the next few years, going from $224 Million this year to $308 Million in 2026. Third, Richardson isn’t exactly a polished, finished product, right now, and it’d be smart to maximize the talent level around him. And, fourth, 1800 yard rushers don’t exactly grow on trees.

My template would be Alvin Kamara’s extension with the Saints…5 years, $75 Million, $34 Million guaranteed.

His first year counted $5 Million against the cap. His second year escalated to $14 Million, but a simple restructure lowered that to a shade more than $6 Million without severely impacting future years. The next 2 years escalate to 9 and then $18 Million; but, the cotract is structured so that cutting him before the start of year 4, actually saves them $2 Million on the cap. Year 5, of course, is where the road ends on his contract. The final year carries a $29 Million cap hit, but only $4 Million or so of that counts against the cap if he’s cut.

Easy decision.

Without an 88 at wr, I say yes. Not knocking anyone on the roster, but he is a bell cow that a defense needs to account for on first thru third down

Okay, I'm not all in at $15 million a year. This is nothing against JT or his latest injury.

It's just that he's not an all-around back. He often gets pulled in passing situations due to his lack of route running skills. His pass blocking skills also leave something to be desired.

He's not in the McCaffery or Kamara stratosphere. That being the case, I would slot him between the $13 million and $14 million area, which would be slightly above Derrick Henry, w/no more than $25 million guaranteed at signing and no more than 4 years.

The last year of a 5 year contract might as well be paid in monopoly money. It looks good, makes the player feel good, and gives the agent bragging rights. But, the player will never see a penny of it. You structure the contract so that the cap hit is reasonable for the first four years, balloons in the fifth, and you restructure at your discretion.

So, we can sign Taylor to a contract that really pays him $13 Million a year and he’s happy…just so long a big enough chunk is guaranteed.

Nope.

He's a back. Franchise him. For two years in a row if need be. Great backs are fun to watch, great to root for and fill up the stands. What they don't do is lead their teams to Super Bowl wins. Seven backs have been Super Bowl MVP, the last one was Terrell Davis in 1997. Spend big long term money on positions of impact.

Wouldn't do it!

Nowadays it’s taken as an article of faith that you don’t sign a Running Back to a 2nd contract. But, sometimes, articles of faith aren’t worth the stone they’re carved into.

Traditionally, most great Running Backs are still in their prime in their 7th season. For example, 7th seasons looked like this for:

Tony Dorsett: 1,321
Adrian Peterson: 1,286
Ladanian Tomlinson: 1,474
Walter Payton: 1,222
Barry Sanders: 1,553
Marshall Faulk: 1,359
OJ Simpson: 1,816
Eric Dickerson; 1,311

In order to get him into his 7th season, we’d have to tag him 3 times. The first time carries a salary of $10 Million. Number two comes in at $12 Million, and a third pop would be $18 Million.

So, by repeatedly tagging him, you’re carving out $40 Million in cap space. If you look at Kamara’s extension, the first year had a cap hit of $5 Million. Year two was 6 and year three was 8. The way the contract is structured, the Saints can get out after year 3 by cutting him and taking a $17 Million dead money hit on cap.

To me, the path is clear.

You make a good case, nice post!

My point is that you listed some of the greatest backs in recent NFL history. In the almost 100 seasons of football they cumulatively played those backs have won two super bowls. Great backs don't win you championships. Don't spend big for them. They can be replaced with mid round picks and you have not hurt your chances for a championship.

This is a good idea one several fronts. With a rookie Qb, they still must account for Taylor, so the offense isnt 2 dimensional. Play action would be better with taylor than anyone else on the roster, remember what Edge and Manning created with the stretch play. And the franchise tag is a chunk of cash up front, its not an anchor down the road if taylor gets hurt.

Having an honest to God running threat would make it easier on a rookie Qb.

We all want Taylor to be our running back. It is just how much for how long. I prefer that we don't give him a big long term contract but I don't feel super strong one way or the other except to keep him here when AR is still a young pup.

I agree. I don't see him trying to break the bank, given what has happened to RBs with high dollar contracts. Surely his agent is smart enough to guide him the right way.

o


You would think that, but I have seen professional athletes and their agents take extremely questionable, mind-boggling actions of which it was clear that neither could see the forest for the trees. Alex Rodriguez is the first that comes to mind, with what he and his agent did (and said) between 2001 and 2007. Rodriguez finally fired his agent (Scott Boras) in September of 2010, but not after the two of them made collective fools of themselves on several occasions over the previous 9 years.

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i don't know how much i want to extend him due to his pass protection issues. he wasn't good last year. i am only paying a guy that can be a 3 down back. if he can get that under control then sure. a 5 year deal we can get out of after 3 or so is fine. he is a home run threat and is a playmaker. we need those guys badly

FWIW - the Spotrac website attempts to calculate the market value and provides a guesstimate about a player's next contract.


For Taylor, they are projecting a 4 year, $52M contract or about $13M per year.

They used Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb as the player / contract comps.


https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianap.../market-value/

He definitely needs to improve is pass-pro. A couple of encouraging things that should make a difference are A.) hopefully he gets/stays healthy and B.) DeAndre Smith as RB coach.

I liked Smith from his few years coaching my Red Raiders and he's been doing it a long time. But specifically, I'm looking at his time with NYG coaching Saquon Barkley who I think is quite similar to JT. Barkley was always dogged for his pass-pro and he's also been banged up the past few years.

Well, he A.) gets/stays healthy and B.) gets DeAndre Smith as his RB coach in 2022. He goes from a PFF pass-block grade of 34 in 2021 to a league-leading grade of 75.5 in 2022 (he's a mid-50's to low-60's guy his first few years). Hopefully Smith can have that affect on our RB room.

(Obligatory: PFF is not Gospel, just another piece of info)

All that said... he does have the added element of being the fastest RB in the league with the ability to make house calls from anywhere. That might warrant a re-signing to the FO.

That could potentially be optimistic as far as JT's point of view. Again, if he can stay healthy and have a rebound year more in the vein of 2021, then third-best RB money won't cut it for him.

That's where I have him slotted as well.

Yes.

We have a QB on a rookie deal. He is a game breaking player. He is only 24 and far away from the rb wall.

Taylor’s ability to turn any run into a TD is special. It puts a lot of pressure on a defense to be disciplined in their lanes. You don’t replace that ability with just plugging in another back. Manning and two hall of fame Wrs aren’t sitting there taking attention away from a running game. It’s Taylor who takes attention away from our passing game. With an average back, teams focus on our passing and it gets shut down.

My two cents is, yes, sign him to a "big" contract that is back loaded and that we can get out of with min cap hit after year 3.

He is too valuable for a rookie QB to not be on the field with him. AR needs JT to be a threat each and every down to keep his play action valid and take the pressure off him.

Assuming that his pass protection can be improved with a new coach and JT shows that in 2023, I think there is zero reason to not have him under contract for the next 3 seasons after that.

I, personally, do not love the concept of tagging a player for multiple seasons. Just because the rules say you can does not mean that it is a good ideal from a team/player relationship standpoint. And since the Colts have rarely done so in the past couple of decades, I would think that Irsay agrees with me.

I probably shouldn't even post on this thread. It appears to be strictly a business decision for most and I'm just a fan. But, from a fan's POV, I love watching this man ball. He turns 1 yard gains into 4 yard gains, he's a constant threat to take it to the house. I think the most exciting play in football is when a RB takes it to the house. I AM RAISING MY HAND!

I know the rule is that RBs are a dime a dozen, but JT was shown to be a game breaker. He's a home run hitter. When you can get big splash plays from an RB, you should keep him.

I think this is especially true when you have a QB on a rookie deal, and also when you have a QB that needs to develop, which may mean needing to rely on a strong running game to keep defenses in check and slow down a pass rush.

So in different circumstances I might see letting him go, but not in current Colts circumstances, he's a definite keeper. The only concern is whether he comes back from injury and is still a home run threat.

Barkley is supposed to sign for 3 years 39 million. I would be fine with that for Taylor. I like the 3 years and 12-14 million seems fair.

Yes, sign him …. He’ll take pressure off Richardson

Until Richardson is ready to takeover

Barkley was franchised, 10 million. Taylor feels backs are dissed. Wish I was as dissed.

Honestly, I agree with Taylor. It's all monopoly money anyways, but running backs get the worst of it. They provide a ton of production and put their bodies thru hell and are considered like throw away players.

I even get why it is, but I sympathize with them on this point. I don't even care about the amount of money they're making...everyone in the league makes a ton of money. Jim Irsay makes a ton of money for doing nothing.

I guess I will sheepishly raise my hand. To me, the fact is that we have so little offensively (that we know of right now), we need to keep him. Without having a QB who can run or pass for so long, we don't know what we're capable of (if anything). Taylor is good and proven. Don't overpay him. Don't offer more than three years. Hope he's fully recovered and good to go. Hopeium.

The Colts will do what they deem in their best interest. That is what they did with Edge and before him Faulk. Both were high first round picks. They should, and probably will, franchise him just like everyone else does with their top backs. Draft his replacement in the next few years.

He is a great talent, and he makes us a better football team, but I hope he is working on strengthening his hands because he does have a fumble problem!

The Colts need to sign Taylor because they have a rookie Qb who will need at least one legit threat who can change field possession with one carry. Pittman is the only reliable threat in the passing game, taking him away is easy if there is no running game.

A healthy Taylor makes the passing game better.