Evidently, some in the NFL media landscape are not content to sit back and watch the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones play out during 2025’s NFL training camp.
The Colts are committed to letting Richardson — their No. 3 overall pick in 2023 — compete with Jones for their starting quarterback job heading into the 2025 season, hoping a battle between former first-round picks will bring out the best in one of them.
Richardson has underachieved in his first two seasons with the Colts, completing just 50.6% of his career passes and throwing more interceptions (13) than touchdowns (11). Nevertheless, Colts general manager Chris Ballard said in April that he still sees “major upside” with Richardson, suggesting he can still lock down the role for the long term.
Impatient doom-and-gloomers like Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport, however, argue that Indianapolis “already knows” Richardson is not the future at quarterback. He even bafflingly suggested the Colts “should consider” trading Richardson before the start of the 2025 regular season and confidently pass the torch to the more experienced Jones.
“Richardson has been so bad that Daniel Jones was brought in to compete for the starting job in Indianapolis,” Davenport wrote Tuesday. “And if that competition truly is fair and open, Jones is going to win — bad though he may be, Jones can at least occasionally throw an accurate pass. That may be harsh. But it’s the truth.”
Davenport further added: “If the Colts did get a reasonable offer for Richardson, they should take it and let some other team figure out what Indy already knows. He’s not an NFL starter — at least at quarterback.”
Anthony Richardson Trade Makes No Sense for Colts
Look, let’s just get this out of the way before dissecting Davenport’s suggestion: Ballard and the Colts are highly unlikely to trade Anthony Richardson before the 2025 season.
Richardson is a former top-five selection whom Ballard himself has admitted he drafted “knowing it was going to take time” to develop into a quality NFL starting quarterback. Richardson has not shown the consistency the Colts had likely hoped he would in his first two seasons, but they sought out competition for him this offseason because they still believe he can become their franchise starter, not because they want to deal him.
Even if Jones wins the starting job heading into Week 1, Ballard has been open about his belief that both quarterbacks will help contribute to the Colts’ success in 2025.
“Sometimes you gotta struggle before you can be good,” Ballard said of both Richardson and Jones in April. “If I’m a betting man, at some point, both of them will help us.”
Now, Ballard also likely realizes that Richardson’s success in 2025 could decide whether he keeps his job with the Colts in 2026. He hitched his wagon to him after struggling to find a successor for Andrew Luck at quarterback following his sudden 2019 retirement.
Even still, the process would be incredibly flawed if Jones won the job coming out of camp and Ballard took it as a sign to offload Richardson in a trade to the highest bidder.
Jones is only with the Colts because he played so poorly that the Giants cut him roughly 21 months into a $160 million contract. While he has more experience and success on his resume than Richardson, he could bottom out in 2025 just as easily, which would leave the Colts with no viable alternatives if they preemptively trade away Richardson.
Anthony Richardson is Playing for his Future in 2025
The Colts trading away Richardson before the 2025 season is unrealistic, but there is no mistaking that the third-year passer is playing for his future in Indianapolis this year with two seasons remaining on his four-year, $33.9 million rookie contract.
Richardson needs to show marked improvement for the Colts in 2025 if he wants to avoid the chopping block next offseason. He can do himself a huge favor by beating out Jones for the starting job in training camp, but even winning the job will not guarantee him a place as their season-long starter. He must also show that his accuracy as a passer has improved from his first two years and that he can stay healthy for a full campaign.
If Richardson falters at any point, the Colts will have Jones on hand as a replacement.
Richardson must also show that his growth can help the Colts win. While it is possible that Richardson restores the Colts’ utmost confidence in him with his performance and the team still falls short of expectations, he cannot afford to be the reason why they lose.
The Colts are far less likely to show him the same patience in 2026 if he continues to struggle with consistency. They might not even have the same front-office staff in place if the 2025 season proves disastrous, which would likely mean the end for Richardson.
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