Will Indianapolis Colts Offer Trent Richardson Transition Tag?

May the Indianapolis Colts decide to not use the transition tag on running back Trent Richardson?

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It wasn’t that long ago that the Indianapolis Colts mortgaged a good deal of their future to obtain running back Trent Richardson in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.

Thankfully quarterback Andrew Luck has emerged as an elite talent or the Indianapolis Colts could be marred in mediocrity given the struggles of Richardson, who is set to become a free agent at season end. Given how much the organization forfeited to bring him aboard, some have pondered if the Colts will attempt to keep him around by using the transition tag.

It’s a reasonable question though the price of the transition tag continues to rise as NFL.com notes.

"And accordingly, there would be similar jumps with the transition tag numbers under those conditions (again, presuming a $143 million salary cap). And the 2015 transition figures, of course, are the 2016 option numbers for the first 10 players picked in the 2012 NFL Draft."

Trent Richardson of course falls in that category though given his running back position, he’d be due a tag salary of $9.2 million dollars. That of course is a significant amount of bank and one that would not only put a dent on the franchises pocket, but could also prevent them from making additional moves in free agency.

So not only would Trent Richardson cost the Indianapolis Colts the draft picks they surrendered in his trade but he could also impact their free agency plans if the team is to keep him around.

Considering all of that it seems as if the Colts may be best served by simply washing their hands of the struggling running back, especially given the strong play of Ahmad Bradshaw who has all but taken the starting role away from Richardson.

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