Anthony Richardson's time with the Indianapolis Colts is all but over and a trade now seems more likely than ever. On Tuesday, Colts head coach Shane Steichen named Daniel Jones the starting quarterback for the 2025 season after a training camp and preseason battle between the two. But the frustrations with Richardson have seemingly grown too high as the infinitely talented QB has seemingly worn out his welcome in Indy. And while the Colts could keep him as a backup, it might ultimately behoove the franchise to trade him and get some sort of value back from a failed experiment and an outright mistake.
Given that he just lost a quarterback battle to Daniel Jones, it's not realistic to expect the Colts to fully recoup their investment in Richardson. They're not getting anything close to a first-round pick. Frankly, at best, I think you would probably be looking at Indianapolis landing a fourth-rounder or something like that to trade Richardson. At the same time, that's better than just staring at a failed investment that couldn't have worked out worse through two years and some change.
The good news for the Colts is that there could still well be that type of market for a Richardson trade. He might be the most physically gifted quarterback in the NFL, or at least one of them. He just hasn't remotely found his footing with the nuances and leadership at the position to be successful in the NFL. Some teams can convince themselves they can get that out of them, though, and these four franchise currently have situations that would be conducive to taking such a swing.
4. New York Jets
For reasons that remain a bit perplexing, the New York Jets were fully confident in investing two years into Justin Fields. What the quarterback showed in Pittsburgh outside of winning games on the back of a great defense that would entice the Jets so is hard to identify. And to this point in training camp and the preseason, it's already starting to look like New York might've gotten over their skis just a bit with how quick they were to invest in Fields.
What's clear, though, is that Aaron Glenn is trying to change the narrative of this franchise and make them no longer the "same ol' Jets". I don't believe Fields is the quarterback that's going to be able to do that, but he's essentially the only option on the table for the organization at this point, which is especially true as Tyrod Taylor, a steady veteran backup at his best, is currently injured. So why not kick the tires on Richardson and see what you have there after a change of scenery?
It's a complicated situation for Fields in New York because of the multi-year contract. Having said that, Richardson might be more physically talented than his fellow fast-developing first-round bust, and could offer some intrigue to the Jets as a potential future option. Get him into the building, see what you have, and then determine whether Richardson or the Fields is the more confident option to move into 2026 with, if not to also finish 2025 with, at the helm.
3. New Orleans Saints
Put in the simplest terms, what do the New Orleans Saints have to lose at this point? I was vehemently against the idea of Tyler Shough being a Top 100 quarterback pick, but the Saints still selected the Louisville product with the 40th overall pick. Now, he's in the position group with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener in the wake of Derek Carr's sudden retirement. And that's how you end up with the worst Super Bowl odds in the NFL, my friends.
That isn't to say that Anthony Richardson would drastically flip the odds in favor of the Saints and their prospects for the 2025 season. However, as Kellen Moore takes over at head coach, the most depressing aspect of New Orleans as a franchise right now is that they don't seem to have any semblance of direction, especially if you don't believe in Shough (which, again, I don't). Perhaps trading for Richardson would give them exactly that.
Getting Richardson in the building with an offensive mind the caliber of Moore and in a situation that has some pieces on the offensive line and some decent receivers in Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed could do wonders. At worst, it gives the Saints another bite at the quarterback apple to try and find something to build around moving forward. That might not mean many more wins in 2025, but it could finally point the arrow up for the future in New Orleans.
2. Minnesota Vikings
I'm a J.J. McCarthy believer. Yes, the Minnesota Vikings' first-round pick from 2024 didn't play in his rookie season and now takes over the offense for a pseudo-rookie season with the questions of his lack of experience throwing at Michigan still present and with real questions. However, the tools are there and I would trust anyone with that type of talent in Kevin O'Connell's tutelage. Hell, look what he just did with Sam Darnold last season!
But therein lies a big problem for the 2025 Vikings when you look back at last year. The Vikings still went on to compete for an NFC North title and comfortably make the playoffs in spite of McCarthy's season-ending injury in the preseason because they had a high-upside backup. Darnold was in place as the contingency plan, but now that plan behind McCarthy is either Sam Howell, Brett Rypien or Max Brosmer. That's not exactly the same. And it's also worth noting that Minnesota furthered that vision by picking up, incidentally, Daniel Jones for the back half of last season.
Is Richardson as seasoned as Darnold or even Jones? Absolutely not. At the same time, if there's a head coach and offensive mind that I do believe could get that to work, it would absolutely be O'Connell and this Vikings staff. He offers substantially more upside than Howell or any quarterback currently on the roster, and to help protect that, Minnesota should explore upgrading the QB room behind McCarthy with such a trade.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
What is the future of the quarterback situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers? They kicked the tires fully on Aaron Rodgers this season and, whether or not you think that's going to work out for Mike Tomlin and company, no one can deny the fact that's a short-term solution. The long-term questions still exist. Will Howard is certainly on the radar, but that's far from a proven commodity as a sixth-round pick. So where would the Steelers turn?
Turning to Anthony Richardson would make a ton of sense, especially because we've already seen Omar Khan and this current Steelers regime take a similar swing. Remember, just last offseason they traded for Justin Fields from the Bears, a former first-round pick that didn't work out with the team that drafted him. That obviously didn't pan out, but it's a worthwhile roll of the dice for a player that has obvious talent, just like Richardson, but hasn't put it together at his first NFL stop.
That's certainly not a guarantee for the Steelers to get the best out of Richardson and for the uber athletic signal-caller to be at the helm of the offense for the next decade-plus. At the same time, the Steelers are probably going to be just good enough to be out of range for the top quarterbacks in the draft (again), which frankly makes a pursuit of Richardson the most obvious possible solution at the position for this franchise, and the ability to get out of it after the 2026 season if it doesn't work out.