Colts keep 2021 league rushing champ Jonathan Taylor with 2-year, $44 million deal, AP source says

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor got his wish.

A little more than a week after reiterating he wanted to stay with Indy for the rest of his career, Taylor took a big step toward fulfilling that pledge by signing a two-year, $44 million contract extension, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday. The person requested anonymity because the team had not yet made an official announcement and does not release contract terms.

The move keeps the 2021 NFL rushing champ off the free agent market next spring and comes two days after the Atlanta Falcons re-signed Bijan Robinson to a record-breaking three-year deal worth up to $75 million.

Taylor never doubted the deal would get done before Indy’s season opener Sept. 13 against Baltimore.

“I have faith. I mean, there’ve been some good conversations, and I have faith between my agent and the front office,” Taylor said last week when he arrived at training camp. “Like I said, I’ve already said I would love to be a Colt for life. So, I have faith that things are moving in the right direction.”

This deal follows two other big payouts this spring, to quarterback Daniel Jones and top receiver Alec Pierce, and keeps Indy’s primary offensive players together long term.

Taylor is now under contract through 2028 and won’t celebrate his 30th birthday until January 2029. Teams tend to devalue running backs after they turn 30.

By then, though, perhaps the conventional wisdom among teams will change. Taylor already has seen a notable difference in how teams value running backs since signing his last extension in 2023 when he didn’t participate in camp as his agent and late team owner Jim Irsay engaged in a nasty public back-and-forth that resulted in Taylor requesting a trade.

Taylor struggled with injuries in 2022 and missed the first four games in 2023 with a lingering ankle injury. Since signing a three-year deal worth $42 million in early October 2023, he has missed just six of 41 games and has shown no signs of decline.

Reliability pays off

Taylor led the league in rushing most of last season while quarterback Daniel Jones played through a broken bone in his left leg before suffering a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon in early December. Taylor still finished third in the league with 1,585 yards and led the NFL with 18 touchdown runs.

Now he’s seeing the payoff — and not just for himself.

“I think it’s a testament to how hard not only myself, but guys like Bijan, like a lot of the other top backs, they work really hard to put a great product on the field in order to reflect that value,” Taylor said Wednesday before signing his new deal. “So obviously, still more work to be done. But man, that’s awesome for Bijan man. Shout out to Bijan, man. You earned it. You deserve it.”

The Colts also have made it clear how much they value Taylor.

From Jones and receiver Alec Pierce to coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard, the consensus is that the threat of Taylor — as a both a runner and pass catcher — changes the way defenses must contend with the Colts.

Contract status

The only real question was how quickly a deal could get done. Ballard is entering the final year of his contract as are left guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. Taylor, Nelson and Buckner have all been selected to multiple Pro Bowls.

On July 28, report day at camp, Ballard said his contract status would have no impact on players’ contract extensions.

“We always are working toward trying to keep our own players here, and I think you know my thoughts on both of them,” Ballard said when asked about Nelson and Taylor. “Quenton Nelson is a pillar, stands for all the right stuff, and Jonathan Taylor has been an excellent, excellent player for the Colts. I would love to have them long term. We’ll see.”

Now Taylor is in the fold for three more seasons.

The New Jersey prep star burst onto the scene with two 1,000-yard seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers. Leading up to the 2020 draft, critics contended Taylor was a risky early-round pick because of his college workload and questioned his pass-catching ability.

But the Colts selected Taylor in the second round, No. 41 overall, and an early-season injury to Marlon Mack forced Taylor into the starting lineup. He impressed right from the start, rushing for 1,169 yards and 11 TDs while catching 36 of 39 passes for 299 yards and another TD.

Taylor enters this season with 1,551 career carries, 7,598 yards, 69 TDs, 187 receptions, 1,469 yards and seven scores. He already owns the franchise record for touchdown runs and needs 1,629 yards rushing to surpass two-time NFL rushing champ Edgerrin James as the Colts career leader in that category, too.

Taylor also has the top two single-game rushing totals in franchise history, 253 against Jacksonville in January 2021 and 244 last season against Atlanta in Berlin.

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