It’s always good to put rumors to bed before they get out of control, and that’s what the agent for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson has done.
The Colts have been targeting a quarterback to come in and push Richardson for the starting job this year and were doing it rather publicly. In recent days, reports emerged that the Colts were zeroing in on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones, and people began to speculate on social media that perhaps a trade might be best for Richardson. The Colts ultimately agreed to a contract with Jones, which kicked the Richardson trade rumors up a notch.
“The Colts are now preparing for an open quarterback competition between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, who is healthy and has no plans to seek a trade, his agent Deiric Jackson told me,” NFL Media‘s Tom Pelissero posted on X. “Said Jackson: ‘AR will be ready to roll.'”
Richardson’s agent, Deiric Jackson, denied the speculation that Richardson could want out of Indy, instead leaning into the fact that Richardson is embracing the competition.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard trumpeted that at the end of the 2024 season as well as recently during the Combine, conveying that Richardson understands the gravity of the situation and wants to pour himself into being the best player he can be.
Richardson has had some brilliant moments on the field for the Colts over the last two years, but he missed 13 games due to injuries as a rookie in 2023 and four in 2024. He was also benched for two games last season for lackluster play and preparation and completed a league-worst 47.7% of his passes.
“Last offseason, Anthony spent a lot of time rehabbing, so now he can focus on just training and developing and getting better fundamentally, which will be fun to watch,” Ballard said. “I talk to Tom (Gormely) pretty regularly, who trains him, and so we get pretty good updates on him. And the rules are what the rules are; they can’t do as much in our building as they can outside of the building. So, it’ll be interesting to see when he gets back in, but I think we’re gonna see a good version.
“There’s things he’ll continue to need to work on when he’s with us,” Ballard continued. “But I have a lot of faith in the guys he’s training with.”
