Anthony Richardson Reports to Colts Workouts Despite Trade Request: ‘Tired of Waiting’
Anthony Richardson asked for a trade in February. The trade did not come. He showed up to work anyway.
Richardson is back at Indianapolis Colts voluntary offseason workouts after months of waiting for general manager Chris Ballard to find a deal. There is no deal yet, and there might not be one. Ballard has said publicly that nothing has come to fruition and that Richardson could be in Indianapolis for the 2026 season.
“I just wanted to work,” Richardson said. “I was just getting tired of waiting a little bit.”
That is a quote that says a lot. Richardson is not happy about the situation. He is also a professional, and sitting at home through OTAs while another team’s name does not come up was killing his preparation for whatever season he ends up playing.
Why No Team Has Pulled the Trigger
The supply of veteran quarterbacks is too high right now. Every team that needs a starter has one or just got one. Geno Smith went to Las Vegas. Daniel Jones got $88 million in Indianapolis. Kirk Cousins is still in Atlanta. There is no obvious landing spot for Richardson at the asking price.
The Colts also do not want to take 30 cents on the dollar. Richardson was the No. 4 overall pick in 2023. He has freakish athletic gifts. He is 24. A team that wants to bet on his ceiling will eventually call. It is just not happening in June.
The training camp scenario is the most likely flashpoint. Quarterback rooms across the league are healthy right now. If a starter or a key backup gets hurt in August, the calls to Indianapolis start coming. The Colts are positioned to wait for that moment and let the market come to them.
For Richardson, that means showing up and looking like a guy who is ready to play. He could have stayed home. He could have leaked his unhappiness all summer. Instead he is throwing routes and trying to look like the version of himself that made teams trade for him in the first place.
Daniel Jones is the actual starter in Indianapolis. The two-year, $88 million deal makes it official. Jones is going to take every meaningful rep in camp. Richardson is going to be the most expensive backup in football, which is a strange place to be at 24.
If the Colts cannot find a trade by the deadline, Richardson is likely going to play out the year on his fifth-year option in 2027 unless they pick it up early, which they will not. He becomes a free agent at 25 with a real chance to land a starting job somewhere that wants the upside.
That timeline only works if he stays healthy and keeps his head down. Coming back to the building was the right move. Getting injured before any trade can be made would be the worst possible outcome for both sides.
The Colts are not going to give Richardson away. Richardson is not going to force the issue any more than he already has. Both sides are stuck in a holding pattern. He decided to spend it working.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
