Anthony Richardson Speaks Out After Colts Assistant GM Signals He’s Not Getting Traded
Anthony Richardson requested a trade earlier this offseason. The Indianapolis Colts, by all appearances, said no. And now the former fourth overall pick is publicly trying to sound like a good soldier.
Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds recently made it clear the front office prefers keeping quarterback depth over shipping Richardson somewhere else. On Saturday, after a 34-6 preseason loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Lucas Oil Stadium, Richardson was asked about Dodds’ remarks and offered up a diplomatic answer.
“I’m just looking forward to helping the team,” Richardson told reporters, per James Boyd of The Athletic. “They truly believe that I have a chance to be on this squad and I love that. I just want to be able to contribute, put my best foot forward and help the team win.”
That is the correct thing to say. It is also almost certainly not the whole truth.
Richardson has not lived up to the hype since Indianapolis took him fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. In 17 career games, he has thrown for just 2,400 yards and 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions on a 50.6 percent completion rate. Those are the numbers of a backup, not a franchise savior.
The Colts already declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which was the loudest possible message that Indianapolis is not counting on him long term. They signed Daniel Jones this offseason to be the Week 1 starter, and now Richardson is fighting Riley Leonard for the No. 2 job.
Leonard, a rookie, started the Falcons game. That is a fairly obvious sign about who Shane Steichen trusts right now.
The trade request in the spring was Richardson’s attempt to get out in front of this exact situation. He saw the depth chart forming. He knew a fresh start somewhere else might save his career trajectory. The Colts, for now, are keeping him on the roster because carrying three quarterbacks is cheap insurance and Richardson still has physical tools no other backup in the league has.
But make no mistake. If a Week 1 starter goes down anywhere in the NFL, Indianapolis will listen. Richardson’s contract is up after this season and he has zero long-term security in Indianapolis. Trading him now for a mid-round pick is a much better outcome than losing him in free agency for nothing.
The public messaging matters, though. If Richardson had trashed the organization or vented to reporters about Dodds’ comments, his trade value would have cratered. Instead, he took the high road, which keeps every option open.
What happens next depends on how Leonard develops and how the market shifts around cutdown weekend. If a contender loses a starter, the phones will ring. If not, Richardson spends the year as a 6 million dollar backup and hits free agency next spring.
Either way, the Anthony Richardson story in Indianapolis feels like it is winding down. He knows it. The team knows it. The only question is when the actual exit happens.
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.
