Anthony Richardson Trade Rumors Are Heating Up and These Are the Three Teams to Watch
The Anthony Richardson trade saga is coming to a head. After months of speculation, insiders now believe the Indianapolis Colts will finally deal their former first-round quarterback before the regular season opens.
The Colts have been shopping Richardson for months. His trade request from February is still active. Chris Ballard has not been able to find a deal that returns fair value. That has left the team stuck with a quarterback who no longer wants to be there.
Something is going to break. The question is where Richardson lands.
Three teams have emerged as the most realistic destinations.
The Arizona Cardinals are the most obvious fit. Jacoby Brissett is in a contract dispute with the team, and if that boils over, Arizona suddenly needs a quarterback with real upside. Richardson at 24 years old with his athletic tools would be exactly the kind of high-ceiling reclamation project the Cardinals could invest in. Their front office loves those kinds of bets.
The Dallas Cowboys have also emerged as a surprise suitor. Dak Prescott is still the starter, but he is 33 and dealing with recurring lower-body issues. Adding Richardson as a developmental backup with the possibility of taking over in a year or two would be a smart succession plan. Jerry Jones loves headline moves. This would be one.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are the third team to watch. They are still trying to figure out life after Kenny Pickett and have been shuffling through quarterbacks. Mike Tomlin has always been drawn to quarterbacks with unique physical traits. Richardson qualifies.
Also lurking in the background are the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, though those are longer shots at this point.
Whatever the destination, the price is going to be modest. Richardson has value because of his tools and his age. His actual on-field production has been rough. In 15 career starts, he has thrown for 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a completion percentage under 55 percent. Those are not good numbers.
Indianapolis is not getting a first-round pick back for him. A second-round pick is realistic. A third with conditional elevators is probably more likely.
The Colts have been reluctant to accept that reality. They drafted Richardson fourth overall in 2023. They gave him first-round money. They spent two years developing him only to watch Daniel Jones win the starting job in training camp last season. Now they have to eat that draft pick and move on.
Chris Ballard has taken his lumps for the pick already. He was widely criticized for reaching on Richardson over safer options. He does not want to compound that mistake by giving him away for nothing.
But time is running out. Training camps open in the next two weeks. Richardson does not want to be in Indianapolis. Ballard does not want him in Indianapolis. Every team in the league knows this.
That means the leverage in trade talks is entirely on the buyer side. Whoever gets Richardson is going to get him at a discount, which incentivizes them to just wait for the price to keep dropping.
Something has to give. The likely outcome is a trade in the next week or two that gets Richardson to his new team in time to actually participate in a training camp.
Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort could pull the trigger. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could pull the trigger. Steelers GM Omar Khan could pull the trigger. One of them will.
Then we finally find out if Anthony Richardson can actually play quarterback in the NFL.
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.
