The Vikings and Giants Lead the Jonathan Taylor Race: What It Means Two Days From the Deadline
The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, and the most interesting name still on a roster is a running back the Indianapolis Colts said three weeks ago was not going anywhere.
“The Vikings and Giants remain, according to my sources, the favorites to land Taylor,” Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reported Saturday. Jones also named the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos as interested, while adding that he doubts the Packers or Broncos would buy high.
What Changed in Ten Days
On Oct. 28, with Josh Downs requesting a trade out of Indianapolis, head coach Shane Steichen was asked whether Jonathan Taylor had done the same. He said no, called the trade talk hypothetical, and added five words that aged badly: “JT’s on our football team.”
Three days later Adam Schefter reported the Colts were open to moving him. Nothing about Taylor changed in those three days. The organization did.
Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon fired general manager Chris Ballard on Oct. 19 with the team at 2-4, saying a change in leadership was necessary and that making it during the season was deliberate. Assistant general manager Ed Dodds took over the personnel department. On Oct. 27 the Colts sent DeForest Buckner to San Francisco for a 2027 fourth-rounder and Quenton Nelson to Seattle for a 2027 third and a 2028 fifth. Indianapolis is 2-6.
Worth keeping straight: Taylor has never requested a trade in this cycle. Downs did.
The Problem With the Price
Taylor is 27, in his seventh season, and eighth in the league in rushing with 610 yards. He has needed 148 carries to get there, which works out to 4.1 yards per attempt, a career low. He also has eight rushing touchdowns and 21 catches for 202 yards in eight games.
His contract is the complication. He signed a two-year, $44 million extension on Aug. 6 with $39 million guaranteed. An acquiring team owes only about $4.4 million for the rest of 2026, which is cheap. It then carries a cap charge north of $21 million in 2027, with most of that salary locking in next February. Nobody is renting Taylor for nine games.
Reported asking prices have run from a first-round pick and a defensive tackle, per Josina Anderson, down to a package in the Christian McCaffrey mold. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that rival executives value Taylor closer to a second-rounder plus another selection. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote Friday that a first would likely get it done and that no team had paid it.
For scale, Carolina got a 2023 second, third and fourth plus a 2024 fifth for McCaffrey in 2022. At this deadline, Tennessee moved defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons to Chicago for two future first-round picks, and an All-Pro guard in Nelson went for a third and a fifth. That spread explains why a first-rounder for a 27-year-old back averaging 4.1 has found no taker.
Minnesota and New York Have Different Problems
The Vikings are 6-1 and host Buffalo on Monday night, less than 24 hours before the window closes. Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason have split the carries and neither has been healthy. Taylor had 18 runs of 10 or more yards through Week 8, against 14 combined for Minnesota’s backs. The obstacle is money: Athlon put the Vikings at about $5.8 million in cap space on Friday, which does not fit Taylor without reworked contracts or help from Indianapolis.
Breer also reported Friday that Minnesota might be less inclined now, with its deadline focus shifting to defensive tackle. Jones reported Saturday that Minnesota is still a co-favorite. Both can be true for another 48 hours.
The Giants are 4-2-1 under John Harbaugh with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, in a division where Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia are all under .500. Cam Skattebo is averaging 4.3 yards per carry and nursing a hamstring, Tyrone Tracy Jr. is on injured reserve, and Devin Singletary is the only experienced healthy back. Harbaugh said he feels “very confident” in the group he has, which is what every coach says. New York also inquired with Baltimore about Justice Hill, per ESPN, which tells you more than the quote does.
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.
