Week 8-9 Trade Board: The Colts Are Open to Trading Jonathan Taylor

Saturday's report is the price change

The Colts are open to trading Jonathan Taylor. That is new. It is not a trade.

USA Today carried Adam Schefter's Saturday report. "The Indianapolis Colts now are open to trading star running back Jonathan Taylor," Schefter said. "Multiple teams have reached out to Indianapolis, and those talks are said to be active and ongoing, according to sources." The ESPN story is that report. No destination has been announced. No deal has been announced.

The change is from Tuesday's posture, not from a signed deal. On October 27, Schefter's understanding was that owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon did not want to trade Taylor. USA Today's Thursday story quoted him then: "My understanding is that the owner doesn't want to trade Jonathan Taylor." Saturday's report says that position has changed. The October 26 board priced him before that change. Use this page for the price after Saturday.

Indianapolis is 2-5. The club has fired general manager Chris Ballard. It has already traded Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks and DeForest Buckner to the 49ers for draft picks. USA Today frames those moves as a rebuild. The pick math and the skill-player prices from Tuesday are on the October 28 Buckner and Nelson board. Those two trades did not include Taylor. Saturday is the first day the reporting says the club will listen on him.

The NFL deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10. That is a roster deadline. It does not close trades inside a fantasy league. Check the date in your league settings with the fantasy trade-deadline guide.

He is still a Colt until a deal is posted. The next two games on the Colts' schedule are at Jacksonville on November 1 and at home against Dallas on November 8. Those are Week 8 and Week 9. Both can be his. Either one can belong to someone else if a trade is finished first. Do not price November 8 as a Colts start, or as a new team's start, until the transaction says which.

The line you are actually buying

The production is not what broke on Saturday. USA Today has him at 587 rushing yards on 140 carries in seven games. Eight rushing touchdowns are tied for the league lead. He is at 83.9 rushing yards per game, fifth in the league, with 17 catches for 178 receiving yards.

That is a lead back who also catches the ball. A 2-5 record does not turn the line into a flex. A rumor does not turn it into a league winner on a contender that has not acquired him. Pay for the seven games. Treat the next uniform as unknown.

Redraft scoring does not care that the touchdowns are tied for the lead except as a reason he is already a starter. Dynasty scoring does not get a bonus because a writer ranked landing spots on a Saturday. The eight scores are the season you already have. They are not a promise that the next team will hand him the same goal-line work in Week 9.

He has not heard anything, and he has not asked out

Taylor spoke on Thursday, October 29, before Saturday's report. USA Today quoted him: "I haven't heard anything. I can't control that. Obviously, you guys know that I'm always proud to wear the horseshoe. I'm always proud to be here. ... But obviously, circumstances may cause otherwise. Hopefully that day may not come, but I can't control that."

That is not a trade request. It is also not a denial of Saturday's news, because Saturday had not happened yet. Do not put his Thursday sentence in a counter-offer as if he closed the door after Schefter's report.

Shane Steichen said on Wednesday, October 28, that Taylor has not requested a trade. Josh Downs, separately, has said he is open to moving. Those are different players. Downs being open does not mean Taylor asked out, and Taylor's silence on Thursday does not mean Downs is staying. Do not staple them into one Colts package unless the offer prices each name on its own.

The contract is why this is not a six-week rental

Taylor signed a two-year, $44 million extension on August 6. It runs through 2028. USA Today puts the dead-cap charge at about $10 million in 2027 if he is traded. The acquiring team would owe about $34 million in cash across 2027 and 2028.

That money does not score a fantasy point. It does decide what kind of deal this can be. A buyer would be taking a back under contract through 2028, not a rental who walks in March. Indianapolis would keep the 2027 dead-cap charge and would be moving the lead back still on the roster. Talks can be active and still fail over that gap. Active talks are not a Tuesday announcement.

Redraft: ignore the cash when you compare two lineups for November. Use the cash only as a reason the deal might not happen. If your Week 9 start only works on a new team, you are early.

Dynasty: the years are the asset. Control through 2028 is why a rebuilder should not dump him because Indianapolis is 2-5, and why a buyer should not demand a discount as if he were headed for free agency. The dynasty trade guide is the longer split between a one-year back and a multi-year back. The number on this contract is the split that applies here.

If you already roster Taylor

Redraft default: hold, and start him while he is still a Colt and available. Jacksonville is Sunday, November 1. Dallas is November 8. The open door is a reason to listen. It is not a reason to bench him for a committee back you trust less, and it is not a reason to accept a flex because the record is 2-5.

Sell when the return is a player you would start the rest of the way, plus enough extra that you are paid for giving up the eight touchdowns. Also sell when another manager is paying you for a landing spot that has not been agreed. That manager is buying the best version of a fit list. You can take that price. You should not be the one paying it.

Decline the offer that is only nerves. A bench receiver, a handcuff, or a pick that does nothing in a one-year league is a donation. Redraft picks have no 2027 value. Do not attach one to make a thin offer look larger.

Dynasty default: hold. A contender can move him when the package includes a back who starts the rest of 2026 and a future piece that replaces part of 2027 and 2028. A rebuilder who sells because the current team is tearing the roster down is selling the contract on the day the timeline got loud. That is the offer to decline.

Write the starts you would gain between now and your fantasy playoffs on one line. Write the 2027 and 2028 production you are handing over on the next. If the first line is full and the second line is replaced by players or picks you actually want, listen. If the package only solves the Saturday headline, keep him.

Run the real names through your league's scoring in the trade analyzer before you accept. The labels here are a frame. Standard, half-PPR, and full PPR do not share one Taylor price, because 17 catches are in the line. Superflex does not change the hold. He is a running back. Do not trade him for a quarterback stream because a deadline is on the calendar.

If you are trying to buy him

Pay for the back with 587 rushing yards and eight scores, still in Indianapolis until a deal is posted. Do not add a second starter because he might join a contender. If you buy him this week, you own him if he stays with the Colts and you own him if he moves. Staying put means the lead-back workload on a 2-5 team that has already traded Quenton Nelson. That is already in the price. It is not a reason to pretend he is a flex.

The buy is attractive when the owner is discounting the record and the rumor at the same time. Offer a package you can replace. Compare it with your lineup if his next two games are at Jacksonville and against Dallas. If the offer only works once he is a Viking, a Seahawk, a Bronco, a Giant, or a Commander, you are buying a fit list, not a transaction.

Dynasty buyers should treat the contract as the reason to engage, and the missing destination as the reason to leave the sweetener out. You would be acquiring club control through 2028 at the moment other managers are staring at 2-5 and at a Saturday alert. That is a buy of the player. If a deal is announced later, the public price will move, and the nervous price will be gone.

Landing spots are a fit list, not a destination

Schefter said multiple teams have reached out and that talks are active. That report did not name a buyer. USA Today's same-day fit piece is analysis. It is not a set of agreements. The clubs it walks through are the Vikings, Seahawks, Broncos, Giants, and Commanders. It treats the Packers as less likely now that Josh Jacobs is back.

Do not bake any of these into the offer. Do not sell the backs already on those rosters because a fit list exists.

• Minnesota is the contender version people will picture. A trade there would reprice the backs already on that roster. It has not been agreed. Do not pay the ceiling in advance, and do not sell a Vikings back today as if Taylor has the job.
• Seattle already acquired Nelson. A second deal is a separate transaction, and it has not happened. The skill-player prices on the October 28 board do not move because a writer asked whether the clubs might talk again. If Taylor actually landed there, the Seattle backfield would be the group that gets repriced. Until then, hold those players at the October 28 price.
• Denver is the fit that would do the most damage to a committee already in use. The October 26 board priced Jonah Coleman, J.K. Dobbins, and RJ Harvey as a shared room, with Coleman the claim you bid under a real receiver. That room is unchanged by a rumor. Do not drop one of them because Denver appears on a list, and do not pay Taylor as if he were already the Broncos' back.
• The Giants are on the fit list. No terms have been reported. Price Taylor as a Colt.
• Washington is on the fit list as a team that could use a three-down back after losing Terry McLaurin for the season. That is a writer's case. It is not a Commanders transaction. McLaurin's knee and the receiver price are in the October 21 injury note. They do not make Taylor a Commander, and they do not make a Washington running back a drop.
• Green Bay is the name to leave out. USA Today treats the Packers as less likely with Josh Jacobs back. The October 26 note had Green Bay on an older list of clubs that had been connected to him. Saturday's fit piece moved them down. Do not pay a Packers landing, and do not sell Jacobs because Taylor is available somewhere.

A real trade, if one is agreed before 4 p.m. ET on November 10, is the moment those rosters change. The fit list is the moment to keep your offers boring.

What a deal would do to the Colts who stay

Taylor is the skill-player version of the sell-off, and only if he actually goes. Nelson and Buckner are already gone. Their fantasy effect is the line in front of him and the tackle opponents no longer have to block. That effect is priced. A Taylor trade would be the first time the lead touches leave.

The backfield. The October 26 board treated Seth McGowan as the contingency, on the carries he had in the Vikings game. He is a small stash if you own Taylor or if a bench spot is free. He is not a Week 8 or Week 9 start while Taylor is on the roster. Schefter's report does not promote him. A completed trade might, and only if Indianapolis does not bring another back back in the deal. Spend a few dollars of a $100 FAAB budget, or a waiver priority you can spare. A bid built for a clear starter assumes a job the Colts have not opened.

Josh Downs. He has said he is open to moving. That is his own rumor. It is not a new target share in Indianapolis, and it is not a landing spot you can name. If you roster him, hold him at the receiver price you already had. Do not fold him into a Taylor deal to "get the whole sell-off." If both were traded, the skill-player room would get thinner. Nobody has announced either exit. Price them apart.

Everyone else who stays. They do not inherit eight rushing touchdowns. The passing game does not become a better fantasy environment because the best runner might leave. Start the Colts you were already going to start while the roster is the one that will play Jacksonville. Add a bump only after a transaction posts.

Dynasty on the rest of the room. A rebuild can lower the 2026 weekly scores of the players who remain. It does not, by itself, create a sell on every Colt. Downs being open is a reason to listen if the return is a receiver you would rather have for the years after 2026. It is not a reason to move him for a pick that only pays you for a headline.

The clock runs to Tuesday, November 10

Four dates matter. None of them is a fantasy lineup lock except the games he is actually active for.

• Saturday, October 31. The club is open. Talks are active. No deal is done. Taylor's Thursday comments predate the report.
• Sunday, November 1. Jacksonville, if he is still a Colt and available. That is a start. It is not a "wait and see" benching because of a rumor.
• Sunday, November 8. Dallas, if he is still a Colt and available. Week 9 is the last Sunday on the calendar before the deadline. Revisit the start only if a trade is posted during the week, or if an injury report says he is out. Do not invent either one on Saturday.
• Tuesday, November 10, 4 p.m. ET. The NFL deadline. If nothing is agreed, he remains a Colt and the rumor premium expires. If something is agreed, reprice him on the new team and reprice the back he replaces. Your league's deadline may be earlier or later. Confirm it before you assume Tuesday is your last window.

The other boards from this week are different prices. Christian Watson's rib is on the Week 9 Watson board. Jeffery Simmons is on the Simmons board. Neither one moves Taylor, and this report does not move them.

What to do before that deadline

• Start Taylor in redraft while he is a Colt and available. The line is 587 rushing yards, eight touchdowns, and 17 catches.
• Sell only for a rest-of-season starter plus extra, or if someone pays you for a landing spot that has not been agreed.
• Buy only at the nervous price. Do not add a sweetener for Minnesota, Seattle, Denver, the Giants, or Washington. Leave Green Bay out.
• In dynasty, hold unless the package replaces part of 2027 and 2028. The extension runs through 2028. About $10 million in 2027 dead cap and about $34 million in cash for the buyer are why this can stall.
• Stash Seth McGowan cheaply if you own Taylor or have an open bench spot. Do not start him on a rumor.
• Keep Josh Downs separate. Open to a trade is not a new role.
• On November 10, if he is still a Colt, drop the landing-spot premium and keep the lead-back price. If he has been traded, price the new team that day, not the fit list from Saturday.

Situation	Redraft	Dynasty
You roster Taylor	Hold and start him while he is a Colt and available. Sell for a rest-of-season starter plus extra, or if a manager pays for an unagreed landing spot.	Hold. Sell only when the return covers 2026 starts and part of 2027-2028.
You want Taylor	Buy the 587-yard season if the owner is discounting the record. Do not pay a contender premium.	Buy the contract through 2028 at the nervous price. Do not add a pick for a specific team.
Backs on the fit-list teams	Hold. A USA Today fit is not a role change.	Hold. Reprice them only after a trade is agreed.
Seth McGowan	Small stash if you own Taylor or have a free bench spot. Not a start.	Bench or taxi flier. Do not send a pick.
Josh Downs	Separate from Taylor. Being open to a trade is not a new target share.	Listen only if the return prices him on his own, for the years after this season.

Sources

• USA Today, October 31: Schefter's report that the Colts are now open to trading Taylor, the 587-yard line, the August 6 extension, the dead-cap and cash figures, Steichen's Wednesday comment, and the fit list
• ESPN, October 31: Colts willing to trade Jonathan Taylor
• USA Today, October 29: Taylor's Thursday comments, and Schefter's October 27 report that the owner did not want to trade him
• NFL.com: Indianapolis 2026 schedule