Anthony Richardson gets clear message from Colts regarding his future in the NFL

The Indianapolis Colts have reportedly made their mind up regarding the future of former first-round pick Anthony Richardson. Now, it’s up to the quarterback as his days on the team might seem numbered.

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, via Stephen Holder, the Colts gave Richardson permission to seek a trade. According to Holder, this is because of Richardson’s uncertain future with the Colts.

Richardson was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Since then, he has shown raw talent, but also has struggled with accuracy and with his health, constantly getting injured.

Richardson’s athletic skills

Standing at 6’4″ and weighing around 244 pounds, Richardson is a big quarterback. Pair that to a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, and he is a quarterback with plenty of physical talent to exploit. However, his flaws are as clear as his strengths.

Richardson has started just 15 games out of 51 possible. However, in 2025 he was benched, yet still was injured for most season with an orbital bone injury. During his 15 games, he has an 8-7 record, completing just 50.6% of his passes for 2,400 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Richardson has a career 67.8 passer rating. Now, a team needy of a quarterback could see a great project in the soon-to-be 24-year-old. But, all teams must be aware that fixing might be needed.

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What are the Colts going to do with their QB situation?

Daniel Jones is recovering from an Achilles heel tear, and is also scheduled to be a free agent. However, the Colts reportedly want to bring him back. Still, the Colts had to bring then retired quarterback Philip Rivers back to the gridiron last year. That’s how bad their QB situation was. Hence, they need to finally settle on a proper, reliable QB1 if they want to challenge for something else.

Rumors around the league mention that the Vikings could look at Richardson as a great option to bring competition to JJ McCarthy. Kevin O’Connell is a public fan of Richardson and he has a great talent to develop quarterbacks. Hence, without Richardson and Jones, the only QB on the Colts would be second-year QB Riley Leonard.