Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay added more to the growingly public situation regarding running back Jonathan Taylor’s contract, stating that the two sides haven’t exchanged contract numbers.
In a phone interview with ESPN’s Stephen Holder, Irsay “has left no doubt the Colts currently have no intention of extending Taylor before he plays out his deal.”
Though Irsay said in the interview they value and cherish Taylor as both a player and a person, the hope is to get a deal done after the season.
Irsay’s unequivocal comments left no doubt the Colts currently have no intention of extending Taylor before he plays out his deal.
“We love Jonathan, we need Jonathan,” Irsay said. “Our hope is Jonathan has an outstanding year and that we have a good year as a team and then we get his next contract done. That’s the hope. We think the world of him as a person, as a player. It’s just timing. When your time comes to get paid, then you get paid.”
These comments come after Irsay’s intial comments about the running back market in regard to the franchise tag and overall salaries and that “some agents are selling bad faith.”
The contract situation with Taylor and the Colts has become far more public than it should be. Much of that has been inflamed by Taylor’s new agent, Malki Kawa, who has taken to Twitter to express his dismay with the entire process.
Kawa went so far as to quote tweet an Ian Rapoport post saying he doubts the relationship can get fixed.
I doubt it 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/LGGmD1hmmV
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) July 27, 2023
Taylor is currently on the active/PUP list to open training camp. He underwent offseason ankle surgery in January but passed his physical when he reported for camp this week. We’ll see if the contract situation has anything to do with the fact that he’s on the PUP list.
But this situation doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
