He asked to be traded. The market never came calling. And yet, Anthony Richardson is still showing up.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback, who formally requested a trade earlier this offseason, has been attending the team’s voluntary organized team activities as he waits for more clarity on what comes next in his NFL career. It is not the situation anyone envisioned when Richardson was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, but he appears to be making peace with it at least for now.
Speaking at a jersey retirement ceremony held in his honor at Gainesville Eastside High School in Florida, Richardson reflected on what it means to still have a team willing to let him work. He described showing up to OTAs as a blessing in disguise, an unexpected opportunity to put in the reps and prove he still belongs in the league.
A career defined by interruption
Richardson’s professional résumé reads less like a quarterback’s development arc and more like a medical file. In three seasons with the Colts, he has managed just 15 starts a number that tells the story of a player who has rarely been given a sustained run to find his footing at the NFL level.
The problems began almost immediately. As a rookie, the Colts moved quickly to start him despite scouts widely viewing him as a high upside developmental prospect after just one year as a starter at the University of Florida. The aggressive timeline backfired when he suffered a season ending injury after just four starts.
His second season brought inconsistency and, eventually, a benching. His third was perhaps the cruelest of all. The Colts signed veteran Daniel Jones in free agency, effectively removing Richardson from the starting conversation before the year even began. Then, in a freak pregame accident, he suffered a fractured orbital bone that limited him to just two pass attempts for the entire season.
The timing of that injury was particularly costly. When Jones went down with a torn Achilles, the Colts were left without a viable option at quarterback a situation so dire it prompted the team to bring Philip Rivers out of a four year retirement for three games. Richardson, who might have seized that moment to reclaim his standing, was on the sideline watching.
A quiet trade market
Despite the trade request, there does not appear to be significant interest around the league in acquiring Richardson. His limited body of work 15 starts across three injury interrupted seasons has made it difficult for teams to project who he is as a player, let alone commit resources to finding out.
That reality has kept him in Indianapolis, at least for the moment. And while the situation is far from what he envisioned when he arrived as a top five pick three years ago, Richardson has chosen to frame it around what he still has rather than what he has lost.
Fighting for snaps alongside Jones and Leonard
The quarterback room in Indianapolis is a complicated one heading into the summer. Jones has been medically cleared to participate in 7 on 7 work during OTAs as he continues recovering from his torn Achilles. When 11 on 11 snaps become available, Richardson and second year quarterback Riley Leonard are expected to compete for first team reps.
For Richardson, every snap now carries added weight. With no guaranteed future in Indianapolis and no trade destination materializing, the voluntary workouts have become something more than routine. They are, at this point, his most direct path to demonstrating that the physical tools that made him a top five selection three years ago are still intact and worth betting on.
He has been candid about understanding what is at stake. Without consistent effort to improve, he knows his place in the NFL is not secure. That awareness, more than anything, may be what keeps him on the practice field when other quarterbacks in his position might have chosen to stay away.
Whether the Colts eventually find a trade partner, keep him as a backup, or release him before the season begins, Richardson appears committed to controlling the one thing he can how hard he works between now and then.
