A story that’s been talked about since last season is whether the Indianapolis Colts should extend running back Jonathan Taylor. Now, Taylor’s agent is engaged in a war of words on the social media platform X with Colts owner Jim Irsay.
The NFL running back situation escalated during the off-season when other high-profile running backs decided to take a stand against their franchise tags. Then Irsay dropped a Tweet stating that it’s in “bad faith” for one position group to renegotiate after an agreed-upon deal. To which Malki Kawa, Taylor’s agent, responded.
So, it’s pretty clear that the contract negotiations are not going to go smoothly. Also, this isn’t the first time Irsay has done something that drew some criticism within the past year. NFL reporter Ian Rapoport chimed in stating that he hoped the relationship between Irsay and Kawa gets fixed. So, Kawa again responded.
The back-and-forth on social media makes it pretty clear now that these contract talks are going to be troublesome. But now that it’s happened or happening, Colts fans have united over a common enemy, Taylor’s agent.
Jonathan Taylor is now caught in the middle
Something that can’t be overlooked is star player Jonathan Taylor is now caught in the middle of this situation. Taylor has said in the past that he’s dreamed of being an Indianapolis Colt for life. And GM Chris Ballard has a history of taking care of his own, having successfully negotiated extensions with Braden Smith, Kenny Moore, Shaquille Leonard, Quenton Nelson, and Ryan Kelly.
But there is a serious question if a deal can be reached between Taylor and the Colts. This also leads to another question: If Taylor and the Colts can’t come to an agreement who’s to say there is another NFL team out there that will give him the contract he wants?
Taylor is currently under contract for this season. It’s possible after this year the Colts could franchise tag him.
This may be the last season Taylor wears the horseshoe. Or maybe not as Irsay shared that the Colts haven’t presented a contract to Taylor yet. It’s clear that Irsay loves Taylor and wants him around for more than just this upcoming season.