NFL trade deadline is Tuesday: are the Colts actually selling Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs, or is this just deadline noise?
The trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 PM and the Colts already shipped out Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner. Now the rumors are Jonathan Taylor to a contender, Josh Downs asking out, and Daniel Jones getting shopped too. I play fantasy and I am trying to figure out what is real. Which of these moves actually happens before Tuesday, and which guys should I be grabbing or selling right now before the deadline hits?
2 answers
- Taylor moves, Downs stays put
Taylor is the one that actually moves. The Colts already sold Nelson and Buckner, they are clearly resetting, and a contender with a second-rounder gets a top-five back on a reasonable deal. Downs asked out but the Colts only have a fourth-round offer on the table after asking for a third, so that one drags past Tuesday. Fantasy move: hold Taylor through the weekend, he lands in a better offense. Sell Downs only if someone pays for the name.
- Taylor is the only move with a real market
Look at what the Colts already did: they moved Nelson and Buckner, two expensive veterans on a team going nowhere this year. Taylor is 27, on a deal a contender can absorb, and three contenders just lost their starting running back - that is an actual market. Downs is 24, cheap, and under team control for two more years, so there is no reason to sell him. Jones is a cap dump nobody trades a pick for mid-season. Fantasy-wise, buy Taylor's backup, not Downs.