According to ESPN’s Stephen Holder, a new trade suitor, the Green Bay Packers, have emerged from the shadows regarding Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr.
Richardson and his representation already been granted permission by the team to seek a trade.
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However, no such deal appears imminent after the dust begins to settle from the first frenzied waves of the league’s free agency over the past week:
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has been regarded as one of the handful of ‘quarterback whisperers’ around the league, but for what it’s worth regarding Richardson, so was Colts head coach Shane Steichen once.
Richardson has previously also been connected to the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns among other potentially interested trade suitors. The Minnesota Vikings were also speculated as an earlier interested squad, but they may have less of a need after signing veteran Kyler Murray, while still having JJ McCarthy in the fold.
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During his first three seasons, and still only 23-years-old, the former 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, Richardson, has been limited to 17 games (15 starts) over his first three seasons due to a myriad of injuries, a two game benching in 2024, and after being beat out by Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones for Indy’s QB1 job last training camp and preseason before then being lost for the 2025 season after a medical band snapped during his pre-game training exercises and fractured his orbital bone before Week 6 of this past season.
Richardson was subsequently placed on injured reserve and was never available again for the Colts in 2025, even after Jones tore his Achilles in Week 14—and Indianapolis certainly could’ve used him as their elevated starter down the season’s final stretch (instead having to shockingly sign a 44-year-old Philip Rivers out of retirement).
It’s really been a roller coaster ride for Richardson since joining the Colts in 2023. He showed initial promise during 4 starts in 2023 before suffering a season-ending throwing shoulder injury. Richardson would return again in 2024 as Indy’s QB1, but endured a sophomore slump, with the boiling over point regarding naivety issues on-and-off the field being his infamous in-game tap-out near midseason. Richardson was then benched for two games (and it would’ve been more had his veteran replacement, Joe Flacco, not seriously struggled in relief).
While Richardson showed some growth late down that season’s stretch, and did play better—albeit against poorer NFL competition, he was then lost for that year’s final 2 games because of more injuries. He was in a highly contested battle for the Colts starting quarterback job last offseason, but ultimately, lost out to Jones, who mastered the offense from a mental standpoint, showed exceptional film study habits, and was in the middle of a breakout season before his own critical injuries struck. Richardson would never reclaim his QB1 job back in Indy.
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Richardson remains an elite-level athlete at quarterback—when fully healthy, but there’s still questions regarding his poor accuracy, having only completed 47.7% of his passes in 2024, as well as his ongoing durability issues.
Still, there’s still youth, upside, and potential working in his favor, especially if he can get paired with an NFL head coach who’s a quarterback development guru going forward. However, the Colts can likely expect a fairly modest return compared to the premium in draft capital they initially used for Richardson back in 2023.
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