Indianopolis Colts sign running back Toriano Clinton. What does that mean for Jonathan Taylor’s situation?

Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the running back room, the Colts have seemingly made a move toward quelling some of the unrest that’s been rampant in recent days with a new acquisition. While it doesn’t resolve the ongoing drama with Jonathan Taylor, it’s a step in the right direction.

Colts sign Toriano Clinton

By now it should be clear that the Indianapolis Colts running back room has seen calmer times. Here’s a quick recap: Jonathan Taylor requested a trade from the team after his initial request for a new contract was ignored, franchise owner Jim Irsay made some strange comments about the situation, the Colts were then reportedly considering moving Taylor from the PUP list to the NFI (non-football injury) list based on reports of a back injury, and most recently Taylor himself refuted those claims. This, of course, is before we get to reports which indicated that fellow running back Zack Moss broke his arm. All in all, it’s been a tough time in Indianapolis.

With that said, it now appears that the Colts have made a move to resolve the situation with the signing of running back Toriano Clinton. The former University of Indianapolis player stands at 5-foot-8, 191 pounds, and has rushed for 4,538 yards and 48 touchdowns. For perspective, Clinton left the college game as the university’s all-time leader in several categories, including rushing yards, total touchdowns, 100-yard rushing games (19), and 200-yard rushing games (seven). With his arrival, the Colts now have five available running backs for training camp: Jake Funk, Evan Hull, Deon Jackson, Zavier Scott, and of course, Clinton.

But what about the Jonathan Taylor situation?

Off the bat, we’re talking about the league’s leading rusher since 2021. That’s to say that one can empathize with Taylor’s position which is that he wants to be paid more. As you can imagine, the situation only worsened when Colts owner Jim Irsay stated on Twitter that it was inappropriate for running backs to attempt to renegotiate the ratified CBA in an attempt to better their collective situation. Taylor’s agent, Malki Kawa, then fired back on Twitter, saying it was bad faith to not pay your top offensive player. Since then we’ve seen Irsay admit that no negotiations had ever taken place, before declaring that Taylor would not be traded. “Not now, and not in October,” he said. At this point, it remains unclear as to how the feud will end, but what we can say are two things: Firstly, it’s not in Taylor’s best interest to be placed on the NIF list as it would result in him entering free agency as a restricted player rather than an unrestricted one. Secondly, the Colts appear to have found themselves some cover in the form of a player who appears to be a solid addition. As we always say, watch this space.