What does NFI mean, and why could the Indianapolis Colts put Jonathan Taylor on the NFI list?

The saga between Jonathan Taylor, Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts took an ugly turn on Sunday as the team entered their second week of training camp. There looks to be a messy hold out on the horizon, and the Colts are now considering putting their star running back on the NFI list.

What is NFI list?

The term NFI is short for Non-football injuy, and every team has the ability to put a player on the list if they suffer an injury that is not football related, or not team related. If a player is put on the NFI list by his team, then their salary could be put into jeopardy, which is no doubt what Jim Irsay is thinking, after the teams medical staff said he failed his team physical citing ankle and back problems.

Medics did know that he was still suffering the effects of the ankle injury that kept him out from nearly the last half of the season, and that could be why he failed his physical, but now those in the Indianapolis front offices, especially Irsay are zeroing on the back issue, which they were unaware of.

The origins of this blossoming beef stem from a breakdown in negotiations between the Colts top rusher over the last three years and Indy’s owner and CEO. Taylor began his preseason apart from the team as he looked to force a move from the Colts with a holdout. Now Irsay is playing his hand, looking to end the holdout and get his top player back on the field without having to give him a multi-year, bank breaking contract.

Taylor denying any pain

Taylor didn’t wait to inform the world on X, formerly Twitter, that he has never had back pain, nor did he tell anyone on the Colts he was suffering from back pain.

So where does that leave Taylor and the Colts? Well, if he is eventually put on the NFI list, there is a good chance that Indy can withhold a part of his salary according to the NFL’s CBA agreement which states teams can negotiate what they pay their player while on the NFI list.

The tricky thing is that Taylor is in the last year of his rookie contract, which means that if he comes back before the sixth game of the year, his contract won’t be tolled and everything will go back to how they were, but if he fails to comeback before the sixth game, then his contract will be prorated.

News out Indy concerning Taylor’s NFI possibilities come on the heels of their running back’s hour-long meeting with Irsay on Saturday in which the running back requested a trade. The owner, chairman and CEO of the franchsie said that there would be no trade to come, and it appears there will not be a pay increase in the near future.