Jonathan Taylor was an absolute blender through the first ten weeks of last season, racking up 1,139 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns before a Daniel Jones Achilles tear sent the Colts’ offense into a tailspin. With Jones coming off a major injury and Michael Pittman now in Pittsburgh, Taylor will be running into stacked boxes in 2026.

Taylor is 27 years old, entering the final year of his contract, and Indy has to decide if they want to pay a running back a third massive contract. Remember, the last negotiation between Chris Ballard and Taylor got incredibly icy, and Taylor now has 1761 career touches on his tires. If the Colts stumble out of the gate and sense that a rebuild necessary, they could see Taylor as a valuable trade asset.

Solak points out that the Chicago Bears make almost too much sense as a landing spot, because while D’Andre Swift is an adequate primary back, Taylor is the true, volume-heavy RB1 who would hyper-charge an ascending Caleb Williams offense.