WESTFIELD – Now that the Colts know they’ll enter on-field training camp action Wednesday with a fully healthy quarterback room, highlighted by starter Daniel Jones and backups Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson Sr., general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday that keeping that group intact isn’t just realistic.
It’s his intention.
“Yeah, yeah, absolutely,” Ballard told reporters during his camp-opening press conference when asked whether it would be realistic to enter the 2026 season with all three – all of whom have started games for the Colts in the last 20 months.
The biggest question mark among them, as Jones returns to 11-on-11 work with the team Wednesday for the first time since tearing his right Achilles tendon in a Dec. 7 road loss to the Jaguars in Week 14, is the presence of Richardson. In February he requested permission to seek a trade as he stared down what he expected to be the fourth and final year of his rookie deal with the franchise that selected him fourth-overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
A year ago, Richardson entered camp in a competition with Jones for the starting quarterback role that the 24-year-old had earned his first two seasons in the league. Jones won the competition and would start his first 13 games as a Colt – the last three with a fractured fibula in his left leg – before his torn Achilles ended his 2025 campaign. Two months prior, Richardson had fractured his orbital bone in a freak pre-game accident and came away with vision limitations that hampered his return.
Even as Jones stared down free agency and a rehab process that is now just shy of eight months, the Colts made clear of their wish for him to be their quarterback of the future, leaving Richardson, seemingly, without a road back to the starting role.
Despite talks around the league heading into and during the April draft, no trade for Richardson was reached, and the few potential options all but dried up. Ballard reiterated Tuesday the team has no plans to “just give (Richardson) away.”
“(Richardson’s trade request) is (active), but, you know, I think (other teams) area realistic, and we’re realistic,” Ballard said. “We’re not just giving him away. We’re not going to do that.
“Anthony is a great teammate, and he’s fun to be around. He’s really grown and worked, and it’s been fun to watch – especially when you take a guy as high as we took him. You want him to come in and be the savior right away, and well, you know, everybody’s developmental plan is different, and his was a little different. I still think he’s got a future, and we’ll see how that plays out.”
Though Ballard didn’t address this directly, the team could theoretically find it much easier to deal Richardson by the end of this week. The former first-round pick is due a $4.2 million roster bonus as long as he’s still on the team Aug. 1 (Saturday). Beyond that, the Colts have already paid Richardson his $5.4 million prorated signing bonus that, combined with his roster bonus, will make up nearly all of his $10.8 million cap hit for 2026. Richardson’s base salary for 2026 — which is guaranteed — is just $1.145 million, which is all that a team trading for Richardson after Aug. 1 would be on the hook for.
As he enters his 10th season in Indianapolis as the head of the front office, Ballard said Tuesday that the team’s combination of quarterbacks feels as stable and strong as it’s been in some time, following the years’ long aftermath of Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement ahead of the 2019 season
“This is probably the first time in a while that I felt really good in the totality of the position,” Ballard said. “We feel like we have three guys who, with Daniel, (Richardson) and Riley, that all can play. That’s a good spot to be in right now.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts GM Chris Ballard intends to keep 3 QBs; here’s why
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
