Colts GM Chris Ballard believes relationship with Jonathan Taylor can be fixed. How is unclear

INDIANAPOLIS — From the outside looking into the standoff between the Colts franchise and star running back Jonathan Taylor, there appears to be little possibility of a reconciliation, and whatever chance this is shrinks with every move each side makes.
Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard tried to push back on that narrative Wednesday.
One day after fielding, and ultimately declining, trade offers from two teams for his superstar running back, Ballard tried to make the case that there is a potential future that includes Taylor in an Indianapolis uniform, lined up in the backfield next to rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.
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“Relationships are repairable,” Ballard said. “We’ve got work to do on the relationship, we’ve got work to do to find a solution to the problem and what we’re going to do.”
Ballard also tried hard to push back on the narrative that the Colts no longer want Taylor, a storyline that has risen from the team granting Taylor permission to seek a trade and a report by Fox59’s Mike Chappell on Tuesday night that indicated the team believes Taylor is lying about the severity of his ankle injury, an accusation that could lead to Indianapolis suspending its fourth-year running back.
“Jonathan is a well-respected, and a really good human being, and a damn good football player,” Ballard said. “Things like this happen. I tell every rookie that comes in, there is going to be a point when we disagree, and it’s usually about money. It’s going to be hard. Just know that doesn’t change my care level for you. I care deeply for Jonathan Taylor.”
Pressed on the issue of Taylor’s ankle, the Colts general manager refused to corroborate the report that the Colts believe Taylor is lying about his ankle injury.
“When you’re still having effects from last year’s surgery, and still having pain, and not 100%, we’re not going to put a player on the field that’s still complaining of pain in the ankle. We’re not going to do that. I wouldn’t do that to any player. I wouldn’t treat anybody any differently. What Jonathan will do is he will rehab his butt off and try to get himself ready to go.”
Taylor, who missed six games last season due to a high ankle sprain, underwent an arthroscopic debridement in the offseason, a procedure that typically is designed to help a player get back to full strength faster than he would without the surgery.
The Colts running back underwent surgery at the end of January; on Tuesday, Indianapolis moved him to the reserve/physically unable perform list, ensuring that Taylor will miss at least the first four games.
“I don’t know if there’s anything that’s a routine surgery,” Ballard said. “Any time you have surgery on your body, it’s different. I think everybody heals, rehabs. Everybody’s different."
Where the two sides go from here remains unclear, in large part because both sides appear to remain entrenched in their positions on the subject.
Ballard stopped short of offering any potential solutions to the team’s contract dispute with its star running back, repeatedly citing his policy of refusing to discuss contract negotiations while they are still ongoing.
But the Indianapolis general manager did indicate the Colts haven’t changed their collective mind about their decision to tell Taylor that he would not be signed to any potential contract extension before the end of this season, the final year of Taylor’s rookie contract.
The team’s position remains resolute.
Coming off a disastrous season, Indianapolis wants to wait and see where it’s at with Richardson, new head coach Shane Steichen and the rest of the roster before committing big money to Taylor.
“We won four games last year,” Ballard said. “We won four games.”
Taylor, who has not been available for interview since June, indicated at the time that he’d taken note of the team’s history of signing homegrown stars to lucrative extensions before the final year of their rookie contracts began. Indianapolis signed left guard Quenton Nelson, linebacker Shaquille Leonard, right tackle Braden Smith and running back Nyheim Hines, among others, in the days leading up to the start of their final seasons on their rookie contracts.
Ballard’s response, ultimately has been to say every situation is different.
“We’ve given guys early extensions, we’ve given guys extensions before they went into their fifth year, we’ve given guys extensions who’ve played their contracts completely out, and gone into free agency and signed them back. We’ve let guys go all four years and they’ve signed good contracts somewhere else,” Ballard said. “I explained this during camp, coming off last season, that’s tough. You won four games, you’ve got a brand-new coaching staff, all the circumstances surrounding it.”
The end result has been a standoff that has sucked up all the attention surrounding the Colts this season, even overshadowing the decision to start Richardson, the No. 4 pick in the draft and the presumptive heir to a franchise quarterback spot that has been vacant in Indianapolis since Andrew Luck retired in 2019.
For the moment, there does not appear to be an end in sight.
Ballard would not say how the Colts plan to end the stalemate between the two sides, or if he planned to continue entertaining trade requests for his star player.
The general manager who traded up to draft Taylor coming out of Wisconsin in 2020 remains hopeful that solution can be reached from a situation that deteriorated rapidly.
“It sucks,” Ballard said. It sucks for the Colts, it sucks for Jonathan Taylor and it sucks for our fans. It does. It’s where we’re at, and we’ve got to work through it, and we’re going to do everything we can to work through it.”
If there was one potential path Ballard offered to finding a solution, it was to stop pointing blame at each other. Taylor’s agent, Malki Kawa, has written barbs on social media aimed at Colts owner Jim Irsay; Irsay made public comments in training camp suggesting that the league would move on without Taylor; and now there’s the report that the Colts internally believe Taylor is lying about his ankle injury.
“I’ve communicated consistently with Malki and Jonathan, I’ve definitely talked to my owner, who has great insight,” Ballard said. “Everybody gets a little emotional. I don’t think it does any of us any good right now to blame, point fingers. That’s not productive for what we need to get done going forward.”
The Colts general manager still hopes this situation can be salvaged.
How that could happen remains unclear.