Colts GM Chris Ballard weighs in on decision to extend RB Jonathan Taylor

Last week, the Indianapolis Colts signed running back Jonathan Taylor to a multi-year contract extension.

The 2026 season was originally going to be the final year of Taylor’s contract, but he will now remain in Indianapolis through the 2028 season after signing a two-year extension.

This deal is worth $44 million and has a max value of $47 million, with $39 million guaranteed.

In new money, Taylor’s deal averages out to $22 million per year, which puts him behind only Detroit‘s Jahmyr Gibbs and Atlanta‘s Bijan Robinson in that category, according to Spotrac.

According to Ian Rapoport, Taylor’s extension is the largest third contract that a running back has received.

While appearing recently on SiriusXM NFL radio, Colts‘ GM Chris Ballard discussed Taylor’s extension for the first time.

“There’s some common sense that goes into it,” Ballard said. “When you have a guy that’s touching the ball 300-350 times for you offensively and as unique as he is, those guys don’t grow on trees, and they’re hard to find, there’s not 32 of them. We like where Jonathan’s going, he’s still young — that’s the thing, I know he’s got a lot of mileage from college but he is still a young man. He’s 27 years old, his body, he’s in unbelievable shape, so we look forward to him having a big season and going forward, thinking he can play for a few more years.”

“There’s some common sense that goes into it,” Ballard said. “When you have a guy that’s touching the ball 300-350 times for you offensively and as unique as he is, those guys don’t grow on trees, and they’re hard to find, there’s not 32 of them. We like where Jonathan’s going, he’s still young — that’s the thing, I know he’s got a lot of mileage from college but he is still a young man. He’s 27 years old, his body, he’s in unbelievable shape, so we look forward to him having a big season and going forward, thinking he can play for a few more years.”

Taylor remains one of the most productive backs in football, while continuing to shoulder a heavy workload out of the backfield. He played in 13 games in 2024 and all 17 games last season, rushing for 1,431 yards and 1,585 yards, respectively.

Success for the Colts’ offense often begins with Taylor. There is the obvious with his high-level production, but by providing a strong running game for the offense, that opens up the playbook for Shane Steichen and helps take some of the burden off the passing game.