Why the Colts Should (and Shouldn't) Trade for Lamar Jackson
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The Indianapolis Colts are in the middle of an offseason of change including a new head coach in Shane Steichen.
The next big move will be to get a quarterback of the future in the coming weeks via trade or the NFL Draft on April 27th.
After the Carolina Panthers traded up to the No. 1 spot in the draft and the Colts stood pat at No. 4, it left the Colts with room to maneuver. Obviously, if they had moved up to No. 1, their next quarterback would be acquired in the draft.
After Jackson made it public he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month, the Colts have been more heavily linked with making a move.
They have the draft picks, the money, and the opportunity, but do they have the desire to make a deal with the Ravens and sign Jackson to a monster contract?
Bleacher Report (B/R) made the case on why the Colts should... and shouldn't... make a deal with the Ravens.
Why they should: There's enough talent on the roster to compete with a standout quarterback on board, and only one AFC team has more salary-cap space than Indianapolis' $21.1 million.
Why they shouldn't: They've cycled through four different veteran quarterbacks since Andrew Luck retired before the 2019 season, so it might finally be time to go the draft route—especially because they're guaranteed a shot at one of this class's top four signal-callers with the No. 4 overall selection on April 27. -- Brad Gagnon, B/R
The Colts' roster isn't as bad as the 4-12-1 record from last year might indicate. Trading two-first round picks wouldn't cripple their ability to put a competent team around Jackson, and they have the money.
Financially, the Colts are as ready to make a deal as any team in the NFL.
Gagnon's "shouldn't" argument that the Colts have tried re-tread quarterbacks in the past doesn't quite fit with Jackson. He's still just 26-years old, a year younger than Jacoby Brissett in 2019 and three-years younger than Carson Wentz in 2021.
He has a much, much better resume.
Brissett and Wentz were the youngest of the re-treads that included Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers on the back end of their careers.
More concerning would be the financial commitment to a quarterback who has missed five games each of the last two seasons because of injury.
Part of what makes Jackson so special is his ability to run. If his legs start to go because of injury, or he's unavailable, is he still a $50-million per year MVP-level quarterback?
Injury is a risk with any quarterback, but the wear and tear could affect Jackson's game even more so.
Those are the questions general manager Chris Ballard has to answer before trying to make any move for Jackson, knowing the Ravens retain the right to match any deal the Colts would strike with their quarterback.
Odds are Jackson remains a Ravens' player in 2023, but it will be interesting to see what the Colts do right up until the NFL Draft on April 27th.
