Insider: Why Jonathan Taylor contract's frustrations are understandable

WESTFIELD — The first time Jonathan Taylor played in an NFL game, he stepped into the starting role because the veteran back in front of him, Marlon Mack, tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that cost Mack his chance to earn the second contract that can set a player up for life.

One year later, Taylor watched the Colts lock up another running back, Nyheim Hines, to a lucrative second contract before the final season of his rookie deal began, ensuring that Hines would make more money — $12 million guaranteed — than Mack’s earned in his entire career.

Taylor is headed into the final year of his rookie contract having piled up 3,841 rushing yards, 802 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns over three seasons, rising to a level of stardom Mack and Hines never reached.

Taylor wants a contract extension now.

A desire that isn’t unusual.

A desire the Colts have set a precedent of fulfilling.

Under general manager Chris Ballard, Indianapolis has made both a public philosophy and practice of rewarding its top homegrown players before the final year of their contracts, locking up center Ryan Kelly, cornerback Kenny Moore II, linebacker Shaquille Leonard, right tackle Braden Smith, left guard Quenton Nelson and Hines before the final year of their rookie deal began. The Colts also made sure they locked up Grover Stewart in-season, before the big nose tackle could hit free agency.

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From the sounds of it, Taylor is not getting that chance.

Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay told ESPN Thursday night that the Colts do not plan to give Taylor a contract extension until the end of the season.

The Colts haven’t even made an offer.

“We love Jonathan, we need Jonathan,” Irsay told ESPN. “Our hope is Jonathan has an outstanding year and that we have a good year as a team, and then we get his next contract done. That’s the hope. We think the world of him as a person, as a player. It’s just timing. When your time comes to get paid, then you get paid.”

That change is why Taylor is unhappy.

Up until now, the Colts have been paying their star players before the end of their rookie contracts, rather than waiting for the player to finish out the deal, and the team has done it despite some of those players dealing with the same issues that might cause Indianapolis to balk at giving Taylor a long-term deal.

Taylor is coming off an injury and an offseason surgery, but Leonard was coming off ankle surgery before he signed his extension in 2021, and Nelson was coming off an injury-plagued year marked by three surgeries when signed an extension in 2022.

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Of course, Nelson and Leonard have each been decorated more than Taylor, picking up three first team All-Pro nods apiece to Taylor’s one.

Smith, Moore, Stewart and Hines were less accomplished than Taylor when they signed their deal. The Colts themselves have repeatedly acknowledged Taylor’s talents. Irsay’s called him special, compared him to the greats of the game. Ballard’s repeatedly said Taylor is a special playmaker.

The kind of player the general manager has said he has no problem paying, regardless of position.

Then there’s the last objection, the sticking point that has embroiled the NFL for the past couple of weeks. Taylor is a running back, and NFL teams are no longer paying running backs.

Doyel:Colts RB Jonathan Taylor knows he won't get a huge contract and isn't taking it well

Except that the Colts paid Hines.

More importantly, the Indianapolis decision-makers have made it a pillar of organizational philosophy to reward their own, repeatedly citing that track record. Ballard and Irsay cited the team’s history of paying its own players in comments about Taylor this week.

Taylor knows that history.

Banked on it. When he talked about his desire for a contract extension in June, Taylor referenced the team’s history of paying its own players, keeping players who’ve produced on and off the field.

The Colts have the right to alter that history.

Indianapolis could be wary of paying big money to a running back, could be concerned about Taylor’s health coming off an injury and offseason surgery, could decide the franchise would simply rather wait one more season before making a major financial investment in its stars, content to risk losing them in free agency rather than diminished returns on a deal.

Or the Colts might want to see how Taylor fits in Shane Steichen’s new offense, how he partners with rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson before making a significant financial investment.

It's understandable, however, that Taylor is not happy about those changes. For years, Ballard has repeated the phrase “the locker room knows” about a wide range of situations, including the risk of paying an outsider big money in free agency without knowing how he’ll fit in the team’s culture.

That doesn’t mean Taylor has to feel hunky-dory about those changes. For years, Ballard has repeated the phrase “the locker room knows” about a wide range of situations, including the risk of paying an outsider big money in free agency without knowing how he’ll fit in the team’s culture.

The locker room also knows how the team has handled its star players financially in the past, and even if the team has the right to change its philosophy, that doesn’t mean the players aren’t going to notice.

The Colts can wait to pay Taylor if they want.

But that doesn't mean it has to make sense to Taylor.