Jonathan Taylor Trade to Baltimore Ravens? 'Dramatic Shift' Truth on Colts Running Back

While ESPN issues a confounding "report'' on a Jonathan Taylor trade, one media person is doing more than guessing about a move by the Baltimore Ravens.

Is the time just right for a blockbuster NFL trade involving Indianapolis Colts All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor, maybe to the Baltimore Ravens?

"Yes,'' says ESPN. Oh, and also, "no,'' says ESPN.

The Worldwide Leader has its butts (and its "buts'') covered in a new "report'' covering Taylor's coming Week 5 move off IR and onto the field ... for somebody.

Are the Colts willing to trade him? Is there a market for him? Is Baltimore, scrapping for running back help in the wake of the season-ending JK Dobbins injury, involved?

Jonathan Taylor

Well ... according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, in a behind-a-paywall piece, the answers aren't really answers. They're just guesses from the two sportswriters, who frankly aren't offering any insight on the same level with reporter Josina Anderson, who we'll get to in a moment.

So, Graziano writes “it wouldn’t surprise me” if Taylor's first game of the season is with a new team. But that's sound-and-fury stuff; there's no prediction there. He also claims, “The time since the preseason has mellowed out the market a bit and maybe created more fertile ground for a deal.''

That doesn't seem right at all to us. The top previous potential bidder before Taylor was moved to IR to start the year was Miami. The Dolphins suddenly have two "star'' running backs in Mostert and Achane. 

The Eagles? Maybe. But they are running wild with D'Andre Swift as their top ball-carrier.

The Browns could make a move with Nick Chubb out for the year, but Jerome Ford seems capable and they just re-signed Kareem Hunt. So they might not "over-pay.''

And it's here again that ESPN gets all wobbly. Graziano said the Browns are “more motivated to make a deal than they want us to believe after the Chubb injury.'' Good. Sounds like a scoop! Except ... his ESPN teammate Fowler responded by saying he thinks Taylor isn’t going anywhere.

“I think he stays put. For as much as Taylor would like to be dealt - and heck, the Colts are probably cool with it at this point, too - I don’t see a team that’s clamoring to give up a day two pick for a running back,” Fowler said.

So which is it? And if there is "new fertile ground'' (or not) and "inside scoops' (or not), Bristol might as well report/speculate about the Ravens trading for Taylor, too, right?

Wrong - because there is an actual reporter issuing an actual report on Jonathan Taylor, with Anderson saying, "Don’t expect Jonathan Taylor (to the Ravens), outside of a dramatic shift in thinking.''

That's no guarantee. But it's also not guessing. Which makes it news.