INDIANAPOLIS – Like Colts head coach Shane Steichen and the team’s principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon earlier this week, general manager Chris Ballard was non-committal regarding third-year quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr.’s position on the team’s roster for 2026.
“I think time will tell,” Ballard said Thursday in his annual season-ending news conference when asked whether he could still see a role for the former fourth-overall pick from the 2023 draft in the Colts’ quarterback room. “He’s still got to work through the vision (limitations) that he has, and we’ll see what the future holds.
“He’s had some bad luck, but we’ll see moving forward how that ends up playing out. A lot will depend on his health.”
Ballard was then asked whether the Colts might pursue voiding the final year of Richardson’s contract for 2026 given his freak accident that caused his eye injury off the field prior to the Week 6 game against Arizona.
“No, no. Voiding a contract?” Ballard clarified. “No, no, no.”
Richardson managed 15 starts during his first two season with the Colts – 11 of those coming in 2024 – through an injury-plagued start to a career for a quarterback that had plenty of uncertainties coming out of the draft.
He lasted just four games his rookie season after missing one start in Week 3 following a significant concussion. He’d only last a couple more before suffering a major injury to his right shoulder that required season-ending surgery.
In his second season, Richardson missed two more games to an oblique injury the first half of the year, another two after being benched for tapping out of a game briefly then missed the final two games with a back injury. The Colts brought in veteran Daniel Jones, who was waived by the Giants in 2024 after his own injury-plagued, rollercoaster tenure, last offseason to compete with Richardson in camp, and the job ultimately went to the new arrival.
Jones wasn’t able to finish the season, first suffering a fractured fibula that he played with during Weeks 12-14 before tearing his right Achilles tendon in Jacksonville with four games to go and the team’s playoff hopes hanging in the balance. And when he was needed most – Richardson had thrown a single pass and rushed all of four times in the opening stretch during mop-up duty – the third-year quarterback was already on IR due to the fractured orbital bone.
Richardson returned to practice with three games left but Steichen told reporters the young quarterback was shouldering vision limitations that left the Colts uncomfortable with starting him – both from an ability standpoint, as well as for Richardson’s own safety. The quarterback told reporters before the final game of the season after learning he wouldn’t be activated that he still was struggling to catch snaps, though his downfield vision was unaffected.
Richardson did note that doctors had been amazed he could return to practice just over two months removed from his injury, and Richardson planned to meet with his doctors a couple weeks into the offseason with the hope that his vision would fully return.
But that’s also not a guarantee either, and it’s an unfortunate, massive hurdle for a player that Ballard said had shown improvement in training camp, even if he did lose his starting job.
“He’s a great teammate. He’s never sulked, never complained, and he was doing a great job as a backup quarterback, and then he has a freak accident in the locker room,” Ballard said.
In perhaps an additional sign of bad news for Richardson, the Colts GM seem very committed to having Jones return for 2026 and beyond, despite his torn Achilles. “I think (the desire) is mutual on both sides,” said Ballard of a player he said he saw as “both a near and long-term” fix at quarterback. Ballard also made a point to shower rookie sixth-round pick quarterback Riley Leonard with praise following the Notre Dame grad’s first NFL start Sunday in the season finale where Leonard finished with 270 passing yards and three total scores.
“I’m very encouraged by Riley,” Ballard said when asked whether Jones’ injury left him feeling like he needed to search for some additional quarterback insurance on the free agent market this offseason. “We’ll work through that.
“It wasn’t too big for him. The first half against Houston, they were playing their dudes, and he led us to 17 points. I do think there’s something there, and that’s something we’ll evaluate and that we’ve got to make a decision on. If Anthony doesn’t get us to where we think he can be, can Riley be the No. 2?”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Anthony Richardson’s future was addressed by Colts GM Chris Ballard
