INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts traded two of their biggest stars on the same day, sending All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers.
The moves came less than two weeks before the NFL’s Nov. 10 trade deadline and signal a full-scale rebuild for a franchise that fired general manager Chris Ballard last week.
Colts Daybreak Contributor Heather Lloyd predicted major changes were coming on Monday and, when joining News 8 again Wednesday morning, admitted that even she didn’t expect them this fast.
“The Colts are making me look smart right now,” Lloyd said. “I’m like, well, I mean, the change is coming, but it’s coming now.”
The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 10 – two weeks out from the Tuesday trades. Lloyd says that adds to the shock of the situation.
“I guess that’s the most surprising thing in all of this is that, you know, change is coming, but you could have waited a little bit?” she said. “You know… You could see what other teams maybe want – are going to offer you, but my feeling is that the teams were there the offers were there Carlie wanted to get it done and she just got it done.”
“I think part of it too maybe is the respect you have for these players. You want them to go to a team that they want to go to, and I know they have those conversations with them. So you know – part of it is you get the deal done. Part of it is you get these players that you respect — I mean we’re talking All Pro, Pro Bowl players – their pictures are on Lucas Oil Stadium, you know? So it’s the respect for the player.”
The Colts could have waited until the deadline, but Lloyd cites several reasons for acting quickly:
Injury risk: “Players get hurt. They don’t just get hurt on game day. Players get hurt at practice. Players can get hurt at home,” Lloyd said. “So if the deal’s there, it’s a deal you like, you get it done.”
Player respect: Getting veterans to teams they want. “Their pictures are on Lucas Oil Stadium, you know? So it’s the respect for the player,” Lloyd said.
Draft capital: Trading now gets picks for 2027 instead of waiting for compensatory picks in 2028.
“So if the deal’s there, it’s a deal you like, you get it done. Carlie got it done. I think we’ve learned a lot about Carlie, right? Over the last couple of weeks here. When she’s ready, she’s going to pull the trigger. And that’s actually something we criticized Jim Irsay about sometimes is that he had emotional connections. He didn’t make the moves when maybe he could have. So, you know, like people were joking, maybe we know what she was writing in that notebook now.”
DeForest Buckner to San Francisco:
Both players were in contract years.
Lloyd says she anticipated better compensation for the franchise cornerstones.
“I really had in my head, you get a second rounder maybe for Quenton, they ended up getting a third and a fifth,” Lloyd said. “You get a third rounder for Buckner, they ended up getting a fourth from the 49ers.”
Several factors may have lowered their trade value:
“They had expiring contracts, so there’s not the security. You sign these players, and you’re going to have to renegotiate with them at the end of the season. So that’s part of it. Part of it is they’re both, you know, a little bit senior, you know, getting up there in age. Had you waited, could you get something better? Maybe.
“But again, I think it comes down to the respect and getting these players on a team that they want to be on… So, yeah, I feel like I had both of those guys up one round than what we actually got from them. But maybe that was just in my head, you know?
And now you’re looking at Jonathan Taylor, wondering what about him? I was thinking a first-rounder. Is he really maybe a second rounder? I don’t know. I mean, maybe I had inflated value on these players, or maybe this is just a fire sale. Maybe these are fire sale prices. But I definitely was surprised at what they got and what they didn’t get for the players so far.”
Other Colts veterans could be on the move before the Nov. 10 deadline:
Potential trade candidates:
Lloyd said Taylor may stay since he’s under contract through 2028.
“Last week. I would have said, ‘Start packing your bags.’ And then even on Monday, I would have thought start packing your bags. But I don’t know now. Like when I see kind of again, what these prices are now, He (JT) does not have an expiring contract. Jonathan Taylor was just extended before the start of the season, so we have him for two years solid here. Also, because of the caliber of this player, is this a guy that you want to let the new GM make a decision on? Because there’s no ticking clock here.
“You can make that decision anytime, so I think maybe for a new GM, they might want to make the call on Jonathan. Is he part of your plan going forward? And maybe that’s not a plan that you go and make before you bring a GM in. Because what you’re weighing here is what’s more appealing: the draft picks or Jonathan Taylor. In this case, it might be Jonathan Taylor for a few more years. It may be a better scenario for you
The Colts travel to Jacksonville on Sunday to face the Jaguars at 1 p.m. Indianapolis hasn’t won in Jacksonville since 2014.
With two weeks until the trade deadline, more moves are expected.
Lloyd called the situation “a case study for the future of the NFL” — a team going from championship hopeful to fire sale in one year.
“You could even argue that this all started with Andrew Luck retiring,” Lloyd said. “They didn’t address the issue at that moment, and it just snowballed into where we’re at.”
Heather Lloyd appears regularly on Colts Daybreak to provide analysis of the Indianapolis Colts.
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