Looking back at the Dan Mullen Era at Florida, one of the downfalls in 2021 was his perceived lack of usage of Anthony Richardson. Mullen had hitched his horse to Emory Jones even though Richardson flashed a far higher ceiling for the Gators. Richardson would eventually get his shot in 2022 when Billy Napier came to town, and had a solid but not elite season during his one year as Florida’s starting QB.
That one season was enough to convince the Indianapolis Colts to select him No. 4 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
But the flaws at Florida never got fixed in the NFL, and combined with a rash of injuries, it appears that Richardson’s time with the Colts is coming to an end.
Former Gator Anthony Richardson has been given the green light to seek a trade
Richardson’s agent Deiric Jackson confirmed to multiple outlets that the QB has been given permission to seek a trade. Richardson has one year left on his rookie contract with a potential fifth-year option that could be exercised in 2027.
Richardson’s time in the NFL was up and down from the start. He flashed his massive arm and had an array of highlight reel throws, but general accuracy issues from play to play, along with a slew of injuries, derailed his chance of being entrenched as the starter.
He had a concussion and a shoulder injury as a rookie, he had a hip and back sprain in 2024, and last year he dislocated his finger in preseason and suffered an orbital fracture during warmups in week 6 that ended his 2025 campaign.
Richardson had already lost the starting job with the Colts to Daniel Jones, in large part because he has a career completion percentage of 50.6% when he is on the field.
As much as we appreciated Richardson’s time with Florida, we noted during his 2022 season with the Gators that he wasn’t ready for the NFL. We said in November of 2022 that:
“And while Gators fans were mostly happy with Richardson’s performance this year, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some major red flags for the next level.
The biggest is that he simply isn’t accurate enough on short to intermediate routes to sustain drives with enough consistency. How many times this year did we see Richardson sail a five yard-route or throw a screen pass into the dirt?”
Alas, here we are three years into his NFL career with the same issues at hand. It is also important to note that Richardson is only 23 years old, so it’s not game over just yet.
If Sam Danorld can turn it around from potential bust to Super Bowl winner, the story isn’t over just yet for Richardson.