The Indianapolis Colts are 2-5 and the season has quickly been engulfed by uncertainty and pessimism about the future of the franchise.
The latest shock was Indianapolis dealing Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner, leaving star running back Jonathan Taylor’s family wondering if he is the next veteran to be moved before the Nov. 10 trade deadline. It looks like the Colts might be in tank mode and clearing house.
Taylor’s wife Ayanna expressed her concerns as a mother and wife, with the NFL trade deadline being less than two weeks away and trade rumors picking up.
The outspoken partner of one of the NFL’s best backs took to Instagram to express her current emotional state and reveal how difficult it is to be a WAG around this time of the season. Especially when the team appears to be moving in another direction and her husband is a game-changing star, whose $22 million AAV makes him the second-highest-paid running back in the NFL behind Bijan Robinson.
Ayanna has been critical of the Colts in the past, posting about trade rumors on social media and saying it already feels like she’s on a different team since the Colts traded away wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and linebacker Zaire Franklin this offseason. Nelson getting traded this week really sent Ayanna into a tailspin of sorts.
“For the first time some of the women I started this life experience with will no longer be on the tea with me,” Ayanna said on Instagram.
“But now Chris Ballard gets fired, Quenton Nelson is traded, is literally anybody safe on this team? I’ve never known the Colts organization without these people, and it kind of feels like rookie year all over again. So naturally, my mind is spiraling.
“Is this the start of the trading frenzy? What does this mean for my husband and I? Do I need to start packing our bags? Are we even going to be spending our daughter’s first Halloween together? Will we make it to game day, or was last week the last time my husband will be putting on a Colts jersey? …
Fans Don’t Feel Sorry For Ayanna Taylor’s Fears About Husband Being Traded
Her comments were re-posted on X and went viral. Fans across the NFL didn’t have much sympathy for her.
“Athletes need to do a better job of keeping their wives off Tik Tok/Podcasts,” one fan warned in the comments.
“Jonathan Taylor’s wife finding out that this is a business,” captioned one fan above a meme of LeBron James holding his head in anguish.
“Does she know it’s not about her? Holy sh*t she’s so out of touch,” one netizen commented. The backlash was perplexing to some, as Ayanna was just expressing how a trade would affect her life as the running back’s wife.
“lol she’s just speaking from her pov of being a nfl wife,” one fan said, defending Ayanna.
But the fans weren’t hearing it.
“Her husband’s job pays him a great amount of money, that’s the business he chose. It comes with the territory. Get over it,” one netizen wrote on X.
Ayanna has spent much of her social media time chronicling the Colts’ dramatic decline since the offseason. One could assume she is speaking on behalf of her husband who would get fined and criticized for expressing his true feelings about the team.
“Pretty sure she wouldn’t keep doing this if he wasn’t ok with it,” one X user commented. “He won’t say it directly so she’s putting the word out to pressure the org.
Another fan agreed, saying, “they are literally married and a team and I doubt she posted this without him feeling the same way, and it’s absolutely about her, it changes her and their kids’ living situation as well.”
Taylor has said he doesn’t have a problem with his wife expressing herself and addressed her videos after being asked about them following the Colts’ Week 7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
“I think it’s been out there already, so I think her adding [to it] doesn’t really change anything,” Taylor said, via The Athletic. “You know everybody’s on TikTok these days. So, you just have to come into work and stay focused.”
Ayanna also mentioned how trades damage friendships and the family culture that is built within the team, particularly the wives and kids of NFL players.
“Something that people may not realize about the NFL is yes you understand that changes come with it, but for years I’ve been surrounded by the … women. Our husbands work together, we build friendships, and we have just grown up in the league together,” she added.
For now, Taylor, who is signed through 2028 seems safe. The Colts have to put some type of product on the field and Taylor, who joined the team as a second-round pick out of Wisconsin in the 2020 NFL draft, is a franchise great.
His 8,185 rushing yards rank second in franchise history behind Edgerrin James, while his 77 rushing touchdowns rank first. Despite the Colts’ struggles this season, Taylor has been productive on the ground. His 587 rushing totals through seven games rank fifth in the NFL, and his eight rushing touchdowns are tied for first.
This kind of explosive player would be a huge get for a contending team. A difference maker. So it’s understandable why Ayanna, who married Taylor in 2023 and has planted her roots in Indianapolis, would be anxious until the trade deadline passes. She and Taylor also have a daughter, Solana who was born in March 2023.
