Benching Anthony Richardson makes sense in the NFL's relentless win-now culture

Cynicism is only helpful if it leads you to realism. In the case of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, I've seen a lot of thoughtful views about a coach and a general manager, about a team's responsibility to a player, and about the benefits that might come from missing the playoffs , so he can evolve It's important to take a step back and take a broader look the historical rawness of Richardson as a project.

I've felt this way for so long, and the kindest part of my heart still does. Richardson is amazing at times. Sometimes his receivers drop balls that we don't talk about much. And, God love, his worst crime in his 10 NFL starts was, frankly Answering a question about checking out a game because he was tired. We ask for openness and then kill those who have the courage or embracing innocence to tell the truth.

The truth, however, is that coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard work for Jim Irsay, who not long ago fired a perfectly fine head coach (Frank Reich) in the middle of a season so he could sign a former player (Jeff Saturday) with only high school coaching experience, who at the time was working as an analyst at ESPN and as a shadow consultant to the owner.

I'm not suggesting that this was the motivating factor for the move – frankly, it seems like a convenient and useful motivator for something Richardson would have done anyway if he was attacked by some senior players for his comments. But if you're Steichen or Ballard, how can you survive the rigors of this process without contractual assurances that you'll remain the long-term head coach and general manager, no matter how miserable this developmental period becomes? The answer, my friends, is that you wouldn't. None of us would do it. You would start the guy who made the playoffs the year before with the Cleveland Browns (Joe Flacco), and you would now try to make the playoffs again The Houston Texans are starting to fall apart. Then, after some time and space had passed between now and mid-January, when everyone was talking about all the great play calls you'd made and all the good players you'd drafted, you got back to work, to repair the project.

The New York Jets showed us earlier this season – and let's be honest, many seasons – how brutal the NFL can be. An owner puts a vision on the table and charts the course with less than ideal resources, working conditions, timelines, etc. Select any or all of the above. It becomes a frantic and foolish attempt to buy more time. Because more time is the NFL currency everyone is asking for. And it is harder to acquire than Bitcoin.

And so everyone tries to win. All the time. This offseason, I asked a group of coaches (none of whom are involved in what we're talking about, to be clear) about some of my other crazy development-at-all-costs ideas. Install more rest time for players, like NBA coaches doFor example. Experimenting with different types of rosters. The answer was always and immediately: Yes, but we have to win now. All of these ideas are cool, but if we don't make the playoffs this year…

I believe everyone in the Colts building who says they haven't given up on Richardson. But I also think that maybe – just maybe – they've given up on the idea that the people in charge of payroll will continue to immerse themselves in every game looking for the tiny, marginal improvements that will come one day, years from now later, street will pay off in a big way. That they'll be waiting with rapt attention to hear how hard Richardson has worked in training, and that it's convinced some players who rolled their eyes at his fatigue comment to reconsider him as a person.

I think Richardson needs to pile up offseason reps, not just inseason reps. He needs to continue to surround himself with the right people and all the other clichés about growth and learning you can imagine. Eat, sleep and breathe football. Make it your life's work. And so forth. The fact that he has shown such exceptional talent after just a very small handful of college and pro games that the Colts have even considered scrapping this season as a cornerstone for his long-term improvement is astonishing evidence of what lies ahead .

Unfortunately, none of this alleviates the callousness of the league in which we play. Spend the season trying to develop Richardson and it doesn't work? They're the ones who didn't develop Richardson, and someone else will try to sell themselves as the person who will. Will you make it to the playoffs? They have time to be the guys who developed Richardson. Because there is something in all of this that we can all agree on? There is no quick and easy solution.