Robert Griffin III ‘convinced’ Colts are tanking for Arch Manning

Robert Griffin III has his own theory behind what the Colts are trying to do this season, and it’s not to win games. 

The former NFL quarterback railed on the Colts on social media on Tuesday after it was announced that former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones — not Anthony Richardson — would be the team’s Week 1 starting quarterback and he wrote on X that he’s “convinced that the Indianapolis Colts are trying to tank for Arch Manning.”

But RGIII wasn’t done there either, shortly after posting that he believes it to be the case “whether Arch comes out in 2026 or 2027” and that it was “Because the plan at QB doesn’t make sense.”

He later shared a graphic with a quote from Manning, which had been said later in the day on Tuesday, where he had pushed back on comments by his grandfather, Archie Manning, that the current Texas starting QB would still be playing college football in 2026. 

“The Indianapolis Colts simply don’t trust or believe in Anthony Richardson enough to start him over Daniel Jones. It’s time for Anthony Richardson to get a change of scenery. A new start,” Griffin also wrote on X on Tuesday. “It worked for Baker Mayfield. It worked for Sam Darnold. It worked for Geno Smith.”

The decision to name Jones the starting quarterback in Indianapolis stunned many people and irritated Richardson’s camp, with his agent sending a stern message to the Colts in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday. 

Richardson was selected No. 4 overall by the Colts in the 2023 draft.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen told reporters on Tuesday that Jones was “the starting quarterback for the season” and that he didn’t “want to have a short leash on that.” 

Richardson, who has played just 15 games in two seasons because of injuries, indicated that there was “no hard feelings” over the decision and that it was one that “we’ve got to live with.” 

“I’ve just got to keep growing. I just can’t let me not being a starter stop me from going and being the person, the player that I’m supposed to be,” he said.