Daniel Jones resurrected his career in Indianapolis last season.
After six disappointing seasons with the New York Giants, and a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings two seasons ago, Jones looked like a different player in head coach Shane Steichen’s system.
The 28-year-old QB went 8-5 as the Colts’ starter, passing for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions with a career-best 100.2 passer rating. He had Indianapolis in first place in the AFC South for much of the season until suffering a season-ending Achilles injury toward the end of the season.
Despite ending the year on injured reserve, Jones seemingly convinced the Colts that he was worthy of another massive contract, signing a two-year, $88 million deal with $50 million guaranteed.
That kind of investment is one the team could come to regret, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell.
“[To get Jones to re-sign without making a multiyear commitment], the Colts had to guarantee Jones $49.5 million in 2026,” Barnwell said. “They weren’t able to tie more than $510,000 of that into per-game roster bonuses, which would have protected the Colts if Jones was unable to play to start the year, or benched by the end of his second season.
“… The Giants got fooled by one good year from Jones and made a franchise-altering mistake. The Colts are desperate for a solution at QB after cycling through option after option following Andrew Luck’s retirement, but this deal might not afford them any sort of stability or upside.”
As Barnwell pointed out, the Colts have been scrambling trying to find a long-term successor to Luck since he retired back in 2018.
In that time, Indianapolis has tried Jacoby Brissett, Brian Hoyer, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles, Gardner Minshew, Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco, and Riley Leonard, but none seemed to fit quite like Jones has.
But after his deal was signed, the consensus around the league among analysts was that the Colts overpaid for one good year of Jones — much like the Giants did — and investing that much guaranteed money in hopes Jones wasn’t just a one-year wonder could blow up in the Colts’ face.