PFF lists Colts adding free agent QB Daniel Jones as team’s ‘signing with most upside’

Can Daniel Jones finally fulfill his franchise quarterback promise and potential in Indianapolis?

According to PFF, the Indianapolis Colts signing former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is their 2025 free agent addition with the most upside:

Indianapolis Colts: QB Daniel Jones

Contract: One year, $14 million

Colts fans are in for quite the offseason. A quarterback battle looms between Anthony Richardson and the newly signed Daniel Jones after the Colts handed the veteran a $14 million deal in free agency.

The upside here is obvious: If Jones wins the starting quarterback job, he could guide Indianapolis to new heights, potentially a playoff berth. The downside is also apparent: The Colts may have made Jones one of the NFL’s highest-paid backup quarterbacks just for him to sit on the bench all season. He won a playoff contest with the Giants behind an 80.2 PFF game grade in 2022; perhaps he could do the same in Indianapolis.

Of course, if the former 6th overall of the 2019 NFL Draft looks closer to his 2022 form, which led him to inking a 4-year, $160 million contract extension as the Giants ex-franchise quarterback hopeful, maybe the Colts will have found something more than another musical chairs stopgap.

However, I remain overly pessimistic.

Jones’ tape the past two season for New York hasn’t been great, as he’s struggled with many of the areas as a youngerish NFL quarterback that Colts’ incumbent 3rd-year starter Anthony Richardson has: injuries, turnovers, and consistency.

I suppose there’s the chance that Jones finally figures it out during which may be his last chance to seriously compete for a starting NFL quarterback gig again—before he becomes the latest rendition of Carson Wentz, jumping team-to-team now as a top backup option.

If you ask me, I think new Colts’ CB1 Charvarius Ward would’ve been the better option. Having dealt with personal family tragedy last year, the 28-year-old veteran cornerback endured a tough season for his normally high standards.

Now in Indianapolis, with a much needed change of scenery, it’s very possible that Ward could rediscover his prior NFL All-Pro and Pro Bowl form and become a Top 5 cornerback in all of football again—when he’s just a year removed from such elite-level coverage: