The Colts finished their 2022 season in embarrassing fashion. They fired their HC for the second time in Chris Ballard’s tenure, hired a former franchise legend and ESPN analyst to be their interim coach, and blew one of the biggest leads in NFL history late in the year— just to add insult to an already broken season.
Somewhere along the way Chris Ballard survived that offseason, and got to run his second coaching search of his tenure— despite cycling through QBs, and failing to make the playoffs for a 2nd straight year.
Whether it was Ballard, or Jim Irsay, who made the final call, the Colts landed on Shane Steichen as their next head coach. Steichen was hired for many reasons, but his biggest being his ability to develop the quarterback. He got the most out of Justin Herbert in a historic rookie season, and had Jalen Hurts playing some of the best football of his career.
After seasons of cycling through veteran QB options in the post-Luck era, the Colts were poised to finally draft one. We won’t ever know if Chris Ballard had the opportunity to trade with Chicago for the #1 pick, but it seems as if the Colts were always going to be in the Richardson-Levis discussion, rather than the Young-Stroud.
And as we all know, the Colts landed on Anthony Richardson with the 4th overall pick— a player their owner said they would have taken at #1 overall.
If you told me everything that I know now, drafting Richardson was still the best move for the franchise at the time. You didn’t hire Shane Steichen to sign yet another veteran bridge (a la Baker Mayfield), and Anthony Richardson had the highest ceiling of any of the QBs. If you were swing, you might as well swing big… the Colts just happened to miss.
To this day, Richardson is still one of the league’s more polarizing players. Some people still believe in his ceiling, while others think his historically low floor and inability to stay healthy is the reason he can’t be successful.
After a 2024 season that was truly a rollercoaster, the Colts signed Daniel Jones in the offseason to compete for the starting job— A move could be looked on as one of the better in Chris Ballard’s tenure, provided Daniel Jones lives up to his new deal that he’ll almost certainly sign this offseason.
While spending the offseason being the unsexy and unpopular QB option for the Colts in the eye of the public, those inside the building raved about him. After an odd offseason program, where the QB competition felt decided very early on, the Colts announced Daniel Jones as their starter. For the next three months Daniel Jones proceeded to prove the entire football world wrong. He led the Colts to their fastest start in the Chris Ballard era, with an offense that refused to ever punt. He was so impressive that the Colts felt confident enough to make an unprecedented move in the middle of the season by trading away their next two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner.
The Colts are now at a crossroads. They have a tricky contract negotiation coming up with Daniel Jones and the future for Anthony Richardson is as uncertain as ever. So here’s a look at what might happen next
DANIEL JONES
Chris Ballard’s comments at his end of year presser made it seem like it was a mere formality that Daniel Jones would be back in 2026. His contract negotiations will be very fascinating. The benefit of having Jones is having an affordable option at QB that lets you build a veteran roster around him, similar to how the Bucs and Seahawks have built their rosters.
If you can keep Jones at a reasonable number, there is no reason why the Colts shouldn’t be thrilled about that. What Daniel Jones lacked in freakish arm strength and athleticism, he made up for inaccuracy, improved processing and pocket presence, and zero off the field distractions.
What makes the Jones contract difficult is that Weeks 1-9 Daniel Jones is not the Daniel Jones who will be putting pen to paper on a new deal in March. Unfortunately the right achilles tendon is yet another injury the Colts have to consider before investing in Daniel Jones’ future. If Anthony Richardson is scrutinized for his inability to stay healthy, then it would be unfair to not say the same about Jones. The Colts have to factor in the long term trajectory of the injury and when he’ll be ready for the 2026 campaign.
Outside of the injury projection, you also need to balance what he’s truly worth, knowing that he did have a small sample size of brilliance in an overall mediocre career. The worst thing the Colts could do is mortgage their long term financial future for the next two-three seasons, while also not having two first round picks on an aging roster.
Nonetheless, I am quite high on Daniel Jones future. I think the Shane Steichen and this offensive infrastructure was exactly what Daniel Jones needed to jumpstart his career, albeit 6 years in. He gives the Colts the best chance to compete for the playoffs, and ultimately an AFC South title.
ANTHONY RICHARDSON
So what’s next for Anthony Richardson? He’s likely going to request a trade this offseason and the Colts will grant him one. To me, Anthony Richardson is a guy you bring in to compete for a job or value as an elite backup QB option. I think he’ll likely go for a conditional day 3 pick to a team like Cleveland, the New York Jets, Minnesota, or even Miami.
Provided he’s fully healthy, I think he still can have a bright future in the NFL. You can have the debate of who failed who in the Anthony Richardson-Shane Steichen relationship, but it’s hard to argue that Anthony Richardson showed absolutely nothing as a QB.
Yes the completion percentage and accuracy were historically bad, but some of the plays he made were truly special. Not only can you not teach them, you can’t even fathom how they get made.
That’s worth betting on and at least peaking for curiosity if you’re another team.
RILEY LEONARD OR THE COLTS FUTURE QB2
It’s hard to get a read on what the Colts actually think about Riley Leonard. Yes, he was injured at the time of the Phillip Rivers signing… but if the Colts thought he could give them a chance to win, they would not have jumped to make a move like Rivers. The Colts also were rumored to be looking for a backup QB at the deadline when Anthony Richardson got hurt. Nonetheless, he did have a somewhat promising final game of the year vs. Houston, so we’ll see.
The best teams are always adding at the QB spot even if it’s at the bottom of the roster. The chances are slim, but if you think you can develop a QB behind your starter, you should always be doing it. I could see a very likely scenario in which the Colts add to the QB room in the draft or free agency— especially considering Daniel Jones’ concerning injury history.
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