Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts took a shot on veteran quarterback Daniel Jones after he mutually parted ways with the New York Giants, the team that drafted him 6th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Colts signed Jones to a 1-year, $14M ‘prove-it’ deal, to which he immediately proved it.
Originally signed as a legitimate contender for the team’s starting job, Jones took on third-year quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr., whom Indy had drafted 4th overall just two offseasons prior. Being named the starter sent shockwaves through the fanbase, but it soon evolved into a historic offensive start for the franchise.
Ultimately, a pair of leg injuries combined to cut Jones’s honorable rebound short — a fractured fibula in Week 12 and the season-ending Achilles tear in Week 14 — putting the franchise back at square one. Although the team, as well as Jones’s camp, suggests that he’ll return to form as early as Week 1 of the 2026-27 season, banking on such isn’t as much of a no-brainer as the vibes out of Indy suggest.
This article will kick off a new series — similar to that of my Rookie Report article series — that covers each of the Indianapolis Colts’ top free agents, offering a case for their retention, a case against it, and a final verdict.
In Favor Of
By default, the priority of all Colts set to hit free agency favors Daniel Jones most. Manning the entire offensive operation is alone grounds for such consideration, but Jones’s rebound on the field in the 2025-26 season under head coach and offensive playcaller Shane Steichen suggests that retaining his services is worth the gamble.
Jones was actively rewriting the definition of efficient quarterbacking, becoming an early favorite for Comeback Player of the Year and earning early MVP consideration. He finished the season with the following statline: (13 games) 261-384 (68%) for 3,101 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, 8 interceptions, sacked 22 times; 45 rushes for 164 yards and 5 touchdowns, 9 fumbles.
Despite suffering a fractured fibula in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jones hung in there for as long as possible. Finishing the game and then toughing it out for two more weeks before ultimately further degrading his health with a torn Achilles, it’s evident that Daniel Jones is willing to leave it all on the field on any given play.
The Case Against
Jones’s initial injury played a part in his blazing hot start cooling off, but some of his past flaws as a player were rehashed in the two games prior. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons (Weeks 9-10), Jones threw four interceptions and fumbled six times. Perhaps he was coming back down to Earth after throwing just three interceptions and fumbling twice over the two months of play leading up to that point, but history suggests something worse: that he’ll reinjure himself.
Daniel Jones has suffered twelve injuries during his seven-year career thus far, six of which have been Grade 2 or higher (half of those being Grade 3). You can find an in-depth look at his injury history from a recent article of mine, but to cut a long story short, Jones is undeniably injury-prone through seven years in the league.
The possibility that Jones reverts from his heroic play in Indy to that of his days in New York is still real; it’s his durability, or lack thereof, to prove that he’s evolved that’s most concerning.
The Verdict
It’s more or less a foregone conclusion that Jones will remain in Indianapolis, with Colts teammates and staff alike supporting his return. Legitimate injury history concerns aside, the pairing between him and Shane Steichen is enough to bank on.
The safe bet at this point is to re-sign Daniel Jones to be the signal caller for the foreseeable future. The Colts are famously without a first-round pick in the next two NFL Drafts (2026-27) after trading for star cornerback Sauce Gardner, but they’ll have two regular seasons to right the ship entirely. If not, they present their future selves with an out of sorts as halfway through a hypothetical four-year deal would be an easier pill to swallow.
The Colts would afford themselves a clean break from the experiment in question, or they could elect to roll with the reverse Anthony Richardson — drafting the presumable replacement with a veteran starter already in-house.
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