Colts, QB Daniel Jones Agree To Deal

The $50MM fully guaranteed far exceeds where the Seahawks went for Sam Darnold last year or where the Buccaneers closed with Baker Mayfield in 2024. The transition tag and a few recent Colts developments brought strong leverage for Jones, as he secured more guaranteed than either more accomplished QB despite only agreeing to a two-year deal.

We heard earlier today the Colts and Jones were moving toward a two-year contract. This is another monster deal for Jones, who played last season on a one-year, $14MM pact. Three years after Jones scored a win — via a four-year, $160MM deal — with the Giants, he cashes in after an injury-shortened Colts campaign.

In moving Jones’ $37.83MM transition tag off the books before the start of the 2026 league year (3pm CT today), the Colts will save considerable cap room. Jones will score a huge raise from his 2025 pay, and the two-year term length will allow for another prime-years bite at the apple — should Jones sustain his form this time around. The former No. 6 overall pick famously did not do so on his $40MM-AAV Giants accord, which Big Blue jettisoned during the second year of the contract.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old quarterback will see $50MM in Year 1, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Jones had targeted a deal in the $50MM-per-year range; that ask was out of step with what the Colts desired. Indianapolis’ first offer was believed to come in near the Darnold range (three years, $100.5MM). But Jones, as he did with the Giants in 2023, again stood in commanding leverage position thanks to Indy trading two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner. The Colts had made no secret of their interest in re-signing Jones, and another player-friendly accord will emerge for the inconsistent QB as a result.

Each game the Colts win will result in a $500K bump for Jones, so long as he plays at least 50% of the team’s offensive snaps (per Rapoport). Notably, $10MM of Jones’ 2027 salary is guaranteed. That represents the injury guarantee, with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noting that amount vests in March 2027. Jones received two fully guaranteed years from the Giants, but it took a four-year commitment to secure those terms. That March 2027 date gives the Colts a potential out in case Jones flops on a big-ticket deal again. Indy can escape the contract before that guarantee vests.

Jones certainly would have been the top free agent available, value-wise (an area where the QB has specialized), but the Colts were far apart on terms and did not leave it to chance by transition-tagging him. No team had unholstered a transition tag on a quarterback since 1996, with ex-Colts first-rounder Jeff George being cuffed by the Falcons. That relationship combusted months later, with Atlanta cutting him after three games. The Colts will be hoping Jones can stop their QB carousel, one that helped strengthen the eighth-year veteran’s leverage.

The Colts have used eight different Week 1 starting quarterbacks over the past nine seasons. The carousel has defined Chris Ballard‘s GM tenure. Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon brought back both Ballard and Shane Steichen for a fourth season, largely giving them a mulligan for Jones’ injury-shortened 2025 slate. While Jones was playing well in guiding the Colts to an 8-2 start, he now has a checkered medical sheet. Jones has missed time due to ACL and Achilles tears, along with multiple bouts of neck trouble. Before sustaining the Achilles tear last season, Jones was playing through a fractured fibula.

Jones’ struggles on his $40MM-per-year deal moved Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen to the hot seat in New York, and while the QB has a chance to prolong Ballard and Steichen’s Indy tenures, their futures likely ride on this contract working out. Having Jones at $14MM represented a good value play for the Colts. With Alec Pierce now at $29MM per year and Jones on another player-friendly deal, will Indy be able to sustain its first-half form from last season?

The Duke product averaged more than eight yards per attempt for the first time last season, finishing at 8.1 with a career-best 68% completion rate. Jones posted a 19:8 TD-INT ratio and ranked eighth in QBR. The Colts were on a torrid pace, but they could not sustain it. The team going 8-4 with Jones available and 0-5 without him brought another negotiating point for the QB’s camp, and the Vikings — who have not landed on their veteran QB option to compete with J.J. McCarthy — were believed to be monitoring this situation.

Jones had turned down Minnesota despite receiving a better offer last year, correctly determining he had a better chance for a starting job in Indianapolis. While Anthony Richardson is still a Colt, he has been given permission to find a trade partner. Jones’ deal effectively ensures the former No. 4 overall pick will not be back.

Expected to be back for Week 1 after another round of rehab, Jones will not have Michael Pittman Jr. to target any longer. The Colts traded their $24MM-per-year receiver to the Steelers in a salary-dump move, as they now have Pierce on a WR1 deal. The team also traded Adonai Mitchell in the Gardner swap, leaving Pierce, Josh Downs and Tyler Warren as Jones’ top 2026 targets — as of now. The team also lost right tackle Braden Smith in free agency, though four O-line starters are returning to help Jones and All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor.

Averaging 5.7 and 6.1 yards per attempt during the two seasons on his $40MM-AAV Giants contract, Jones will face considerable pressure to stick the landing this time. Though, his Kirk Cousins-like negotiating savviness has removed any incentive on the financial side. Still, Jones playing well in Indy will position him for a lucrative extension or a 2028 free agency foray. The Colts will hope this pricey contract can bring an end to the post-Andrew Luck period of QB instability.