Ex-NY Giants QB Predicted to Win Comeback Player Award

Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was understandably disappointed that his time with Big Blue didn’t go the way he or the team hoped. 

After receiving his release last November from the Giants when he was midway through a four-year, $160 million extension he had signed, Jones finished out the season with the Vikings.

This past offseason, rather than return to the Vikings, who have J.J. McCarthy on the roster, Jones signed a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts, where he is hoping to beat out incumbent Anthony Richardson and become the franchise arm he wasn’t to be for New York.

Jones might be in a great spot with the Colts, where he is NFL.com writer Jeffri Chadiha’s early choice for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

“There's every reason to believe Jones can win that battle because Richardson, since arriving in Indy as the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft, has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career and even lost his job for a couple of games last season,” Chadiha wrote. 

“Jones knows a few things about that path -- the former No. 6 overall pick was benched and eventually dumped by the Giants last year -- but there's reason to be optimistic about him today. …

“Now, Jones gets to work with a creative offensive head coach in Shane Steichen, who happens to be the same man who helped take Jalen Hurts from raw talent to MVP-caliber quarterback in Philadelphia. … 

“Steichen easily could be the man to take Jones to another level, especially when considering the Colts have better skill players and offensive line play than Jones ever enjoyed in New York.”

Already, Jones appears to be the favorite to wrestle the job away from Richardson, who was sidelined for most of the spring with an AC joint issue. Jones stands to max out at $17.7 million on his contract if he hits all the incentives in the deal.

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Can Jones resuscitate his career in Indy?

While there is no reason not to wish Jones the best as he looks to re-establish himself as a starting quarterback, the odds of him winning the Comeback Player of the Year award might not be as good as Chadiha believes. 

For one, Jones has struggled throughout his career to stay healthy, which he needs to do to even be considered for the award.

But the bigger question is if Steichen can succeed where Giants head coach Brian Daboll did not when it comes to Jones in terms of fixing accuracy issues, particularly on the deep ball, "repairing" the quarterback’s internal clock when under pressure, and. perhaps most important of all, fixing Jones’s post-snap processing speed. 

Again, no one is wishing ill to Jones, who, during his time with the Giants, was nothing but professional and cordial and who did everything within his power to make it work.

While no one should count him out of anything, the first step is for him to win the Colts starting job and show that he has finally addressed the things that held him back with the Giants.

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