What Colts reportedly offered Daniel Jones before transition-tag decision

One of the more controversial moves of the NFL offseason, to date, involved the Indianapolis Colts using the transition tag to retain the rights to quarterback Daniel Jones for the 2026 season. 

It's no secret that the Colts want to hang onto Jones for at least one more campaign. On Sunday night, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared what Indianapolis allegedly offered Jones before the club tagged the currently injured signal-caller. 

Colts looked to the past for potential Daniel Jones contract

"The Colts’ initial offer to Jones was in the range of Sam Darnold’s three-year, $100.5M deal last offseason," Breer wrote. "Jones' camp countered that, based on the leverage a franchise tag would have given him, a deal worth $50M per year would be more in the ballpark of what he’d take if he did a deal before this week."

Jones went 8-2 as Indianapolis' starter and seemed to resurrect his career with the club before he suffered a reported fibula injury in Week 12 of this past season. He then went down with a campaign-ending torn Achilles tendon on Dec. 7, 2025. It's unknown when he'll be cleared to return, but there's also no sign that the Colts want to have a different full-time QB1 on their roster. 

Why Colts should want to get a deal done with Daniel Jones as soon as possible

"If Jones plays great in 2026," Breer wrote, "then the team would either transition tag him again in ’27 at $45.4M or franchise him, and at that point, he’d have the leverage to ask for top-of-the-market money, since a third tag is prohibitively expensive. That doesn’t mean the Colts have to pay him $50M per year now. However, it does mean that it’d behoove them to explore a longer-term deal."

Signing Jones could also make it more likely that the Colts keep wide receiver Alec Pierce, who reportedly is close with Jones. Pierce led the Colts with 1,003 receiving yards this past season and is expected to be pursued by multiple teams if he hits the open market.