Finally dismissing Daniel Jones last season might as well have been a national holiday, or at least a holiday for New York Giants fans. The former first-round quarterback landed in Minnesota as a backup to finish last season, but then entered free agency this offseason. He landed with the Indianapolis Colts on a one-year, $14 million — and that turned out to be one of the biggest moves of the entire offseason.
After Sunday's blowout victory over the Raiders, the Colts are 4-1 behind Jones and seem to have a stranglehold on the AFC South. Without question, Jones has played phenomenally, especially when compared to his Giants tenure. Level of competition has played a factor in that, sure, but the presence of even a functional NFL quarterback has allowed Shane Steichen to open up his offense and Indiana Jones to lead the way to success in Indianapolis.
Considering the deal that he signed, though, it's hard not to think that there are a handful of NFL teams around the league currently looking at their quarterback situation, whether the guy they chose to make the starter or even the backup situation, and thinking that they should've forked over the $14 million to get Jones in the building, at least in hindsight.
3. Cincinnati Bengals
To some degree, you could make the argument that the Cincinnati Bengals were operating with the age-old adage from former Colts OC Tom Moore about Peyton Manning. To paraphrase, "If Joe Burrow goes down, we're f***ed — and we don't practice f***ed." That's completely understandable, as investing in a backup behind one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL isn't always the smartest business decision.
At the same time, after watching a team that has hundreds of millions invested in the offense, along with several high draft picks as well, look completely dysfunctional and borderline useless since Jake Browning was forced into action after Burrow's toe injury, the Bengals have to be wondering what could've been had they reached out and inquired about bringing Jones into the fold.
Now, it should be said (and it won't be the last time) that Jones was seemingly keen on going to the place that would give him the most opportunities to play. With Indianapolis' struggles with Anthony Richardson, the Colts made sense for him as a spot to compete for the starting job. At the same time, the Bengals were coming into this season with playoff aspirations, and because they have someone like Browning instead of Jones on the roster, the simple fact of the matter is those postseason hopes have seemingly long gone up in flames.
If Cincinnati Jones were a thing instead of Indiana Jones, then perhaps the story would be much different right now for the Bengals.
2. Minnesota Vikings
Make no mistake, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made the calculated decision to hand the keys of the offense to J.J. McCarthy going into the 2025 season. They not only let Jones walk in free agency — though they did make a push to try and bring him back — but they also allowed Sam Darnold to ultimately sign in Seattle as well after his resurgent campaign in the Twin Cities a year ago.
While that may be the case, it didn't completely feel like the Vikings prepared for every scenario that was in play for McCarthy. Even before the second-year former first-round pick went down with an ankle injury that's kept him sidelined for a few weeks now, he was struggling mightily to look comfortable in this offense. And since he went down, Minnesota was forced to turn to the veteran backup that they did sign, Carson Wentz.
Wentz has been fine, sure, but there's no one watching the NFL right now who would argue that his performance would hold a candle to what Jones has put forth so far this season. Furthermore, if what McCarthy showed early in the season before the injury was what O'Connell and the Vikings saw in training camp, there's a viable chance that Jones could've actually won the starting job in Minnesota as well, assuming that draft politics didn't get in the way.
Reports have indicated that, as mentioned, Jones didn't want to return to the Vikings to be a backup. However, if Minnesota had pushed a bit more, they might be in an even better position right now, and that's for a team that's still sitting 3-2 on the season.
1. New York Jets
You didn't even need hindsight to witness the New York Jets doling out a two-year, $40 million contract to Justin Fields in free agency to question what the plan was for Aaron Glenn and Company as the new coaching regime took over this franchise. Fields might be a former first-round pick, and you could argue that he was a reclamation project in the same manner that Jones was. At the same time, though, the body of work from Fields to that point was perhaps even more concerning for Fields than it was for Jones — and yet they still handed him a multi-year deal.
So far, that's looked like a disastrous decision for the Jets. Fields had a monster Week 1 in which he and Jones both looked like they might be the toast of the league in their new homes, but has since crashed brutally back down to Earth. The same indecisiveness, the same questionable decision-making, and the same inconsistent offense still exists when it comes to the quarterback, and the Jets are paying the price for it after dropping to 0-5 on the season with a Week 5 loss to the Cowboys.
This isn't to say that Jones would've been a cure-all for New York. This is a roster, particularly on offense, that still needs quite a bit of work beyond just the quarterback position. However, Jones would've undoubtedly offered them more adequate and passable quarterback play than Fields has to this point, which would at least give this team more of a chance than we've seen.
And perhaps even more important than that, the Jets wouldn't be on the hook for a bad contract with Jones in the same manner that they are with Fields.