Daniel Jones is staying in Indianapolis. The good news is the Colts have their quarterback for at least a year after placing the transition tag on Jones just before the deadline Tuesday. The bad news is if it doesn’t work out, it would have been a reach for a position, either in the draft or otherwise, where they could have found a temporary bridge option to hold them over.Â
That being said, the Colts saw how bad things were without Jones last year, ending the year on a seven-game losing streak. The Colts learned from the Minnesota Vikings and how letting Sam Darnold go cost them a Super Bowl — okay, not literally, but you get the point. Because quarterbacks are treated in such high regard, NFL free agency just got thrown into a wrench as Jones is now off the market.
The Minnesota Vikings will have to pivot off a Daniel Jones reunion
The Minnesota Vikings were the favorites to land Daniel Jones in my opinion if he hit the open market. It just made too much sense. The Vikings let both Darnold and Jones go in the same season and both went and thrived at their new spots. The Vikings, in turn, believed in J.J. McCarthy and that backfired almost immediately.Â
Jones is back with the Colts for at least one more season and that means Minnesota will have to look elsewhere to replace McCarthy, if they still want to ahead of the 2026 season. Kirk Cousins is an obvious name to watch. Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa are also interesting names. Even Malik Willis could be an option. But Jones will not be one so now the Vikings are back to ground zero.Â
The Indianapolis Colts have to replicate last year’s success with Daniel Jones to make it worth it
The only way the Colts can justify paying Daniel Jones on the franchise tag is by him having the same success he did before his Achilles injury. The good thing is that it’s not as bad as giving him a long term contract, but if he doesn’t bounce back from his injury like the Colts are expecting him to, then they’ll be regretting not looking at a cheap option.Â
The Colts also signing Jones to the franchise tag means they’re delaying the inevitable. Had Jones not gotten injured, the Colts would have been forced to decide on a lucrative extension or walk in free agency. It’s the same decision they’ll have a year from now.Â
The quarterback market is going to get reset with Daniel Jones’ extension next offseason
If you thought Malik Willis was going to sign a hefty contract, wait to see what Jones is going to do next year. Unless he looks like he did with the New York Giants, Jones is going to cost a lot next offseason. He was going to yield a massive extension, which is why the Colts capitalized with a one-year deal. They also don’t have the draft capital to be taking gambles on quarterbacks.Â
Jones could very well have a good season next year and it’s not just the Colts that are going to regret it. It will cost more to sign Jones in a year than it did to sign Darnold. Jones won’t be on a prove it deal like Darnold was, he’ll get another massive extension like got in New York, only this time around it will be more justified than not.Â
Daniel Jones thriving on a franchise tag will further force teams to rethink quarterback strategy
The new wave in the NFL is taking polished, veteran quarterbacks and believing in them to turn things around. Sam Darnold, Jones, Mac Jones and Baker Mayfield are just a few of the recent quarterbacks that have garnered a lot of attention as quarterback retreads that got the starting job and made the most of it. If Jones thrives on a franchise tag, it would be another example of why overpaying for a quarterback is worth it over an inexperienced rookie.Â
This is all speculative because Jones could very well regress, coming off his Achilles injury. But if he doesn’t, the NFL QB market will be in shambles. You’ll start seeing bad contracts all over the league as teams try to be the next QB rehab program. It’s only a certain few teams that can accomplish that and even fewer quarterbacks good enough to bounce back.Â