Keep an eye on what is happening in Indianapolis. Although it did not work out for him when he was with the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings never really gave veteran quarterback Daniel Jones a chance to vie for the starting job. Truth be told, why would they? He was mediocre at best for years in New York. Plus, Sam Darnold was the man last year in Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy is the guy now.
Flash forward to this offseason, and Jones finds himself with a chance at redemption. He has a chance to potentially beat out incumbent Anthony Richardson for the Indianapolis Colts' starting job. Richardson is still more of a project than a prospect. For various Colts reasons I do not understand, we still do not fully know if he can play in the NFL or not. At least with Jones, he kind of sort of can.
Given that this could be a critical year for head coach Shane Steichen, as well as it absolutely should be for long-time general manager Chris Ballard, nobody associated with the Colts can be entitled. They have to earn their keep. Simply put, Jones and Richardson are fighting for their NFL livelihoods at this point of their careers. Only one of them has a chance at potentially sticking on with this team.
Neither give the Colts that high of a ceiling, but at least with Jones he has won a playoff game before.
Daniel Jones has a shot at redemption with the 2025 Indianapolis Colts
He may have been grossly overrated coming out of Duke, just because he played for David Cutcliffe. He was Peyton Manning's offensive coordinator at Tennessee and Eli Manning's head coach at Ole Miss. Come to think of it, Jones kind of looks like a Manning, or at least a Manning cousin. He felt like the right kind of quarterback to lead New York in a post-Manning world, but it was never meant to be.
Fate would have it, Jones has an opportunity to play in the gigantic shadow of another Manning. Lucas Oil Stadium is the house that Peyton Manning built. Without his greatness, are the Colts still even in Indianapolis anymore? He was that type of game-changer for the franchise. But when it comes to Jones, can he take a page out of the Jim Harbaugh 1995 playbook ... for Cousin Screech?
Look. No matter how you slice it, the Colts will be more willing to give Richardson every chance to redeem himself than to open up another door for Jones to walk on through. This is what happens when a team that drafted you is still invested in you. If I have to be honest, I have a feeling that Steichen already knows that Richardson is not it, so he may turn to Jones like Minnesota never could.
It is rare for a quarterback to have success away from his first team, but it could happen for Jones.