Colts Targeting Two-Year Daniel Jones Extension

More progress is coming out of Indianapolis. After reports revealed Daniel Jones and the Colts were progressing on a deal Tuesday, more momentum is forming Wednesday morning.

The Colts and Jones have made “significant progress” toward what would be a two-year extension, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report. A deal could come together today. That would be a win for the Colts, who have a lofty transition tag figure ($37.83MM) clogging their cap sheet presently. They have around $30.95MM in space, but lowering Jones’ cap number would allow them to make more upgrades to their roster.

Indianapolis made a major commitment earlier this week in agreeing to re-sign wide receiver Alec Pierce to a four-year, $116MM contract. It appeared Pierce would test the market before his deal came together as the negotiating window opened Monday. But the four-year veteran’s desire to continue playing with Jones was among the reasons he decided to stay, according to Rapoport. As such, it is no surprise that the Colts are working diligently to get something done with Jones.

With Pierce’s help, Jones enjoyed a career year in 2025 before it ended with an Achilles tear in early December. The Colts bought relatively low on Jones, the former Giants starter and Vikings backup, in signing him to a one-year, $14MM contract last offseason. The 28-year-old rewarded them with personal-best marks in completion percentage (68.0), yards per attempt (8.1), passer rating (100.2) and QBR (63.0) over 13 games. The Colts went 8-5 in Jones’ starts and 0-4 under subs Philip Rivers and Riley Leonard.

Although the team missed the playoffs for a fifth straight year, general manager Chris Ballard is of the belief he finally has an answer at quarterback in Jones. Having traded his next two first-round picks to the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner last November, Ballard does not have an avenue to find a clear solution in the draft in the near future. Between that and an uninspiring class of free agent signal-callers, Jones has leverage in talks.

Jones also had leverage in talks when he inked a four-year, $160MM extension with the Giants in 2023. Had no deal come together, the Giants would have placed the franchise tag on Jones and allowed running back Saquon Barkley to reach free agency. The Jones agreement enabled them to tag Barkley, who wound up walking in free agency a year later. Meanwhile, signing Jones proved to be a mistake for the Giants.

Jones flamed out after securing a raise in New York, leading the team to waive him in November 2024. The Colts are not expecting a similar fate for Jones in their uniform. Judging by their desire to give Jones another sizable payday, they are confident his 2025 resurgence is sustainable.