Colts’ Anthony Richardson Drawing Interest; Packers Could Pursue QB
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson requested a trade on Feb. 26, but a deal still has not come together almost three weeks later. While a trade is still not imminent, there are clubs interested in the 23-year-old, Stephen Holder of ESPN reports. The Packers are a team to watch, according to Holder.
As expected, Richardson lacks trade value in the wake of a rough three-year stretch to open his career. The 2023 fourth overall pick from Florida has struggled to perform and stay healthy in the NFL.
Injuries and demotions have held the athletically gifted Richardson to just 15 starts in Indianapolis. Richardson has thrown more interceptions (13) than touchdowns (11) en route to a disastrous 67.8 rating. He logged his most action in 2024, an 11-start year in which he recorded a horrid 47.7% completion rate on 264 attempts.
The Colts did not rule out Richardson winning their starting job last year, but he was unable to beat out free agent pickup Daniel Jones. Although Jones tore his Achilles in early December, he impressed enough to secure a two-year, $88MM extension this week. Jones is locked in as the Colts’ starter moving forward, making it unlikely Richardson will ever live up to his draft slot in Indianapolis.
Jones’ Achilles injury could have given Richardson a chance to step in and boost his stock, but he was also on the shelf then. Richardson suffered a season-ending orbital fracture in a freak accident with an exercise band in October. He has since been cleared to resume his football career.
With Jordan Love entrenched under center, the Packers are in better shape at QB than the Colts. That does not bode well for Richardson on paper, but one former backup has already revived his career in Green Bay in recent years. Back in August 2024, the Packers bought low on former Titans third-rounder Malik Willis, whom they acquired for a seventh-round selection. The move was a resounding success for both sides, as Willis emerged as one of the league’s most effective backups during his Packers tenure.
After Willis opened eyes over 11 appearances and three starts in Green Bay, the Dolphins inked him to a three-year, $67.5MM pact in free agency this week. Willis, 26, will earn a guaranteed $45MM in Miami, where he will enter next season as a starter. The 6-foot-4, 244-pound Richardson will hope for a similar fate if he follows Willis as a backup in Green Bay. The Packers’ current QB depth chart includes Love, Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord.
Colts To Re-Sign TE Mo Alie-Cox
Mo Alie-Cox will remain in place with the Colts in 2026. The veteran tight end agreed to yet another Indianapolis deal on Saturday, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. 
To no surprise, Schultz notes this will be a one-year pact. Alie-Cox has played 128 combined regular and postseason games since entering the NFL in 2018. All of them have come as a member of the Colts. Team and player will continue this long-running relationship through 2026.
Alie-Cox spent much of his Colts tenure on a string of low-cost contracts while establishing himself as a key blocking presence on offense. The former UDFA’s most notable pact was signed in 2022; he inked a three-year, $17.55MM contract at that point. After playing out that deal, a one-year agreement was reached last offseason. The same has now taken place this spring.
On only two occasions in his career has Alie-Cox recorded more that 20 receptions in a season. His snap share checked in at 39% in 2025, so an uptick in offensive production should not be expected moving forward. As 2025 first-rounder Tyler Warren continues to develop, though, Alie-Cox will no doubt remain an important contributor as a run blocker.
Much of the Colts’ offense will remain intact from 2025 thanks to the new contracts worked out with quarterback Daniel Jones and receiver Alec Pierce in recent days. Alie-Cox, 32, will be another familiar face for head coach Shane Steichen and Co. as the team looks to bounce back from its late-season collapse. This latest pact will no doubt be another low-cost deal, so the Colts – who entered Saturday with roughly $42MM in cap space – will still have plenty of financial flexibility as free agency continues.
Colts Made Offer To Trey Hendrickson
In re-signing quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce for up to $204MM this week, the Colts made a pair of major investments at the outset of free agency. The Colts were also involved in the derby for defensive end Trey Hendrickson, per ESPN’s Stephen Holder of ESPN, who reports they offered a deal worth around $25MM per year. That was not enough to match the Ravens’ winning proposal of four years and $112MM.
The Ravens reeled in Hendrickson the day after a blockbuster Maxx Crosby trade with the Raiders fell apart. Had Crosby passed his physical and ended up in Baltimore, perhaps Indianapolis would have stood a better chance to sign Hendrickson (Ravens GM Eric DeCosta wanted to acquire both players, though).
In moving to Indianapolis, Hendrickson would have reunited with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. While playing for Anarumo in Cincinnati from 2021-24, Hendrickson racked up a whopping 57 sacks and earned all four of his Pro Bowl nods.
The Colts had been interested in the 31-year-old Hendrickson since his preseason holdout last summer, Holder relays. They were also in on Hendrickson leading up to the Nov. 4 trade deadline, but the Bengals elected to keep him for the rest of the year. However, a nagging hip injury prevented Hendrickson from taking the field after Oct. 26. Hendrickson ended the season with four sacks in seven games, but he nevertheless earned a massive payday thanks to an elite track record as a pass rusher.
The Colts’ defense ranked a decent 15th in sacks last year, but it was a bottom-feeding 30th in pass rush win rate. They have since lost edge rushers Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam to free agency. Paye signed a three-year, $48MM contract with the Raiders, while Ebukam inked an undisclosed deal with the Falcons. To replace those two, the Colts brought in Arden Key for up to $20MM over two years and Micheal Clemons on a three-year, $17.5MM pact. Key and Clemons are not close to Hendrickson’s level, but the Colts will rely on the pair to provide useful complements to their top edge rusher, Laiatu Latu.
Colts Sign DT Derrick Nnadi, Re-Sign TE Andrew Ogletree
For a second straight offseason, Derrick Nnadi is leaving the Chiefs. Although Kansas City reacquired the veteran defensive tackle via trade (from the Jets) last summer, he is on the move again.
The Colts are adding Nnadi this year, announcing the signing. The team also re-signed tight end Andrew Ogletree and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell. Nnadi is a 98-game career starter; he joins a veteran-heavy Colts D-tackle cadre housing DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart.
Chris Ballard was not in the Chiefs’ front office when the team selected Nnadi in the 2018 third round; the move came a year after the ex-John Dorsey lieutenant’s departure for Indianapolis. Nnadi is heading into an age-30 season. He will join Buckner (32 next week) and Stewart (32) as 30-somethings at defensive tackle in Indy.
Nnadi has been a career-long 4-3 D-tackle, playing most of his career under Steve Spagnuolo. The Chiefs’ run-stuffing Chris Jones sidekick played 34% of Kansas City’s defensive snaps last season, despite being reacquired in August. Pro Football Focus has not viewed Nnadi as a productive defender in years, ranking him outside the top 110 among qualified options at the position each season from 2022-25. The Chiefs, however, have consistently fielded top-10 defenses. Nnadi played in Super Bowl LIX and started Super Bowls LIV, LV and LVII.
As Nnadi joins Colby Wooden as new DTs acquired by the Colts over the past week, the AFC South club has rostered Ogletree since 2022 and Treadwell since 2024. Arriving during Frank Reich’s final draft as Colts HC, Ogletree has started 20 Colts games. The 2022 sixth-round pick ended up playing a more consistent role than 2022 third-rounder Jelani Woods, who has not played since his rookie season. The Colts cut Woods last year.
After logging 40% snap shares in both 2023 and ’24, Ogletree played 24% of Indianapolis’ plays in 2025. The Colts have used Ogletree more as a blocking tight end, and for good reason. Although not qualifying as a full-time TE in 2025, Ogletree drew the top pass-blocking grade among all players at the position. More than three quarters of Ogletree’s snaps came as a run or pass blocker.
For never coming close to living up to his first-round billing, Treadwell has managed to stick around. Should he see action in 2026, it would be his 11th NFL season. Treadwell, 30, has not caught a pass as a Colt; he did, however, see action on 51% of Indy’s special teams plays in 2025.
Colts To Sign S Jonathan Owens
Already home to WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, Indianapolis will be poised to draw some Simone Biles visits soon. The Colts are bringing in veteran safety Jonathan Owens, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets.
Owens, who is married to the Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, will join the Colts after spending the past two seasons with the Bears. This is a one-year contract, per Schefter.
Working as a part-time starter in Chicago, Owens has made 35 starts in seven seasons. Managing to carve out a long career out of Division II Missouri Western, Owens is obviously best known for his Biles relationship. But he has served as a long-running special teams presence — with the Texans and Packers prior to the Bears deal — and a valuable backup. Owens is going into an age-31 season.
Making 125 tackles as a full-season starter for the 2022 Texans, Owens landed a one-year $1MM Packers deal but secured a slight raise (two years, $3.8MM) with the Bears. Chicago used Owens as a five-game starter in 2024 and as a full-time backup behind Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard last season. The Bears have now lost Byard, Brisker, Owens and Nahshon Wright from their secondary this week. Byard joined the Patriots, with the Steelers and Jets respectively adding Brisker and Wright.
The Colts are also signing former Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas, NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweets. Thomas made three Cowboys starts last season and played three years in Dallas. Indianapolis has an opening at safety after losing starter Nick Cross (to the Commanders). The team will likely not devote notable funds to replacing him, as Camryn Bynum joins Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward and Kenny Moore in carrying pricey contracts in this secondary.
NFL Restructures: Jackson, Goff, Falcons, Packers, Panthers, Colts
Austin Jackson has been unable to stay healthy for a sizable chunk of his Dolphins career, and the veteran right tackle is accepting a pay cut in the final year of his contract. The Dolphins are reducing Jackson’s 2026 compensation to $7MM, ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques tweets. The move created $8.5MM in cap space for Miami. Tied to a three-year deal worth $36MM, Jackson was to carry a $15.39MM cap number on the Dolphins’ 2026 payroll. That number is down to $6.9MM.
The Dolphins extended Jackson late in the 2023 season but saw him miss nine games in 2024 and 11 in 2025. This came after 15 absences in 2022. Jackson timed his 16-game 2023 season well, as it convinced then-Dolphins GM Chris Grier to extend him. A season-ending knee injury sidelined Jackson in November 2024, and he experienced a recovery setback during 2025 training camp. A toe injury sustained in Week 1 led Jackson to IR last season. The seventh-year veteran is still on track for free agency in 2027, but rather than try his luck on the market this year coming off two injury-marred seasons, the former first-round pick accepted this trim.
Here are the other deals recently restructured around the NFL:
- The Lions currently sit at $35MM-plus in cap space, getting there after releasing Taylor Decker and trading David Montgomery to the Texans. The main reason Detroit is that far under the cap, however, came when the team restructured Jared Goff‘s deal. The sixth-year Lions QB will see $40MM of his base salary converted into a bonus, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who notes a void year has been added to the deal. This saves $32MM in cap space for the Lions, who joined the Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys and Ravens in completing a recent QB restructure. Goff’s 2027 and ’28 cap hits are now beyond $62MM, likely leading the Lions to go to this well again.
- The Falcons are using the Jake Matthews contract to create more than $10MM in cap space. Matthews will see his salary knocked down to $2MM, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting a $14MM signing bonus will now be prorated into future years. As Connor Byrne’s Falcons Offseason Outlook noted, Matthews’ $27.27MM cap hit was the highest on the Falcons’ payroll. It is now at $16.77MM, saving the team nearly $10MM. One void year is now on this two-year, $45MM extension.
- Adam La Rose’s Packers Offseason Outlook noted Aaron Banks carried the third-largest cap hit on the roster ($24.79MM). That is now down to $12MM. The $12MM-plus in savings come from the team converting most of the guard’s salary into a signing bonus, Wilson adds. Two void years have also been added to Banks’ four-year, $77MM contract.
- Beyond the Michael Pittman Jr. salary dump and Daniel Jones‘ extension to move off the transition tag, the Colts created cap space by restructuring left tackle Bernhard Raimann‘s deal. Indianapolis dropped Raimann’s base salary to $2MM, moving his cap number from $17.51MM to $9.26MM. This $8MM-plus in savings will lead to two $2MM roster bonuses being inserted into the deal (in 2028 and ’29), Wilson adds. The adjustment also balloons the LT’s 2027 cap number to $30.61MM.
- Derrick Brown carried the top Panthers cap hit entering March ($24.5MM), but Wilson adds it has been reduced to $10.95MM via a restructure. The Panthers saved nearly $14MM in cap space here on a contract that runs through the 2028 season. The cost-saving move does inflate Brown’s two future Carolina cap numbers past $31MM, however.
Ravens To Sign DE Trey Hendrickson
Making the decision to wave off the Maxx Crosby trade Tuesday, the Ravens will add the best edge rusher left available. Trey Hendrickson is signing with the team, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report.
Hendrickson agreed to a four-year, $112MM deal with Baltimore, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. That contract comes in south of where Crosby’s resides on the Raiders’ payroll. Hendrickson agreed to a contract that includes $60MM guaranteed at signing, Schefter adds. That will bring the 10th-year veteran pass rusher guarantees beyond Year 1 — something he targeted during his yearslong Bengals negotiating saga.
[RELATED: Raiders Prepared To Keep Crosby; Latest On Trade Breakdown]
Incentives can take the two-year total to $64MM, Rapoport tweets, with Schefter adding eight-, 10- and 12-sack benchmarks are in place. A $500K incentive covers Hendrickson in sacks, meaning most of this deal goes to base value. The $60MM full guarantee ranks in the top 10 at the position, though it is not yet known where Jaelan Phillips and Odafe Oweh ended up in terms of locked-in money.
The Crosby fallout may have benefited Hendrickson. Most teams viewed the 31-year-old All-Pro EDGE as being set to land a deal in the $24-$25MM-per-year range, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. SI.com’s Albert Breer indicates $25-$27MM represented the range, helping explain why Hendrickson lingered in free agency. As of Tuesday, roughly a $10MM gap existed between Hendrickson’s camp and teams’ early offers.
As CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes, Crosby has about four years and $116MM left on his Raiders contract. The Ravens will shift to a free agent and retain their first-round picks, something the California Post’ Vincent Bonsignore notes does not appear to be going over well in some league circles. The Ravens stayed in touch with Hendrickson’s camp Tuesday, Russini adds, noting most in the building knew the ex-Bengal was set to join the team.
The Colts and Eagles are also believed to have made offers, Russini adds. An Indianapolis agreement would have reunited Hendrickson and Lou Anarumo, while Philly is still searching for a replacement for Jaelan Phillips. While those two clubs missed out, the Ravens have completed a shocking turn of events, ruffling feathers in the process.
The Bills, Buccaneers and Commanders were also involved in the Hendrickson derby, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. Philly’s involvement here is classified as a late entrance, per Fowler, who adds the Colts believed they were close. The Bucs were offering a short-term deal. Hendrickson was connected to interest in joining the Bucs, as he is an Orlando native who played college ball at Florida Atlantic.
The Bills were also involved in a Crosby trade pursuit, while the Commanders pivoted to K’Lavon Chaisson shortly before the Hendrickson-Baltimore news emerged. Washington was in this market until the end, per ESPN.com’s John Keim, explaining the Chaisson deal’s timing.
It is worth wondering when the Ravens began discussing Hendrickson. Trades are not official until the start of the new league year (3pm CT today). It can be assumed Baltimore was all-in on Crosby, but Russini adds the team was familiar with the Raiders edge rusher’s rehab timeline. Crosby is recovering from meniscus surgery, a monthslong process that is not expected to affect his Week 1 availability, and some around the league view this as simply the Ravens getting cold feet on unloading two first-round picks. Hendrickson is nearly two years older than Crosby, but not costing two first-rounders is rather significant.
The Hendrickson market looked to see a mystery team emerge Tuesday afternoon, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, who indicates teams became leery of this stealth suitor. That is widely believed to be the Ravens, who knew hours before the Raiders’ social media announcement they would be nixing the Crosby trade.
While this sets a bad precedent, such options are available to teams under a setup in which deals can be agreed to weeks in advance — as the 2021 Jared Goff–Matthew Stafford trade reminds — of the new league year before becoming official. The unraveling of the Ravens-Raiders’ Crosby trade took hours, Garafolo adds. Hendrickson came into the picture for the AFC North team at that point.
PFR’s No. 4-ranked free agent, Hendrickson scores a deal that lands between Phillips (our No. 3 FA) and Oweh in terms of AAV. His $28MM number is much better than where he was during most of his Cincinnati tenure. Hendrickson had signed a four-year, $60MM Bengals deal in 2021 before agreeing to a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023.
Hendrickson pursued an extension for years in Cincinnati, but the Bengals stood their ground and refused to offer post-Year 1 guarantees — an organizational precedent except in rare cases (Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase) — during last year’s standoff. A one-year, $29MM pact ended up being the late-summer resolution. The Bengals offered their top pass rusher a backloaded three-year, $95MM deal; he passed, leading to the August raise. The Bengals were linked to a 2026 Hendrickson franchise tag, but it would have come in well north of $30MM. Cincy passed and will move on, having agreed to sign Boye Mafe.
While Crosby probably has more long-term upside, Hendrickson put together a dominant run in the 2020s. The Bengals sack ace finished back-to-back seasons with 17.5 sacks and has two more campaigns (2020, 2021) with at least 13. After a belated breakthrough in a contract year (2020) with the Saints, Hendrickson helped the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI in his debut Ohio season. Hendrickson recorded at least 24 QB hits from 2020-24, topping out at 36 in managing to finish as Defensive Player of the Year runner-up on a bad 2024 Cincinnati defense.
Last year, hip trouble ended up shutting Hendrickson down after five games. The four-time Pro Bowler underwent core muscle surgery in December. That adds a layer to this edge rusher switcheroo, though the Ravens obviously do not expect Hendrickson to be delayed in coming back in time for the regular season. Wherever Crosby plays in 2026, he is expected to be on the field in Week 1 as well.
Never trading a future first-round pick for a veteran player in their 30-year history, the Ravens also have not been big spenders at the EDGE position since Terrell Suggs‘ Baltimore run ended. The team franchise-tagged Matt Judon but did not re-sign him, moving to Oweh’s rookie deal and a host of veteran stopgaps. This strategy, which included an Oweh trade midway through last season, led to Baltimore ranking 30th in sacks last season. The team will bet on Hendrickson recapturing his pre-injury form, while we wait to see where Crosby will end up.
Colts, QB Daniel Jones Agree To Deal
The Colts will move Daniel Jones‘ transition tag off the books. The sides are in agreement on a two-year, $88MM extension, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports.
It is the largest two-year contract in NFL history, Schultz adds, noting the deal could balloon to $100MM via incentives. The contract includes $50MM fully guaranteed and another $10MM guaranteed for injury, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
The $50MM fully guaranteed far exceeds where the Seahawks went for Sam Darnold last year or where the Buccaneers closed with Baker Mayfield in 2024. The transition tag and a few recent Colts developments brought strong leverage for Jones, as he secured more guaranteed than either more accomplished QB despite only agreeing to a two-year deal.
We heard earlier today the Colts and Jones were moving toward a two-year contract. This is another monster deal for Jones, who played last season on a one-year, $14MM pact. Three years after Jones scored a win — via a four-year, $160MM deal — with the Giants, he cashes in after an injury-shortened Colts campaign.
In moving Jones’ $37.83MM transition tag off the books before the start of the 2026 league year (3pm CT today), the Colts will save considerable cap room. Jones will score a huge raise from his 2025 pay, and the two-year term length will allow for another prime-years bite at the apple — should Jones sustain his form this time around. The former No. 6 overall pick famously did not do so on his $40MM-AAV Giants accord, which Big Blue jettisoned during the second year of the contract.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old quarterback will see $50MM in Year 1, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Jones had targeted a deal in the $50MM-per-year range; that ask was out of step with what the Colts desired. Indianapolis’ first offer was believed to come in near the Darnold range (three years, $100.5MM). But Jones, as he did with the Giants in 2023, again stood in commanding leverage position thanks to Indy trading two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner. The Colts had made no secret of their interest in re-signing Jones, and another player-friendly accord will emerge for the inconsistent QB as a result.
Each game the Colts win will result in a $500K bump for Jones, so long as he plays at least 50% of the team’s offensive snaps (per Rapoport). Notably, $10MM of Jones’ 2027 salary is guaranteed. That represents the injury guarantee, with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noting that amount vests in March 2027. Jones received two fully guaranteed years from the Giants, but it took a four-year commitment to secure those terms. That March 2027 date gives the Colts a potential out in case Jones flops on a big-ticket deal again. Indy can escape the contract before that guarantee vests.
Jones certainly would have been the top free agent available, value-wise (an area where the QB has specialized), but the Colts were far apart on terms and did not leave it to chance by transition-tagging him. No team had unholstered a transition tag on a quarterback since 1996, with ex-Colts first-rounder Jeff George being cuffed by the Falcons. That relationship combusted months later, with Atlanta cutting the ex-Indianapolis bust after three games. The Colts will be hoping Jones can stop their QB carousel, one that helped strengthen the eighth-year veteran’s leverage.
The Colts have used eight different Week 1 starting quarterbacks over the past nine seasons. The carousel has defined Chris Ballard‘s GM tenure. Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon brought back both Ballard and Shane Steichen for a fourth season, largely giving them a mulligan for Jones’ injury-shortened 2025 slate. While Jones was playing well in guiding the Colts to an 8-2 start, he now has a checkered medical sheet. Jones has missed time due to ACL and Achilles tears, along with multiple bouts of neck trouble. Before sustaining the Achilles tear last season, Jones was playing through a fractured fibula.
Jones’ struggles on his lucrative Giants deal moved Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen to the hot seat in New York, and while the QB has a chance to prolong Ballard and Steichen’s Indy tenures, their futures likely ride on this contract working out. Having Jones at $14MM represented a good value play for the Colts. With Alec Pierce now at $29MM per year and Jones on another player-friendly deal, will Indy be able to sustain its first-half form from last season?
The Duke product averaged more than eight yards per attempt for the first time last season, finishing at 8.1 with a career-best 68% completion rate. Jones posted a 19:8 TD-INT ratio and ranked eighth in QBR. The Colts were on a torrid pace, but they could not sustain it. The team going 8-4 with Jones available and 0-5 without him — though, Philip Rivers’ comeback was among the most memorable re-emergences in modern sports history — brought another negotiating point for the QB’s camp. The Vikings, who have not landed on their veteran QB option to compete with J.J. McCarthy, were also believed to be monitoring this situation.
Jones had turned down Minnesota despite receiving a better offer last year, correctly determining he had a better chance for a starting job in Indianapolis. While Anthony Richardson is still a Colt, he has been given permission to find a trade partner. Jones’ deal effectively ensures the former No. 4 overall pick will not be back.
Expected to be back for Week 1 after another round of rehab, Jones will not have Michael Pittman Jr. to target any longer. The Colts traded their $24MM-per-year receiver to the Steelers in a salary-dump move, as they now have Pierce on a WR1 deal. The team also traded Adonai Mitchell in the Gardner swap, leaving Pierce, Josh Downs and Tyler Warren as Jones’ top 2026 targets — as of now. The team also lost right tackle Braden Smith in free agency, though four O-line starters are returning to help Jones and All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor.
Averaging 5.7 and 6.1 yards per attempt during the two seasons on his second Giants contract, Jones will face considerable pressure to stick the landing this time. Though, his Kirk Cousins-like negotiating savviness has removed any incentive on the financial side. Still, Jones playing well in Indy will position him for a lucrative extension or a 2028 free agency foray. The Colts will hope this pricey contract can bring an end to the post-Andrew Luck period of QB instability.
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.
Colts, Daniel Jones Making Progress
The first quarterback to be transition-tagged since the Falcons cuffed ex-Colt Jeff George in 1996, Daniel Jones and Indianapolis began this process with considerable ground to cover. The Colts’ initial offer did not come close to Jones’ asking price.
Indianapolis made an offer in the Sam Darnold ballpark, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who confirms the team proposed an extension around the three-year, $100.5MM the Seahawks gave Darnold last year. Jones’ camp balked, citing the leverage a franchise tag would have provided and countered with an offer in another salary bracket.
A rather tough negotiator in 2023 with the Giants, Jones viewed his price closer to $50MM per year, Breer adds. This reminds of when the quarterback sought a deal north of $45MM per year back in 2023, when the $50MM-AAV club was not yet in place. The Giants settled on a four-year, $160MM pact that backfired quickly. Somehow, after an ACL tear, more neck trouble, a fibula fracture and an Achilles tear, Jones has moved into strong leverage position again. That led to the Colts transition-tagging their 2025 starter at last week’s deadline.
Given a one-year, $14MM deal in 2025, Jones is now tied to a $37.83MM tag. That number does give the veteran quarterback some leverage, as does the Colts having traded their 2026 and ’27 first-rounders for Sauce Gardner. It appears Jones, who was prioritized over Saquon Barkley three years ago, is not intent on a team-friendly deal here.
That said, veteran insider Jordan Schultz notes progress has been made since team and player were far apart. No extension has been reached, but it would certainly help the Colts — by reducing Jones’ cap figure — to complete one. Indy was able to retain Alec Pierce on a four-year, $116MM deal. But the team essentially gave away longtime No. 1 wideout Michael Pittman Jr. — whom Pierce arguably usurped atop the Colts’ pass-game hierarchy last season — in a pick-swap trade with the Steelers to create necessary cap space. Were Jones not on the transition tag, Indianapolis would be less restricted.
The Colts have not exactly kept their cards close to the vest; they are fairly committed to retaining Jones for a second season. Despite the 28-year-old passer going through another offseason of rehab, he is expected to be Indy’s 2026 starter. The Vikings, Jones’ brief employer late in the 2024 season, were believed to be monitoring this situation. But the prospect of Kyler Murray on a vet-minimum deal has emerged. That would be far less costly for Minnesota, though the Vikes out-offered the Colts for Jones in 2025. Jones chose Indy because he deemed Anthony Richardson as a less imposing hurdle to a starting job than J.J. McCarthy.
Indianapolis still holds more than $23MM in cap space as of Tuesday afternoon, but the team could make more roster improvements if Jones’ transition tag turns into a lower cap number on an extension during free agency. The clock is ticking there, and Jones’ camp may continue to exert leverage. It worked pretty well, contract-wise, when he proceeded that way with the Giants.