Daniel Jones is following the Baker Mayfield/Sam Darnold path as a former top-10 pick to bounce back after inconsistency with his first NFL team. The Colts have reaped the benefits of their one-year Jones addition, and buzz is building — particularly after the team’s blockbuster trade that stripped away top draft assets — this partnership will continue.
The Colts are planning to make Jones a long-term offer, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Although extension talks have not begun yet, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones adds the quarterback “loves” Indianapolis and is pleased with his current situation. The seventh-year veteran chose the Colts over a better offer to remain with the Vikings, viewing this as the superior path to a starting role. He was proven correct, and the Colts are tied for the AFC’s best record — at 8-2 — in their bye week.
Seeing as the Colts dealt their 2026 and ’27 first-round picks for Sauce Gardner, it certainly seems like Jones’ bargaining position improved. Against all odds, Jones has found himself with leverage that could be comparable to where he stood with the Giants in 2023. While Jones negotiations have not yet started, discussions with the free agent-to-be should be expected soon.
Indianapolis both missed on its most recent first-round quarterback (Anthony Richardson) and has dealt away the top two assets to land another one. Although Jones did not come close to living up to his four-year, $160MM Giants accord, he asked for $47MM per year that offseason — a seminal period for that franchise. Jones’ positional value prompted GM Joe Schoen to prioritize him more than Saquon Barkley, talent disparity notwithstanding, and that led to a Barkley tag and 2024 free agency exit. The Giants’ decision to re-sign Jones backfired spectacularly, with Barkley joining the 2,000-yard club and driving the Eagles to a Super Bowl title — weeks after New York released Jones.
Jones was not believed to have created much distance from Richardson during their training camp competition, but he won the job and has certainly separated from the erratic top-five pick in-season. Jones ranks ninth in QBR, which represents a slip from where he was a few weeks ago but obviously a surprising placement given his standing throughout his second Giants contract and into free agency. Jones is playing out a one-year, $14MM contract; he is positioned to do much better in 2026.
The Colts appear “all in” on a long-term partnership with Jones, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes, citing Mayfield and Darnold’s deals as comps. Mayfield and Darnold signed near-identical contracts a year apart, and both have justified the payments.
Mayfield is on a three-year, $100MM deal that included $40MM at signing; Darnold is at three years, $100.5MM ($37.5MM at signing). Darnold’s hot Seattle start has left little to no suspense about him collecting an additional $17.5MM guaranteed in February. Jones’ shaky Giants tenure will logically give teams pause, but Fowler points to the QB being able to set his price point beyond where Mayfield and Darnold took the mid-tier QB market.
Jones, who used his dual-threat ability to pilot the Colts to a game-tying drive in the final second of their win in Berlin, leads the NFL in passing yards — with 2,659 and sits fourth in yards per attempt (8.3). Both numbers are out of step with the former No. 6 overall pick’s Giants work, which never featured a season north of 7.0 yards per pass or a yardage total beyond 3,300. Jones is on pace to blow past that yardage mark, and while the ex-Eli Manning successor did guide the Colts to wins over the Broncos and Chargers, tough tests against the Chiefs, Seahawks and 49ers remain. Two matchups against a formidable Texans defense are on Indy’s docket as well.
When the Colts traded Gardner, some around the league viewed it as a pledge they will re-sign Jones, ESPN’s Dan Graziano notes. We heard before the Gardner trade the Colts were interested in a post-2025 Jones relationship. Considering Jones’ struggles justifying his $40MM-AAV Giants accord and his health issues in the past, the Colts diving back in on a franchise-level contract for this particular player would appear risky. But this franchise has been starved for stability at the position post-Andrew Luck. By starting Jones over Richardson this year, the Colts joined only Washington (2017-24) by using an eighth Week 1 QB1 in nine-season span. Jones has also given Indy’s homegrown core a return to relevance.
Controlling owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon signed off on Chris Ballard‘s Gardner swap, encouraging her GM to secure a long-term fix for the team’s boundary cornerback issue rather than a stopgap solution. The Colts failed with QB stopgaps in Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan, and even though their hopeful long-term fix in Richardson appears a failure in progress, the team’s Gardner play points to Jones being given another lucrative contract.
Jones playing hardball with the Giants in 2023 provides a sign where his Indy negotiations could go, and that will be an interesting storyline to follow as free agency nears. But he and MVP candidate Jonathan Taylor have the Colts in first place in scoring this season. It is possible Ballard has made a determination on his quarterback, and Jones’ resurgence is on track to save the GM and HC Shane Steichen‘s jobs.
Even though the Colts have hurdles to clear as they pursue their first playoff bye since 2009, the team is on track for its first AFC South title since 2014. A reward payment for Jones appears to be expected in the not-too-distant future. The Colts have until the mid-March legal tampering period to negotiate exclusively with Jones, whose Giants deal came days before the 2023 legal tampering period.
Anarumo, 59, is one of the most respected defensive coaches in the NFL. He began his career with the Dolphins in 2012, serving as their defensive backs coach until 2017 with a brief stint as interim defensive coordinator in 2015. After a year as the Giants’ DBs coach in 2018, Anarumo was hired by the Bengals in 2019 under incoming head coach Zac Taylor.
