Daniel Jones was having the best season of his seven-year career in his first year with the Indianapolis Colts before going down with his season-ending Achilles' tear early in Sunday's Week 14 loss at Jacksonville.
Jones set personal highs in completion percentage (68.0), passing yards per game (238.5), passer rating (100.2) and yards per attempt (8.1), so his loss is a big blow to a once-promising breakout season. The Colts started 7-1 with help from his play, but they have gone 1-4 since to fall out of the AFC playoff picture at 8-5. It's a big blow to their fading chances.
Now the new question is, how does the injury affect the Colts' plans to give him a new contract for 2026 and beyond before he hits unrestricted free agency next March? Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins are older QBs who suffered similar injuries in 2023, but Rodgers was hurt in Week 1 for the Jets and Cousins went down in Week 8 for the Vikings.
Rodgers returned on his deal in New York in '24, while the end of his Minnesota tenure didn't keep Cousins from signing a four-year, $180 million contract with Atlanta. Here's breaking down Indianapolis' big decision ahead, first starting with what Jones made in 2025:
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Daniel Jones current contract details
Jones signed only a one-year, $14 million deal with the Colts in March but with that contract, he was promised to have an open competition with Anthony Richardson. That reasonable investment paid off big time through Week 14 with Jones being an all-around hit in Shane Steichen's offense.
Although Jones had been lifted by star running back Jonathan Taylor, an elite offensive line, top-end receiving weapons led by veteran wideout Michael Pittman Jr. And rookie tight end Tyler Warren, he also proved to be a massive system improvement over Richardson with his downfield passing and accuracy. The Colts paid Jones in line with the market value of second-tier QBs and got a great return on investment.
As a Giant, Jones' rookie contract in 2019 was all guaranteed for four years, $25.66 million. Then he got extended for four years, $160 million in 2023.
From playing two years under that second contract, Jones made a combined $82 million in '23 and 2024. Adding his Colts' deal in 2025, Jones has averaged earning $32 million over the past three seasons.
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Daniel Jones updated contract projection
The Colts will have some competition for Jones' services should he hit the open market. The Vikings, for whom Jones played at the end of the 2024 season following his Giants release, should be looking at him at a parallel contingency for third-year QB J.J. McCarthy, much as Jones was a failsafe for Richardson.
But in Indianapolis, Jones would be guaranteed to keep starting in his only Age-29 season, assuming he can be healthy for Week 1 in 2026. Richardson, shelved with a shoulder injury, is facing a departure from the Colts in the offseason.
The bottom line, with ample cap space and limited high draft capital — the Colts gave up their '26 first-rounder to the Jets to acquire cornerback Sauce Gardner — Jones might remain their best QB option to compete for the playoffs next season.
Comparable "first round, second (or third) chance deals belong to the Seahawks' Sam Darnold. Mayfield got three years, $100 million with $50 million guaranteed from Tampa Bay in 2024. Darnold got three years, $100.5 million with $55 million guaranteed from Seattle in 2025.
Jones getting 3 years at about $105 million at $60 million guaranteed would align with a natural bump. That would give him $35 million a season and the guarantees would be more than four times his 2025 salary.
Most of the top QBs in the league make $50 million-plus per season. With the notable exception of Jared Goff, all of those quarterbacks are on extensions from their only NFL teams. Mayfield had Cleveland and Carolina stops, while Darnold was in Carolina and San Francisco before Minnesota.
Had Jones had a chance to help the Colts surge into the playoffs and win some games there, he might have pushed toward that ceiling. But now, Indianapolis will get him at a reasonable floor deal based on the recent market for similar-profile QBs.
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