The benefit of the doubt. That usually happens when things are outside your control, despite your best efforts. This is what the Indianapolis Colts are looking at right now as their starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, is out for the season, along with cornerback Mooney Ward being on the injured reserve for a second time with a concussion and big-time acquisition Sauce Gardner out again with a calf injury. Before these players were injured and before the Colts acquired Gardner, the Colts were at the top of the NFL and Jones was playing the best football of his career. With that out of the way, the talk of general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen being out of their positions after this season has all but disappeared. But what the Colts have not solved is their quarterback position for more than one season.
For now, they have replaced Jones with 2025 seventh-round pick Riley Leonard and brought in 44-year-old Philip Rivers while Anthony Richardson remains injured. Leonard and Rivers are expected to handle things for the rest of the season, while no one knows when Richardson will return, or if he will return this season. But after this season, there are some real issues to look at for the Colts. Leonard showed he can do some things, but he is still not as experienced. At this point, Richardson's potential is still unknown. And with Rivers, do you want him coming back next year?
Other than those options, the only other thing to do is think about how long they want to sign Jones this offseason. Of course, he will be out for a good portion of next year, potentially, and may not be the same, but he was a quarterback who finally brought stability to the position. A one-year deal is likely once again, but they are definitely going to have to think about something when it comes to bringing in a veteran quarterback at least. Options like Kyler Murray, who seems to be on the way to a divorce with the Cardinals, are probably not going to be an answer because the Colts would have to trade for him, they don’t have a lot of assets, and he is going to be an expensive add for someone who may end up being a backup to Jones onnce he is healthy and assuiming he signs back to Indianapolis this offseason.
But an addition like Mac Jones would make sense if they could get him at a lower price. He would be someone they would need to trade for, but he would not cost the Colts a high draft pick. And regarding the contract, he is scheduled to make $4.66 million next year, with potential incentives, which is very affordable for a backup quarterback in the NFL. He isn’t exactly a great fit for the Colts offense, but he has shown that he can be a backup that is capable of spot-starting for a good stretch of time for a team, which is what the Colts may see as a need going into next season.
Other than Jones, there aren't many viable options the Colts can look at, and they've also stated they haven't given up on Richardson. Richardson may get one last chance to take on the starting spot or give the Colts a reason to think he can be a solid backup to Daniel Jones when he comes back from injury. Other than that, there may not be a ton of movement because they traded draft capital to win now with Sauce Gardner. 2025 may not end the way they want and 2026 may not begin the way they want either, but either way, some decisions have to be made.