Free agent QB superstar ‘in talks over huge new contract’ as his team fight to keep him for 2026 season and beyond
The Indianapolis Colts are in talks with Daniel Jones over a long-term deal to make him their starting quarterback of the future.
After a nightmare ending with the New York Giants in 2024, Jones played in Indianapolis last season and thrived with a fresh start at the Colts before his season was abruptly curtailed in Week 14 when he tore his Achilles.
The injury not only took down Jones’s season but the Colts’, too. They lost six straight games to round out the 2025 regular campaign, failing to make the postseason in the process.
But the organization clearly saw enough in Jones when he was healthy. NFL Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Monday that Jones is in talks with the Colts over a deal to stay in Indianapolis for the long term.
It is not yet clear how much Jones will be paid. He had a deal for just a year in 2025 worth $14million and the team were 8-4 when he got hurt with his season-ending tear.
Jones also dislodged Anthony Richardson as the starting quarterback, who the Colts had taken with the fourth pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts are in talks over a long-term contract
It comes amid rumors linking backup quarterback Anthony Richardson with a trade away
But Richardson has been plagued by injuries since the Colts picked him. Richardson was unavailable last year after Jones got hurt because of a fractured orbital bone sustained last October.
It was a freak injury. An elastic resistance band Richardson was using in the gym snapped and hit a metal apparatus that broke from the impact and hit him in the face.
There have been growing rumors that the Colts could trade Richardson and with Jones now seemingly set to return for years-long run as the No. 1 quarterback, that speculation will only intensify.
The Colts need to be smart in the trade market, too.
As it stands, they do not hold a pick in the first round this year after trading it to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner before the 2025 trade deadline. The Colts also sent their 2027 first-round pick to the Jets in order to bring Gardner in.
In the meantime, Jones is focusing on the recovery from his Achilles tear in a bid to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 campaign.
