Daniel Jones contract: Quarterback agrees to two-year, $88 million deal with Colts, moves off transition tag
Jones, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, is staying with Indianapolis
The Colts and Daniel Jones hve agreed to a two-year, $88 million deal that keeps him in Indianapolis and takes him off of the transition tag, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirmed. The deal also includes a host of incentives, with a max value of $100 million.
Jones, 28, and the Colts continued to work on a multiyear deal even after he received the rarely used transition tag. The tag would have paid him $37.833 million for the 2026 season -- roughly $6 million less than the franchise tag -- while allowing him to receive offers from other teams. The Colts still would have had a chance to match any outside deal he agreed to.
Instead, he's staying right where his remarkable bounce-back season occurred, and he gets a lot of money to do so. That includes $50 million in the first year of the deal, more than $13 more than he would have made on the transition tag. Overall, the $44 million per year is the 18th-most for a quarterback currently.
After the Giants released him midway through the 2025 season, Jones landed on the Vikings' practice squad. It looked like the former first-round pick, who signed a four-year, $160 million deal in New York just two years earlier, would become a journeyman.
Then he signed a one-year, $14 million deal with the Colts and the chance to beat out Anthony Richardson for the starting job. He took advantage of that opportunity and ran with it, winning the job and playing extraordinarily well. The Colts started 8-2. Then a slide for both Jones and the team began: He suffered a fractured tibia -- which he played through -- and then a season-ending torn Achilles a few weeks later. The Colts finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.
Still, Jones finished third in net yards per attempt (7.7), sixth in completion percentage (68%) and ninth in passer rating (100.2) in his first year with the Colts. He was first in expected points added per play. More than the numbers, Jones showed improved playmaking ability, using his athleticism to his advantage and making several high-level throws in clutch moments while operating Shane Steichen's offense with aplomb.
The Colts, who also spent big on wide receiver Alec Pierce but lost wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. via trade in the process, will now hope Jones can recover from his latest significant injury and return to the form he was in to start the 2025 season. Indianapolis still has star running back Jonathan Taylor, a strong offensive line and tight end Tyler Warren coming off an impressive rookie season. The healthy returns of cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward should also be a boon for the defense.
For more 2026 NFL free agency coverage:
- Live updates: Latest rumors, signings and updates
- Team-by-team signings tracker: Full list of every transaction this offseason
- Team grades: How has your favorite squad fared?
- Grades for biggest moves: Assessing deals from Day 1 and Day 2
- Winners and losers: Players and teams that defined Day 1 and Day 2
Why the deal makes sense for both sides
Deals require compromise. Money isn't unlimited. The player pool is limited. The Colts wanted to have Jones back, which is why they applied the transition tag. But Jones wanted to make more money, which is why the two sides kept working. The result has good points for both sides.
Jones will like the significant raise in 2026, even coming off a major injury. He'll also like the relative security of a two-year deal; if he had played well on the transition tag, the Colts could have tried to use another tag on him in 2027. And while getting that second year is nice, it's not prohibitive. If Jones plays well over the next two years, he'll be a free agent again at just 30 years old, ready for another big pay day.
On the Colts' side, the Colts is big but not outlandish. This is what it costs for a starting quarterback, and the Colts seemed to have found a prime reclamation project success before Jones' injury last year. Should he be able to return to the level of play he maintained early last year, this could be a bargain, in fact. Only $50 million of the $88 million is guaranteed, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. If Jones struggles, Indianapolis isn't completely stuck.
Are Pierce, Jones worth it?
That's the pair of questions the Colts will be asking themselves -- and everyone will be asking about the Colts -- all offseason. My colleague Jared Dubin broke down that question regarding Pierce. Paying Pierce as a top-10 receiver while getting objectively not top-10 receiver production is putting a lot of faith in Pierce's improvement continuing. And he made a big improvement in 2025: the first player to hit 1,000 yards on 20+ yards per catch since 2019. In a league that places a premium on explosive plays, Pierce delivers them. Still, he has mostly been a role player, even in 2025, when he was a very good role player. Add in the Pittman departure, and the Colts also have to find another perimeter wide receiver opposite Pierce.
Jones, meanwhile, might be an even more convoluted case. After two poor seasons plagued by poor health in New York following his strong 2022, Jones looked like a renewed version of himself in 2025. He pushed the ball downfield with unprecedented rates and efficiency. He avoided sacks and pressure at the best rate in his career. His 8.1 yards per attempt was 1.3 yards better than his previous high.
Can he get back to that? Achilles tears are no easy ailment to overcome, and Jones' mobility was a big part of his success in Steichen's offense, which requires under-center, play-action and rollout concepts. Plus, he'll be down his toughest wide receiver in Pittman. Every recovery is different, so evaluating a player's projected recovery is fool's errand. Still, an immediate return to his prior form seems unlikely, and his injury history has to be considered, too.
What's next for Indianapolis?
The internal matters -- Jones and Pierce -- were far and away Indianapolis' biggest priorities. What now?
The Colts had been in on the Trey Hendrickson sweepstakes -- eventually won by the Ravens -- as well, so perhaps an upgrade at EDGE is in order, even after addign Arden Key. The Colts lost Kwity Paye to the Raiders, and they desperate need some defensive disruptors. They also lost Braden Smith to the Texans, so the offensive line has one hole to take care of, whether internally or externally. Add in the Pittman departure, the Zaire Franklin departure and an impending Nick Cross exit, and there's plenty of work to do on both sides of the ball, especially without a first-round pick.
That's not to mention that Indianapolis needs a quarterback who can start should Jones be unable to begin the year. Is that Riley Leonard? Is that Richardson, who got permission to seek a trade? Is that an external addition?
The Colts backed themselves into a corner with Jones when they acquired Gardner: They were all in on Jones as their quarterback for the short and at least medium terms. Then he got hurt, Gardner got hurt, DeForest Buckner got hurt and the Colts fell apart. Is there still a strong enough core? It's going to be a difficult needle to thread, and it's largely going to come down to Jones.
