Extra, extra! Read all about it! Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is on the move again, heading to his third team in the same calendar year. Another quarterback is off the board. Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Jones has signed a one-year, $14 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts—a far cry from the four-year, $160 million mistake the Giants handed him back in 2023.
It's a rather shocking move, but one that makes plenty of sense—for Danny Dimes, at least. Jones gets another shot at proving he’s still a starter, and the Colts... well, they just told the world they don’t believe in Anthony Richardson.
If they had any real faith in their 2023 fourth-overall pick, they wouldn’t be handing Daniel Jones $14 million to compete for his job. This has "we regret wasting a pick on him" written all over it.
Jones was rumored to be deciding between a return to the Minnesota Vikings or a fresh start in Indy. In choosing the ponies, he’s betting on himself—specifically, that he can outplay Richardson and win the starting job. The real question is: Should that even be a difficult task?
Colts' Daniel Jones signing puts Anthony Richardson on notice
Richardson was the fourth-overall pick for the Colts back in 2023. Coming out of Florida, it was common knowledge he was going to be a project. Two years later, the Colts are already looking for insurance. That’s not a great sign. You don’t hand Daniel Jones $14 million if you’re confident in your young quarterback.
Jones' 2024 season was brutal. After leading the Giants to a 2-8 record, he was benched for third-stringer Tommy DeVito. He then seemingly switched positions as the Giants' scout team safety for a bit before requesting his release. He then embraced his inner Nordic spirit and landed on the Vikings' practice squad before eventually being called back up to the big leagues in the playoffs.
Somehow, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has worked his magic with Jones. After the debacle in New York, it felt like Jones was unsalvageable. But apparently not. Even though he hasn’t suited up since his time with the G-Men, teams are still intrigued by his potential—enough so that the Colts awarded him a pretty lucrative one-year deal.
Now he’s onto his third team in less than a year to prove he can still kick it in the NFL.
The competition will be stiff... but not for any other reason than it'll be tough determining who's actually the better quarterback. Jones and Richardson are eerily similar. Both are big, strong, and athletic. Both are erratic with the football, inconsistent, inaccurate, and unreliable. It'll be a fascinating training camp battle, if only to see who can make fewer mistakes.
The Colts now have two quarterbacks trying to prove they can be relevant in the league. That’s a brutal spot to be in. But hey, at least they have quarterbacks. The Giants? They only have Tommy DeVito. So what do we know?