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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ he believes that the Indianapolis Colts are “banking on” injured pending free agent starting quarterback Daniel Jones “being back.”
Specifically, it’s Schefter’s opinion right now that the two sides will reach agreement on a new contract, and Jones will be ready for the start of the 2026 regular season:
Honestly, this seems like the most logical quarterback outcome for the Colts as it stands.
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Prior to Jones fracturing his fibula before Week 12, he was playing some really good football for the Colts during his debut campaign in Indianapolis. He was arguably playing at a legitimate Pro Bowl level.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen had seemingly brought out the former 6th overall pick’s best production yet, and he was helping to lead the league’s most prolific offense in the process.
The Colts were sitting at 8-2 atop the AFC and had become one of the surprise league stories of the year.
Instead, the fractured fibula clearly limited Jones’ mobility and his throwing mechanics somewhat before it ultimately led to him tearing his Achilles a few weeks later during Week 14 on the road in Jacksonville.
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Those events, along with other critical injuries, led to the Colts losing six straight games, and being eliminated from the AFC playoff picture this past weekend.
There’s been speculation that Jones could be ready before the start of next year’s training camp, having already gone successful surgery to repair his torn Achilles immediately following the season-ending injury.
Helping Jones’ cause in returning to the Colts isn’t just the instantaneous and real success he shared with Steichen, but because the Colts also lack clear viable alternatives at the position right now.
It seems unlikely that the team will turn back to former 2023 4th overall pick Anthony Richardson anytime soon, unless it’s because of an injury to the starter or part of another rigorous offseason quarterback competition.
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The NFL 2026 free agent quarterback class is littered with significantly aged veteran quarterbacks or options that appear clearly inferior to Jones. Not having a 2026 or 2027 first round pick as a byproduct of the Sauce Gardner trade, the Colts also cannot draft a long-term quarterback solution in Round 1 of either of the next two offseasons—unless further trades are made.
From a logistics standpoint, for next season, the Colts only other viable quarterback option would be to draft one in Round 2 of 2026, but such quarterback prospects are often considered more developmental in nature than the top Round 1 guys, who are already fairly raw for the NFL level these days. It’s possible though.
If Steichen is retained, Jones looks like the best bet to be the Colts starting quarterback again, even if it comes on a new 1-2 year deal, compared to the more multi-year contract extension that he may have been anticipating prior to the devastating later season Achilles injury.
Per OverTheCap, the Colts are projected to have around $47.6M of available team salary cap space entering next offseason, but Jones’ injury obviously complicates those future contract negotiations with Indy—or elsewhere.
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