Ever since Andrew Luck shockingly announced his retirement, the Indianapolis Colts have had a revolving door of unfortunate quarterback play. Veterans have come to Indianapolis to die, and even promising draft picks like Anthony Richardson have failed to put an end to the curse.
Notably, Daniel Jones gave this team the closest to franchise-caliber quarterback play they've had in nearly a decade. Of course, in pure Colts fashion, the joy was short-lived, as he suffered a delicate injury midway through his first year with the team.
That, plus Jones' well-documented struggles, made the Colts' decision to give him $88 million over two years in free agency highly polarizing. That's why it's not much of a surprise to read that FanSided's Cody Williams believes it was also their worst offseason move.
The Indianapolis Colts might regret spending big on Daniel Jones
"Paying Daniel Jones for a half-season of work last year at the rate they will now fork over and making Alec Pierce one of the league's highest-paid receivers are both risky propositions that could come back to bite this franchise," Williams wrote.
To be fair, Williams did give the Colts a B- offseason grade, praising their performance in the NFL Draft. Also, the jury is still out on Jones, who might still silence the doubters once he's healthy enough to suit up.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard essentially took a calculated risk. He overpaid in the short run, but if Jones balls out in 2026, they can work out another long-term deal that makes more sense for both parties. If not, they can just move on from him after giving him a lofty payday for one year.
The Colts have watched the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns go through a never-ending quarterback carousel. They have seen how that merry-go-round of signal callers has set those franchises back for more than a decade, and they simply cannot afford to suffer the same fate.
Granted, there are many valid reasons to have doubts about Jones and whether he can be this team's savior, but the physical tools are there, and he looked like a seamless fit in Shane Steichen's offense. The bar wasn't particularly high, but he was acing his first year with the organization.
Jones is still young, and he wouldn't be the first player to thrive after leaving a toxic workplace environment and a perennially poorly-run organization. The New York Giants have been synonymous with organizational malpractice for most of the Joe Schoen era, and we've seen reclamation projects like Sam Darnold turn their careers around once they get to the right place.
Whether the Colts made a mistake with this move remains to be seen. They did seemingly bet against themselves in a market that may not have been as aggressive for Jones as they thought. However, if he gives them anything close to average quarterback play -- which would be an upgrade for this team -- Steichen and company should have no problem putting together a strong season.
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