Former Vikings QB May Be Getting a Big Contract
Daniel Jones has had a roller coaster start to his NFL career. After being drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the QB quickly went from potential star to bust with the New York Giants.
It got to the point where the Giants released Jones less than halfway through a four-year, $160 million contract last season, resulting in him finishing the 2024 regular season on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad.
Now, though, Jones is in the middle of a ridiculous resurgence about halfway through the 2025 season as the starter for the Indianapolis Colts. With this great season, Jones could be in line to get another big contract this upcoming offseason.
Former Vikings QB Daniel Jones: Indy’s Long-Term Solution?
The news was reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Sunday morning, who reported the news during the broadcast prior to Sunday’s slate of games.
“I am told that the Colts want this to continue beyond this year and for sure have interest in bringing Daniel Jones back on a long-term deal after the 2025 season,” Rapoport said.
It should be no big surprise at this point. The Colts are 6-2 after a blowout win over the Tennessee Titans, 38-14, and are now 7-1 on the season, holding the best record in the NFL. Indy’s ridiculous point differential backs up that best record in the league, too. They’ve outscored opponents by 116 points. The second-highest point differential in the league belongs to the New England Patriots, who have outscored their opponents by 67 points.
Daniel Jones is a major reason why this team that hasn’t won double-digit games since 2020 has suddenly turned into one of the NFL’s biggest juggernauts this season. The QB has completed 71.2% of his passes this season for 2062 yards, 13 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. Those 2062 yards rank third among NFL QBs this season.
If Jones were to get a big contract from the Colts, it would be interesting to see what happens with Anthony Richardson. Indianapolis selected the Florida product with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but some poor play and bad injury luck has resulted in Richardson spending most of his NFL career on the sidelines to this point.
Richardson has started just 15 games so far in his career with a 50.6% completion percentage for 2400 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Jones won the starting job over Richardson this season, and while Richardson was conducting a pregame workout ahead of Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, he suffered a fractured orbital bone.
Richardson is expected to come back at some point in 2025, but he probably won’t be making starts anytime soon unless (knock on wood for good health), Jones suffers an injury. If Jones were to get a long-term deal on top of that, Richardson’s time in Indianapolis may be coming to an end.
As for the Vikings’ side of this, some may be holding grudges that the Vikings did not re-sign Jones this offseason to help their offense, which has gone stagnant at times this season.
However, there is very little that Minnesota could have done in this scenario. It was reported that Jones was offered a contract, but it was intended to be as J.J. McCarthy’s backup. Instead, he opted to sign with the Colts who offered a one-year, $14 million deal with a chance to snatch a starting role.
Jones took advantage of the money and landed a bigger role with a franchise that is now looking to build around him into the future. Unfortunately, there is very little that the Vikings could have done in this scenario.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
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