Former Viking Called “Bust Waiting to Happen”
Ex-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daniel Jones fired up the start of a storybook season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2025 — before the bottom fell out. Jones’s performance nosedived in late October, and he later tore his Achilles tendon. Now, as he seeks to heal in time for 2026, Bleacher Report has called Jones a “free agent bust waiting to happen.”
Jones put sweet tape on the table before the injury, but Indy’s late-season collapse and rehab timeline keep his 2026 outlook complicated.
Jones wasn’t alone in Gary Davenport’s article, but the characterization was not flattering.
The Colts’ 2026 QB Plan Still Runs through Daniel Jones
Indianapolis has been warned.
BR: Jones Is a Free Agent Bust in the Making
Naming eight free agents who could result in bust fates, Davenport added Jones to the list and opined, “For much of last season, it appeared Daniel Jones was headed toward a monster payday in 2026. The 28-year-old completed a career-high 68 percent of his passes and posted a triple-digit passer rating for the first time in his career.”
“The seven-year veteran and 2019 sixth overall pick had the Indianapolis Colts in first place for much of the season. But the four-year, $174.4 million contract Spotrac projects for Jones could be a calamity for the team that signs him—because calamity is how his 2025 campaign ended.”
Jones was actually an MVP candidate through six weeks of the 2025 regular season.
Davenport continued, “From all indications, the Colts remain highly interested in retaining Jones. But if it’s at anywhere near that projected contract, it will be Indy’s latest gaffe under center.”
“Not only is seven months an awfully optimistic timetable for a return from an Achilles tear, but a fat contract assumes he will be able to recapture pre-injury form and repeat last year’s surprise career season. Anything more than a one-year deal is asking for trouble.”
It’s also worth noting that the Vikings tried to re-sign Jones last offseason, but he preferred the Colts because he thought he could start — and he was right.
The 2025 Numbers before Injury
Jones’s injury irrevocably altered Indianapolis’s season. After he was sidelined in late December, the Colts unraveled, stumbling to the finish and missing the postseason. Their subsequent acquisition of Philip Rivers after his five-year absence proved insufficient.
The late-season collapse obscured the team’s previously strong performance. Throughout September and October, Jones had led Indianapolis to an 8–2 record, inserting himself into the MVP conversation. Though his candidacy faded as the season wore on, his overall performance still resonated across the league.
Before the Achilles tear, his 2025 pace projected to:
— 4,055 Passing Yards
— 31 Total TDs
— 10 INTs
— 68.0% Completion
— 7th in EPA+CPOE Ranking
For clarity, Jones suffered a steep production decline at the season’s midpoint:
Daniel Jones NFL Ranking,
per EPA+CPOE,
in 2025:
Week 1-8: 4th
Week 9-18: 28th
Back in IND?
Of course, the Colts will remember Jones’s 2025 rather fondly. He balled out through two months, and the moment he left, everything crumbled. Rivers and Riley Leonard could not salvage the season for a team that started 8-2.
Nevertheless, the Colts allegedly want Jones back. ESPN’s Stephen Holder wrote Tuesday, “The Colts have made it clear that Jones is their starting quarterback when he returns to health. Yes, the Colts will need to sign him to an extension for that to happen, but the parties have expressed no trepidation about that process to date.”
“Jones has an Achilles injury that will require many months of rehab, but the Colts remain undaunted. The question is what happens behind him. That’s where it’s becoming increasingly likely that 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson Sr. will wind up elsewhere.”
Since the beginning of the offseason, there’s just been a common understanding that Indianapolis will re-sign Jones. It’s why he’s not a serious contender in the Vikings’ current quarterback rumor mill.
Holder added, “Richardson lost a preseason position battle with Jones entering 2025, and the Colts are openly stating their commitment to Jones for 2026.”
“The Colts have also warmed to the idea that 2025 sixth-round pick Riley Leonard can ascend to their No. 2 quarterback spot given his practice performance and his play in the season finale.”
It’s also unclear whether Jones will be ready to roll by Week 1; Achilles injuries often don’t fully heal in 9 months. Stay tuned.
Other Busts
Davenport, meanwhile, issued a warning about these potential free-agent busts:
- David Edwards (G, Buffalo Bills)
- Trey Hendrickson (EDGE, Cincinnati Bengals)
- Jauan Jennings (WR, San Francisco 49ers)
- Devin Lloyd (LB, Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Kenneth Walker (RB, Seattle Seahawks)
- Rasheed Walker (OT, Green Bay Packers)
- Nahshon Wright (CB, Chicago Bears)
Wright notably played for the Vikings in 2024, but the club didn’t use him on defense, leaving him on the practice squad. He signed with the Bears last offseason and reached the Pro Bowl in 2025.
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