ESPN’s Bill Barnwell selected the best and worst deals made this offseason by the Indianapolis Colts.
The best deal, according to Barnwell, was signing defensive end Arden Key. The worst, however, was guaranteeing Daniel Jones $50 million for the 2026 NFL season.
In free agency, the Colts and Jones agreed to a two-year deal worth $88 million that could be worth up to $100 million with incentives.
To get to that point, the Colts first placed the transition tag on Jones, allowing him to potentially negotiate with other teams, but Indianapolis had the right to match any offer.
“Was anyone else really going to pay $37.8 million or more to trigger the transition tag and force the Colts into a difficult decision?” Barnwell wrote. “If that was a real concern, why didn’t the Colts give Jones the $43.9 million franchise tag, which would have made an outside deal even more unlikely? And if there was no market for him, the Colts needed to do more to produce a friendlier contract for their quarterback, either by reducing the guarantee or by putting more of the money into per-game roster bonuses.”
The Colts made it known all offseason that they planned on re-signing Jones. The belief is that the success he had through 10 games in 2025 can be replicated and sustained in 2026.
During that stretch, Jones and the Colts’ offense was red-hot, with the team off to an 8-2 start. Individually, Jones ranked among the top quarterbacks in many key categories.
Adding to the uncertainty of this deal is that Jones is coming off an Achilles injury.
However, chances are, how one views Jones’ contract with the Colts comes down to whether or not you think Jones can regain last season’s pre-injury form. Because if he can, given the high level Jones was playing at, I doubt many will be worried about what his contract looks like.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: ESPN analyst highlights Colts ‘worst’ offseason deal
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
