The Indianapolis Colts signed former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to compete with Anthony Richardson for the 2025 NFL season.
This puts Richardson on notice to step up his play for year three, as 2024 was a brutal showing with accuracy and consistency. Richardson has all the tools to rise to meteoric heights, but the Colts can’t afford to wait anymore.
In a piece from ESPN‘s Ben Solak, they highlight NFL free agency stories and place Indy’s in an interesting category. Solak believes signing Jones is the calm before the storm that might be negative for the Colts’ QB situation.
Solak said: “On paper, this is a fine move. The Colts have a young quarterback in 22-year-old Anthony Richardson for whom the lightbulb simply has not come on. Entering Year 3, Richardson has one last chance to keep his starting job– but the Colts need to hedge their bets.”
While the Colts won’t say definitively that ‘this is Richardson’s last chance,’ it’s heavily implied with signing Jones. To briefly re-hash Richardson’s passing numbers from 2024, he finished with a bad 47.7 completion percentage on 126/264 passes for 1,814 yards through the air, eight touchdown tosses to 12 picks.
The turnovers were a problem for Richardson, as he also coughed up nine fumbles and averaged over an interception a game since he played 11. However, Jones has also had career issues with turnovers, compiling 47 interceptions and 50 fumbles in 70 games.
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Solak continued on the Colts QB situation: “On a one-year, $14 million deal, Jones is clearly betting that he’ll get some action in place of Richardson — because of Richardson’s poor play, an injury or a training camp battle.”
It can’t be ruled out that Richardson has a slim chance of losing the starting QB job to Jones. While Jones isn’t as impressive as Richardson, nor does he possess the potential, he’s still more ready to lead the offense since he has 69 career starts.
Richardson has to show out during training camp and hit the necessary throws. Shane Steichen and the offensive staff will be watching closely to make sure that Richardson makes the proper steps forward. When it’s all said and done, Steichen has to pick the best quarterback, and the hope is it’s Richardson.
Solak concluded by saying: “Even if this move is a wise one, it still tells me storm clouds are gathering on the horizon in Indianapolis.”
The title of Indy’s entry says the word ‘doom.’ The signing of Jones does cast a shadow of doubt on the Colts’ quarterback situation. Jones isn’t much of an upgrade from Richardson if he can win the starting job, but Richardson hasn’t shown enough to instill confidence in Indy’s franchise.
This competition will take the headlines all offseason and eyes will be glued to both quarterbacks and who’s getting the leg up to start. Richardson’s future lies in success for his third year in 2025, and Jones is the type of signal-caller to help the young QB with development similar to Gardner Minshew.
However, Jones was thrown to the side by the Giants and then a backup for the Minnesota Vikings, so he wants to prove naysayers wrong and show he can start. We’ll see what happens in this quarterback duel and which passer comes out victorious with the starting gig.
