Jones joins Colts, to battle Richardson for QB job

Free agent quarterback Daniel Jones is finalizing a one-year, $14 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

Jones had a chance to return to the Minnesota Vikings but now becomes the challenger to 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson for the Colts’ starting quarterback job in 2025.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard said last month at the NFL scouting combine that Indianapolis was planning to have an open competition at the quarterback position, adding that as Richardson “continues to progress in his young career, us adding competition, I think, will help up everybody’s game.”

Richardson’s agent, Deiric Jackson, told NFL Network on Tuesday that the third-year quarterback currently is healthy after dealing with oblique and back injuries in 2024.

Jackson also told NFL Network that Richardson does not plan to seek a trade, adding that “AR will be ready to roll.”

J.J. McCarthy is the only potential starting quarterback under contract with the Vikings after Sam Darnold (Seattle Seahawks) and Nick Mullens (Jacksonville Jaguars) agreed to contracts with other teams Monday. Brett Rypien is under contract but is not a candidate to start.

Jones spent the final two months of the regular season on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad after an unusual end to his time with the New York Giants. He returned from a torn ACL suffered in 2023 to start the Giants’ first 10 games last season. But after starting 2-8, the organization decided to demote him to No. 3 on the depth chart in part to prevent an injury that could have guaranteed future years of his contract.

Jones, 27, requested and received his immediate release and decided to join the Vikings once he cleared waivers even though he knew there was almost no chance he would play in a game. Coach Kevin O’Connell and his staff were well underway on their resurrection of starter Darnold, and Jones joined a group of three other quarterbacks — Mullens, McCarthy and Rypien — who were all applying similar lessons.

The Vikings added Jones to the active roster for the playoffs, ensuring he will be part of their compensatory pick formula for 2026, but he did not play in the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round.

The No. 6 pick of the 2019 draft, Jones has started 69 games over six seasons. He threw more than 15 touchdown passes in only one of his seasons — 24 as a rookie — and his best season came in 2022. In leading the Giants to their only playoff appearance in his tenure that season, he threw for a career-high 3,205 yards, along with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.

He has thrown for 14,582 yards with 70 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in six NFL seasons.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.