The Indianapolis Colts have preached all offseason that they want to bring in viable competition for quarterback Anthony Richardson.
After a major domino fell Friday night following the bombshell trade that landed Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith with the Las Vegas Raiders, the Colts may not face some increased competition for one of their reported top targets in free agency.
With Smith now in Las Vegas and Seattle entering the quarterback market, reports emerged that the Seahawks will make a push for Minnesota Vikings breakout star Sam Darnold. Because of that, Minnesota could be looking to retain Daniel Jones as insurance.
The Colts have shown interest in making a push to sign Jones as the primary competition for Richardson, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
Jones has been linked to the Colts as a potential target for much of the offseason. His dual-threat abilities make him an intriguing fit for Shane Steichen’s RPO-heavy system and even though his career with the New York Giants crashed and burned, he’s always been known as a strong character in the locker room.
After Jones was released by the Giants midway through the 2024 season, he landed with the Vikings and spent the rest of the campaign in Minnesota as Darnold’s backup. Spotrac currently projects Jones to land a deal somewhere in the range of two years and $10 million.
It wouldn’t be the ideal situation, but if Richardson can’t beat out Jones for the starting gig, then he doesn’t deserve it anyway.
Where the Colts go at the quarterback position is likely to depend heavily on the other dominoes such as Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson.
With just hours until the legal tampering period opens Monday afternoon, though, it seems the Colts have a key target in mind.
