Daniel Jones was on pace to have a career-best season with the Indianapolis Colts this year. Indy got off to a 7-1 start, and Jones was playing some insanely efficient football. He wasn't necessarily lighting up the stat sheet each week, but he was throwing for a lot of yards and just playing smart, efficient football, which is what many QB-needy teams are desperate for.
Through 13 games, Jones and the Colts finished 8-5 in his starts. He completed 68% of his passes for 19 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. His passer rating was 100.2, and he set career-highs in completion percentage, yards, success rate, yards per attempt, yards per completion, yards per game, and QBR.
Had Jones played a full 17 games, he was on pace to finish with the following stat line:
4,055 yards
25 touchdowns
10 interceptions
Teams will absolutely do the math here and convince themselves that he's worth a multi-year, free agency contract, but which three teams could line up to hand him one to sign in 2026?
These teams could throw Daniel Jones a massive contract in the 2026 NFL Season
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are the most logical team to bring Daniel Jones into the mix, or back into the mix, in 2026. Indy was on pace to at least emerge as a solid Wild Card team this year, and that was obviously the first year Jones was with the team. There isn't a clear-cut upgrade available over Jones, and this front office also did trade two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner, which proved that they were planning on going all-in.
Chris Ballard definitely knows how to build an NFL roster, but the QB position evaded him for years. They found something semi-sustainable with Jones, so Indy might get the first crack at re-signing him, and it's really the team's only option if you think about it.
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings could win their final game this year and still manage to finish with a winning record. Many NFL teams cannot say that, but it's still been a year to forget for the Vikings. They saw Sam Darnold breakout in 2024 and help them to a 14-win season, but Darnold departed for the Seattle Seahawks in free agency.
Darnold is again playing well, but the Vikings' decision to draft JJ McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft has quickly proven to be the wrong move. Not only has McCarthy largely looked awful and overwhelmed in the NFL, he's also missed a ton of games and just cannot stay healthy. It's been a double-whammy of 'bad' for McCarthy.
The Vikings signed Daniel Jones last year when he was let go by the New York Giants, so he has some familiarity with the team. It would shock me if the Vikings' front office didn't pursue this move, as jobs could be on the line. Jones would be an immediate upgrade and would have a similar set-up he did in 2025 with the Colts.
Pittsburgh Steelers
It's hard to imagine Aaron Rodgers playing beyond the 2025 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are on the cusp of making the playoffs again, but they're again going to lose in the first round if they get there. Pittsburgh doesn't seem to be interested in a full rebuild, which is what they need, so there is reason to believe that GM Omar Khan is again going to be searching for a starting quarterback.
This is simply not how you sustain success in the NFL, but there is no indication that Pittsburgh wants to do that. The Steelers could extend a multi-year free agency contract offer to Daniel Jones and convince themselves that signing a QB to a multi-year deal is actually making the necessary move at the position.