As Colts tie future to Daniel Jones, can he stay healthy to help them see it through?

INDIANAPOLIS — The signs of gratitude were subtle. They always are with this player.

Daniel Jones has never been the outgoing type. Still, on Thursday, fresh off signing a new deal to remain with the Indianapolis Colts, he broke his typically stoic nature and allowed himself to bask in a moment of triumph.

The last year — the last 364 days to be exact — has changed the course of Jones’ career. On March 13, 2025, when Jones signed a one-year, $14 million deal with the Colts, he was trying to prove he could still be a starting quarterback. On March 12, 2026, when Jones signed a two-year, $88 million deal worth up to $100 million to stay in Indy, it solidified his status as the Colts’ quarterback of the present and future.

“It’s a very different situation for sure,” Jones said. “Playing quarterback in the NFL, you see a lot, experience a lot of different things and learn a lot. So (I) just try to learn through all of those experiences and, obviously, I’d rather be in this situation than (the one I was in) a year ago.”

Months after being released during the 2024 season by the New York Giants, who drafted him sixth in 2019, Jones joined the Colts. Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard had recently declared an open quarterback competition between 2023 No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson and a to-be-determined challenger, and Jones stepped up. By the end of the 2025 offseason, Jones had supplanted Richardson as the starter, but his opportunity to lead another franchise wasn’t universally loved — far from it. There was plenty of doubt externally as Indianapolis pivoted away from its highest-drafted player since Andrew Luck and handed the keys to a QB who was, at the time, 24-44-1 as an NFL starter.

Jones quickly silenced the naysayers, steering the Colts to an 8-2 start that placed them atop the AFC standings. Indianapolis averaged a league-high 32.1 points per game through its first 10 games and 3.17 points per drive, which was the fourth-highest mark in a team’s first 10 games this century, per TruMedia.

Ballard and Colts principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon believed in Jones so much that last November, they traded their team’s 2026 and 2027 first-round picks — essentially two chances to draft a franchise QB — to the New York Jets for star cornerback Sauce Gardner. That all-in trade validated their belief in what the Colts could be with Jones at the helm, and it’s that hope they’re still clinging to in 2026, despite how poorly things ended in 2025.

The Colts’ resurgent campaign was derailed largely by injuries to their top players. Jones, most notably, fractured his left fibula, and while he kept playing through that, he eventually tore his right Achilles tendon. Indianapolis went on to lose its last seven games and miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year. A deflating finish could have prompted Indianapolis to move on from the oft-injured Jones. However, instead the team doubled down, first by placing the transition tag on Jones this offseason — which still allowed other teams to bid on his services in free agency — before reaching a massive two-year deal.

“I think you certainly have to consider the situation and what it means and how it could all play out,” Jones said Thursday when asked if he ever thought he’d leave Indianapolis. “That was discussed, but always in the context of, ‘I want to be here.’ And like I said, I made that clear to my agents, and I made that clear to the Colts as well and any communication I had with them. So I’m glad it worked out, and I’m thrilled to be back.”

The elephant in the room, which the Colts have mostly glossed over, is what they’re now asking Jones to do: Get healthy and stay healthy.

The quarterback, who turns 29 in May, will be just nine months removed from Achilles surgery when the season begins in September, and he’s played only one full season in his first seven. Jones emphasized that his “goal” is to be ready by Week 1, though he did not fully commit to that timeline. If Jones isn’t available, the Colts would likely turn to 2025 sixth-round pick Riley Leonard as their starter until Jones is cleared. Leonard started the season finale in January, and the Colts are high on his potential as a backup and spot starter. Richardson is technically still on the roster, too, but he recently requested a trade, and his future with the franchise remains fluid.

History suggests that even if Jones makes it back in time for the season opener, it would be unwise to trust his durability. Jones’ lengthy injury history also includes a season-ending torn ACL in 2023 and a season-ending neck injury in 2021. His lone full season was in 2022, when he led the Giants to the playoffs. Can he do it again with the Colts in 2026?

“I’ve certainly had my fair share of injuries throughout my career, but that’s part of it,” Jones said. “I work hard to keep my body in a good place, and unfortunately, at times you get some tough breaks here and there, but I’m confident I can stay healthy and protect myself. That’s a big deal. It’s a big emphasis.”

Aside from Jones’ Achilles rehab, he’ll also be stepping into a revamped offense that no longer includes Michael Pittman Jr., who led the team in catches last year. The veteran receiver was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, clearing the way for 2025 breakout star Alec Pierce to take over as the team’s No. 1 wideout. Pierce said Wednesday after signing his four-year, $116 million deal that keeping Jones around was paramount in his decision to remain with the Colts in free agency, and now that they’re officially reunited, they’re excited to build on the brilliance their offense displayed through the first half of last season.

Ten games, however, is a small sample size to bet a team’s future on, but after re-signing Jones, the Colts have made it clear that there’s no going back. They’ve tied their dreams to him as their franchise QB and, more specifically, his surgically repaired right Achilles. Time will reveal whether they were wisely faithful or naively overconfident.

“We understand that it starts over,” Jones said. “You got to prove it again. … We’re confident because I think we’ve seen what we could be, and there’s a high sense of urgency to get back to that.”