Jay Glazer Shared Why Colts Still See Daniel Jones as Their QB of the Future

The Colts were arguably the NFL’s biggest surprise to begin the 2025 season, starting the year 9-2 while owning one of the most productive offenses in the league led by, against all odds, Daniel Jones. Jones was written off as a future backup once he was released outright by the Giants last year but fit like a glove into Shane Steichen’s system in Indianapolis and beat out Anthony Richardson for the right to start under center. Jones seemed fated to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award and sign a big new contract next offseason, whether to stay in Indy long-term or cash in on his great season like Sam Darnold in 2024.

But disaster has since struck in a couple different ways. The Colts got hit with the injury bug and Jones wound up fracturing his fibula but played through it. Then, catastrophe. In Week 14 Jones dropped back to pass agains the Jaguars and tore his Achilles. It was an arrow through the heart of Indianapolis’s championship hopes this year. It also, quite suddenly, raised serious questions about Jones’s future with the franchise given the severity of the injury despite the success he found with the team.

On Sunday, Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer discussed this very topic and reported the Colts are still invested in Jones as the long-term answer under center in Indianapolis based on his great play before getting hurt.

“Daniel Jones had surgery earlier this week,” Glazer said on Fox NFL Kickoff. “It was fine, to the point where they do believe he's going to be back in time for training camp next year.

“The big thing, at least this regime right here, they saw what they needed to with Daniel Jones. He's a free agent, but they do believe, ‘That’s our quarterback of the future.' I do think they're going to try to re-sign him, despite this injury.”

On the year Jones totaled 3,101 yards passing and threw 19 touchdowns to eight interceptions in 13 games prior to getting hurt; he added 164 yards and an additional five touchdowns on the ground. Steichen successfully designed the offense around Jones’s strength as a passer and found ways to utilize his threat as a runner near the goal line, but on the quarterback’s end his decision-making was notably better than what he’d demonstrated while starting in New York. While Jones’s butter fingers remain a big flaw—he’s still tied for the NFL lead with nine fumbles on the year—he proved more than capable of putting his team in a position to win for over half a season.

For the Colts that seems to be enough. Indy doesn’t have much in the way of alternatives, to be fair. Richardson lost his starting job to Jones and has been benched numerous times since getting picked fourth in the 2023 NFL draft; he’s currently on IR with an eye injury. The Colts traded two first-round picks to land star corner Sauce Gardner at the deadline when they looked like genuine Super Bowl contenders. The paths to replacing Jones are few if the front office decided to let him walk.

It does not appear that’ll happen. While Jones will be working on rehab and recovery for the foreseeable future he made believers out of Indianapolis.