By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Quarterback Daniel Jones plans to stay with the Indianapolis Colts for at least two more years.
The two sides agreed to a new contract, a deal that will pay Jones up to $100 million, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person requested anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.
Jones will receive $88 million over the next two seasons with $50 million guaranteed. He can make an additional $12 million through incentives.
Jones led the Colts offense to a productive 10-game start. But following the bye week, Jones played through a hairline fracture in his left leg and then wound up suffering a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon in early December.
It’s unclear whether he will be ready to play when the season opens in September, though general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen have said they remain hopeful Jones will be able to participate in training camp.
Injuries also limited Jones, the No. 6 overall draft pick in 2019, to just six games in 2023 and he started 10 games for the New York Giants in 2024 before he was benched, leading to his release.
But Jones found a perfect home in Indy.
He completed 68 percent of his throws last season for 3,101 yards — his highest total since leading the New York Giants to the playoffs in 2022. He also threw 19 touchdown passes, his highest total since 2019, and had eight interceptions.
Ballard made it clear in January that his top offseason priorities were re-signing Jones and receiver Alec Pierce, who led all NFL qualifiers in yards per reception in 2024 and 2025. Indy placed the transition tag on Jones last week as team officials and Jones’ agents continued working on an extension, and the Colts agreed to a four-year deal worth $116 million with Pierce on Monday.
Jones and Pierce developed a close rapport both on and off the field last season, and the Colts were so committed to keeping them together that Ballard also traded longtime No. 1 receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a late-round draft pick Monday.
Indy could still be in the market for a backup quarterback, too, after giving Anthony Richardson permission to seek a trade. Richardson, the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2023, lost the starting job to Jones in training camp last season and then suffered an eye injury during a freak pregame accident in October, another injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi also contributed to this report.