NGT: Daniel Jones signs with Colts

[T200]

Maybe the Vikings saw enough of him in practice to say, "Giants were right to cut you.  You are as useless as a 3rd tit on a male gorilla and we dont want you even for the league minimum."

He's got a career as a backup. He can come in for an injured starter.

[files58]

"You are as useless as a 3rd tit on a male gorilla and we don't want you even for the league minimum."    Funny. Where would you find it?               

[Painter]

For all the cockadoodle we've seen in the media, and some right here, we now know that last year's 14-3/4 Vikings weren't going to risk any sort of significant coin on the likes of Jones or Darnold. 

So, they will sail with McCarthy and, for now at least with Mullins and Rypien. That could be viewed as a vote of confidence for O'Connell unless instead it was fear of a Daboll COTY curse.

Cheers!

[DaveBrown74]

I agree with those who have said this wasn't a cut and dry decision with Jones. I would also add that none of us are privy to behind the scenes conversations and dynamics that Jones and his agent were privy to, so we are dealing with very incomplete information here.

Still, here are some of what I believe may have been pros and cons that Jones considered in making this decision. By the way, I am taking it as a fact that he actually did have a decision here and could have been signed by either team. I can't say I know that for certain. Rapoport is usually a trustworthy source, so I'll assume it's true that he could have played for the Vikes if he wanted to.


Minnesota:

Pros:

-Significantly better surrounding talent
-Better coaching, clearly one of the best coaches in the league at resurrecting a previously failed QB.
-Overall probably better chance of improving as a player through practices and a full offseason program.
-Some degree of continuity from last season.
-QB who is number one on the depth chart is coming off a severe knee injury/surgery and has never played an NFL regular season game.

Cons:

-The Vikings are clearly very high on McCarthy. If they weren't, they wouldn't have let Darnold walk. Jones will have a tougher time getting playing time on this team, assuming McCarthy is healthy, which he is said to be (reportedly cleared for spring practices).

-Tough division



Colts:

Pros:

-The incumbent starter has looked bad so far and is also injury-prone. The Colts will likely have less patience with Richardson than the Vikings will with McCarthy. Give his playing style, Richardson may also be more injury prone than McCarthy, despite the fact that McCarthy did sustain a major injury early in his rookie season.

So in short, Jones would appear to have a better chance of being the starter in Indy for some or most of 2025 than he does in Minny.

-Softer division.


Cons:

-Weaker supporting cast.

-Lesser coaching staff than Minny (subjective but I think it's hard to argue otherwise).

-Would be Jones' third NFL team in fewer than 12 months.

-This coaching staff has no real track record of turning struggling QBs' careers around.



Overall thoughts:

I think if you're Jones, you go to the Colts if you believe you're a good starting QB who was done in entirely by poor surrounding talent and poor coaching on the Giants.

I think you stick with Minny and accept the backup role (for now) if you think you have a significant amount of things to work on in your game and you want to improve as much as you can under an elite coaching staff while you're still in your 20s.

I am not going to criticize Jones for believing in himself and wanting to maximize his shot at being a starter again as soon as possible. I will also say again that I don't think this was an easy decision.

Nevertheless, with the information available to me, I think he may have made the wrong decision here. Having the chance to practice with Kevin O'Connell and his coaching staff for even just one season could be downright invaluable. That system is now a well-oiled machine. You can't put a price on what they did for Darnold. That case study would carry immense weight with me. Is Jones going to get that type of developmental opportunity with Shane Steichen and Jim-Bob Cooter? Based on the results in Indy under those guys, I would say I highly doubt that.

Of course, if Jones IS in fact a quality NFL starter, and all the lousy throws and lousy decisions he put on tape over the last six years were indeed the fault others and not him, then he may well be better off in Indy given he probably has a somewhat better chance of getting starting reps in 2025 there.

[FL GMAN]

I think it's a great move by the Colts. I have followed Richardson since UF, I am a UF fan.
Richardson while immensely talented is a Knucklehead. He follows a 70 yard TD on a great throw
with a pick 6 that's so obvious you can call it before it happens. Jones for all his issues is a professional. I say that with the utmost respect. He works his ass off, Anthony needs to be threatened and if it takes a few games on the bench all the better. From the perspective of a UF fan, I say Jones starts by mid year. I don't have any confidence in Anthony Richardson and the Colts need to know ASAP,

P.S. I'm rooting for Jones I genuinely like the guy and hope he does well

[Jclayton92]

I agree with those who have said this wasn't a cut and dry decision with Jones. I would also add that none of us are privy to behind the scenes conversations and dynamics that Jones and his agent were privy to, so we are dealing with very incomplete information here.

Still, here are some of what I believe may have been pros and cons that Jones considered in making this decision. By the way, I am taking it as a fact that he actually did have a decision here and could have been signed by either team. I can't say I know that for certain. Rapoport is usually a trustworthy source, so I'll assume it's true that he could have played for the Vikes if he wanted to.


Minnesota:

Pros:

-Significantly better surrounding talent
-Better coaching, clearly one of the best coaches in the league at resurrecting a previously failed QB.
-Overall probably better chance of improving as a player through practices and a full offseason program.
-Some degree of continuity from last season.
-QB who is number one on the depth chart is coming off a severe knee injury/surgery and has never played an NFL regular season game.

Cons:

-The Vikings are clearly very high on McCarthy. If they weren't, they wouldn't have let Darnold walk. Jones will have a tougher time getting playing time on this team, assuming McCarthy is healthy, which he is said to be (reportedly cleared for spring practices).

-Tough division



Colts:

Pros:

-The incumbent starter has looked bad so far and is also injury-prone. The Colts will likely have less patience with Richardson than the Vikings will with McCarthy. Give his playing style, Richardson may also be more injury prone than McCarthy, despite the fact that McCarthy did sustain a major injury early in his rookie season.

So in short, Jones would appear to have a better chance of being the starter in Indy for some or most of 2025 than he does in Minny.

-Softer division.


Cons:

-Weaker supporting cast.

-Lesser coaching staff than Minny (subjective but I think it's hard to argue otherwise).

-Would be Jones' third NFL team in fewer than 12 months.

-This coaching staff has no real track record of turning struggling QBs' careers around.



Overall thoughts:

I think if you're Jones, you go to the Colts if you believe you're a good starting QB who was done in entirely by poor surrounding talent and poor coaching on the Giants.

I think you stick with Minny and accept the backup role (for now) if you think you have a significant amount of things to work on in your game and you want to improve as much as you can under an elite coaching staff while you're still in your 20s.

I am not going to criticize Jones for believing in himself and wanting to maximize his shot at being a starter again as soon as possible. I will also say again that I don't think this was an easy decision.

Nevertheless, with the information available to me, I think he may have made the wrong decision here. Having the chance to practice with Kevin O'Connell and his coaching staff for even just one season could be downright invaluable. That system is now a well-oiled machine. You can't put a price on what they did for Darnold. That case study would carry immense weight with me. Is Jones going to get that type of developmental opportunity with Shane Steichen and Jim-Bob Cooter? Based on the results in Indy under those guys, I would say I highly doubt that.

Of course, if Jones IS in fact a quality NFL starter, and all the lousy throws and lousy decisions he put on tape over the last six years were indeed the fault others and not him, then he may well be better off in Indy given he probably has a somewhat better chance of getting starting reps in 2025 there.

Wait so you mean Jones chose the place he could possibly start at over being a 2nd/3rd string with the vikings?!? I mean from what we heard here, Jones chose the Vikings over a ton of other options because it was the best place to "learn". So only a couple of months later, those options vanished, he has learned it all from the Vikings, and is ready to start?

Or

Is it more likely than not that he didn't have any starting options open to him, just like now in FA despite a ton of teams needing a Qb and had to go somewhere were he could still be the backup.

By the way sarcasm was not towards you my friend, quality post as usual Dave👊

[Trench]

Wait so you mean Jones chose the place he could possibly start at over being a 2nd/3rd string with the vikings?!? I mean from what we heard here, Jones chose the Vikings over a ton of other options because it was the best place to "learn". So only a couple of months later, those options vanished, he has learned it all from the Vikings, and is ready to start?

Or

Is it more likely than not that he didn't have any starting options open to him, just like now in FA despite a ton of teams needing a Qb and had to go somewhere were he could still be the backup.

By the way sarcasm was not towards you my friend, quality post as usual Dave👊

Great points

[DaveBrown74]

Wait so you mean Jones chose the place he could possibly start at over being a 2nd/3rd string with the vikings?!? I mean from what we heard here, Jones chose the Vikings over a ton of other options because it was the best place to "learn". So only a couple of months later, those options vanished, he has learned it all from the Vikings, and is ready to start?

Or

Is it more likely than not that he didn't have any starting options open to him, just like now in FA despite a ton of teams needing a Qb and had to go somewhere were he could still be the backup.

By the way sarcasm was not towards you my friend, quality post as usual Dave👊

Haha - I knew it wasn't as I was reading the post, J-Clay. All good.

Anthony Richardson was seriously bad last year, but he's also only 22 still. I wouldn't say it's looking good for him, but it's probably a bit early to just write the guy off completely. Josh Allen had a QB rating in the 60s as a 22 year old.

[MightyGiants]

I really see little point in trying to spin DJ signing a $14 million contract with the Colts to compete for a starting job as an indication that DJ is considered a poor QB or only capable of being a backup.  His salary was significantly more than your backup QB makes.  It was also less than a quality proven starter would make.  It's essentially a prove it deal for a former starter.

In reality, the only quality indicators moving forward will be seeing of DJ wins the starting role, and if he does, how well he plays.  That, at least in my mind, is the reality of the situation.

Personally, I put the chances of DJ starting at 50/50 and playing well at less than that.  He has a lot going against him at this point.  There is the crash and burn with the Giants.  There may be a deficit from his multiple major injuries that impacted his throwing.  There is the staying healthy after multiple serious injuries. 

I wish him luck.

[Ed Vette]

The downside for his decision is if he doesn't beat out Richardson and entrench himself as the Colts starting QB of the future, his career will take a nosedive. As Rich said, it's a one year prove it deal.

[files58]

"Is it more likely than not that he didn't have any starting options open to him, just like now in FA despite a ton of teams needing a Qb and had to go somewhere were he could still be the backup."

There are no tears being shed by me because Danny boy boo hoo has to be a backup while earning $14MM. Imagine there are about 64 jobs in the NFL, and you are ranked from about 55 on down to 64. So you are not good at your job yet you earn.......  While I can't tell anyone what to do we have had way more than enough chatter about Jones.

[MightyGiants]

The downside for his decision is if he doesn't beat out Richardson and entrench himself as the Colts starting QB of the future, his career will take a nosedive. As Rich said, it's a one year prove it deal.

Ed,

I figured there was a risk either way.  If he stayed with the Vikings, it was JJ's job to lose.  If JJ played well, DJ never sees the field and his career stalls.   At least with the Colts, they have declared an open competition.  So odds are good he will see the field.

I think regardless of where DJ went, he was out of chances.  He needs to prove with his next start, that he is better than what he was for the Giants in 2024 and most of 2023.

[Ed Vette]

Ed,

I figured there was a risk either way.  If he stayed with the Vikings, it was JJ's job to lose.  If JJ played well, DJ never sees the field and his career stalls.   At least with the Colts, they have declared an open competition.  So odds are good he will see the field.

I think regardless of where DJ went, he was out of chances.  He needs to prove with his next start, that he is better than what he was for the Giants in 2024 and most of 2023.

That puts him in a class of several QBs over the years who were looking for a second chance. Goff was one of the successful ones. It was interesting how Jimmy G opted to resign himself as a backup and not take a chance. I imagine he sees himself as the apparent successor to Stafford. Or at least he was following the carrot.

[MightyGiants]

That puts him in a class of several QBs over the years who were looking for a second chance. Goff was one of the successful ones. It was interesting how Jimmy G opted to resign himself as a backup and not take a chance. I imagine he sees himself as the apparent successor to Stafford. Or at least he was following the carrot.

Jimmy G will be 34 years old in November.  At that age, making $4.5 million as a backup in sunny California on a playoff team has to be pretty appealing. 

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1899861176881742061