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.
