Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has agreed to a one-year, $14m contract with the Indianapolis Colts, according to multiple reports. NFL Network reported the contract could be worth over $17m for the 2025 season if the 27-year-old reaches performance targets.
Jones, the No 6 overall pick in 2019 by the Giants, will get a chance to compete with Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. Richardson, the fourth pick in the 2023 draft, is 8-7 as a starter in two seasons but has been plagued by inconsistency and injuries.
“I think consistency is the biggest thing,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said in February when asked where he wanted to see Richardson improve. “We’ve had these conversations, myself and him, about being consistent. He’s played 15 games, he played 11 last year and did some really good things, but we’re just looking for the consistency, right?”
Jones had been on the Vikings practice squad after leaving New York but Minnesota appear set to start JJ McCarthy, who missed his rookie season with a knee injury. Sam Darnold, who led the Vikings to a 14-3 record last season, has agreed to a reported $110m deal with Seattle.
Jones was waived by the New York Giants at his request last November after being benched. He quickly signed as a free agent with the Vikings for the rest of the season but didn’t appear in any games. Jones has 14,582 passing yards, 70 touchdown passes and 47 interceptions in 70 career games (69 starts). He has 2,179 rushing yards with 15 TDs.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Houston’s offensive line overhaul shifted gears as the Texans added to their stellar secondary in a deal with the Eagles, sending guard Kenyon Green to Philadelphia for safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, according to multiple reports.
Green was traded to the NFC East one day after Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was dealt to the Washington Commanders. Green is likely to play right guard and replace Mekhi Becton, who is an unrestricted free agent. The Eagles also will receive Houston’s fifth-round pick in 2026, and Philadelphia’s sixth-round selection will go to the Texans.
Gardner-Johnson, 27, will relocate for the fourth consecutive season. A 2019 draft pick of the New Orleans Saints, he joined the Eagles in 2022, played for the Lions in 2023 and rejoined Philadelphia to help deliver a Super Bowl LIX victory last season. Gardner-Johnson had six interceptions in each of his two seasons with the Eagles and has a total of 18 in 74 career regular-season games.
Green, 23, was the 15th overall pick in the 2022 draft and has 23 career starts in 27 games. He started the first nine games in 2024 before being placed on injured reserve with a dislocated left shoulder. After 14 starts at right guard as a rookie, Green missed his second season in 2023 to have surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Meanwhile, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas agreed to a two-year, $8m contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Thomas, 29, spent the past three seasons with the New York Jets. He had nine total sacks as a 3-4 defensive end in New York playing for defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, a new addition to the Cowboys’ coaching staff.
The third overall pick in the 2017 draft by the San Francisco 49ers, he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2 of his fourth season (2020) and joined the Jets as a free agent in 2022. He spent the 2021 season with the Las Vegas Raiders. Thomas went to high school in Coppell, Texas, which is less than 30 minutes from the Cowboys’ training facility in Frisco. He has 18.5 career sacks over 115 games.
Teams can’t officially sign free agents until Wednesday, the start of the new league year.
