The Minnesota Vikings wanted to keep quarterback Daniel Jones on the roster in 2025, but the commitment to their three-year plan around J.J. McCarthy and a $14 million offer from the Indianapolis Colts with the promise of competing for a starting job led to Jones’ exit.
Jones has impressed throughout the Colts’ preseason work to this point, with training camp as the next major milestone on the summer calendar. The absence of third-year quarterback and former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson, who continues battling a shoulder injury, has aided Jones’ case to win the starting job.
“Daniel Jones [is] making his move a little bit minicamp, taking those first-team reps with Anthony Richardson resting his shoulder,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported during an evening edition of “SportsCenter” on June 14. “Richardson plans to be back for training camp for that battle. But I was told Jones was a fast processor at the line of scrimmage [and has] good chemistry with his receivers. He was ‘very sharp,’ as it was told to me, in minicamp as the guy. So, it’s going to be fascinating once they hit camp in that battle.”
Daniel Jones Has Advantageous Situation With Colts
GettyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones.
The news got worse for the Vikings on Thursday, when NFL.com columnist Jeffri Chadiha interpreted Jones’ progression in Indianapolis to this point not only as a harbinger for quality play in 2025, but as the basis for a “bold prediction” that Jones will win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award at the end of the upcoming season.
The former No. 6 overall pick was benched and eventually dumped by the [New York] Giants last year — but there’s reason to be optimistic about him today. Jones signed with Minnesota after New York released hm, which gave him an opportunity to be around another beleaguered quarterback in Sam Darnold who was turning his career around with the help of a strong coaching staff.
Now, Jones gets to work with a creative offensive head coach in Shane Steichen, who happens to be the same man who helped take Jalen Hurts from raw talent to MVP-caliber quarterback in Philadelphia. … Steichen easily could be the man to take Jones to another level, especially when considering the Colts have better skill players and offensive line play than Jones ever enjoyed in New York. Nobody saw Darnold taking off when he arrived in Minnesota. Jones could do similar things in Indy if he stays healthy.
J.J. McCarthy Had Rocky Start to Vikings’ Preseason
GettyQuarterback J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings
Given his pedigree and the preseason he’s now having, convincing Jones to stay would have been a relatively big get for Minnesota, particularly considering he likely would have entered spring and summer sessions as the QB2 behind McCarthy.
McCarthy is, in several meaningful senses, repeating his rookie campaign in 2025 after suffering a knee injury in August that knocked him out for the entire regular season. The former No. 10 overall pick struggled early, tossing interceptions on multiple consecutive days. However, Fowler added in his June 14 report that the Vikings are happy with how McCarthy has progressed since his rocky start.
“Coming off that knee issue, they knew [McCarthy] could start a little slowly, but they like the way he’s throwing the ball. They feel very comfortable with where he’s at going into training camp,” Fowler said. “They believe in their three-year plan — a young quarterback they like on a rookie scale. So they’ll be aggressive on the roster [around] him. They believe they can win a Super Bowl in the next three years.”
