INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have taken the first step in ensuring that impending free agent quarterback Daniel Jones sticks around, placing the seldom-used transition tag on the veteran.
The tag guarantees the Colts the right of first refusal for Jones, preserving the right to match any competing offer sheet he might sign with an interested club. The news comes ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to assess franchise or transition tags on players who are scheduled to hit free agency next week.
If Jones does not sign a competing offer sheet, he would earn a one-year guaranteed salary of $37.833 million.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard said last week that contract talks with Jones and another key free agent, receiver Alec Pierce, were proceeding well. He called the franchise tag (and, presumably, the transition tag) “a tool we have. It’s not what we want to do, though.”
He added, “When both sides are driven to get it done, it usually works out in the right way.”
While the franchise tag often is used multiple times each year, the transition tag is used with much less frequency. No quarterback has been tagged with the transition tag since ESPN Research began tracking such moves in 2000. Only 20 players have been given the transition tag since then (though several were rescinded), with safety Kyle Dugger in 2024 being the most recent.
Most often, players reach a deal with their team after being tagged. Only four players have played an entire season under the transition tag since 2000, with running back Kenyan Drake in 2020 being the latest.
Jones resurrected his career with the Colts in 2025, leading Indianapolis to new heights with its record-setting offensive performance during the first half of the season. Through 10 weeks, when the Colts were 8-2, Jones led the NFL in passing yards and was in the top six in completion percentage and yards per attempt. But a hairline fibula fracture in his left leg negatively impacted his performance in the following weeks, with Jones sustaining a season-ending ruptured Achilles in his right leg in Week 14.
That injury has perhaps complicated negotiations with Jones, who has several months of rehabilitation remaining before he is cleared to return to the field.
Meanwhile, the decision to tag Jones has a direct impact on Pierce, who now is on pace to reach unrestricted free agency as arguably the top available wide receiver if he is not re-signed before March 11. Pierce’s representatives and those of other impending free agents can begin negotiating with other clubs Monday.
With the Dallas Cowboys electing to use the franchise tag on receiver George Pickens, Pierce is likely to draw even more interest. The NFL’s leader in yards per catch in each of the past two seasons, Pierce eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in 2025 despite ranking fourth among Colts players in targets.
