Daniel Stephen Jones has been through a lot in his professional career and, as a result, taken an enormous amount of physical punishment that every quarterback endures in the brutal world of NFL football.
The savage nature of the game America can’t get enough of plays no favorites, often ending careers in a cruel, premature manner. While Jones played some inspired football for the Indianapolis Colts last year, he also sustained some serious injuries in the overall process, and left some so-called football “experts” wondering what might have been had he remained healthy the entire season.
While we’ll never know the exact answer to that hypothetical question, it is safe to say that Jones will undoubtedly have a tough time recovering from both a fractured Fibula and a tear of his Achilles. Those are the facts of the matter for a twenty-eight year old player who will receive the best health care in the world in his attempt to bounce back.
Then there’s the contract situation, which makes this matter even more of a challenge (or nightmare) for his most recent employer.
The Colts wisely limited Jones’ deal last year to a one year term and, while that fourteen million guaranteed dollars ended up being a good investment, their oft-injured starting quarterback is now a free agent seeking to land a significant amount of guaranteed money on a new contract, despite the fact he more than likely won’t be able to play football when NFL training camps open.
Before you say, ‘just slap the dreaded Franchise Tag on him,’ you might want to consider the enormous amount of money that one-year deal would represent, especially in an off-season in which a decision on wide receiver Alec Pierce’s future must be made as well, along with the hope the team can land a legitimate edge rusher in the free agency market.
While Carlie Irsay-Gordon recently made a big decision to retain her General Manager and Head Coach when many were screaming to jettison both, now it’s time for her to decide how to financially mortgage the future of the franchise in terms of what to do with Jones, who is in no way guaranteed to recover both physically and mentally.
While backups Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson certainly won’t keep any opposing defensive coaches up at night devising plans to thwart them, they are indeed healthy and would represent about a minimum combined twelve-million-dollar salary cap hit this season, which is far less than what an injured Jones would account for.
The Colts really don’t know what Leonard can give them, and many of you are ready to move on from the saga of Richardson, but it may be time to find out what the combination of the two can represent this upcoming season, as opposed to giving Jones a staggering amount of money he hasn’t earned.
Sure, it’s clearly another reset of sorts, but it’s an insurance policy against what could very well be a catastrophic investment in a courageous but unproven commodity.
Jones will land elsewhere and most likely revert to his former self as a quarterback, which isn’t that impressive. The biggest difference is the Colts won’t be saddled with a contract that restricts their immediate flexibility in terms of managing both the salary cap and the team’s future.
Danny Bridges, who wishes Daniel Jones a complete recovery and future success elsewhere, can be reached at (317) 370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
