The Indianapolis Colts fell short of their goal of making the playoffs in 2024. And now it seems like there are more questions surrounding the Colts than there are answers to. 

At this point, Anthony Richardson is one of those questions. His second season was quite the roller coaster. Looking at his season as a whole, he fell short of the team's expectations for him.

Now, it seems that the team will prioritize bringing in a viable quarterback who can push Richardson and compete for the starting QB job in 2025. When free agency opens, they should consider three solid options. 

“We can’t beat our head against the wall. We’ve gotta have competition at the position.”

Here’s #Colts GM Chris Ballard on his uncertainly that Anthony Richardson is “the guy,” regrets on not sitting Richardson for the QB’s rookie year, and why the team benched him this season: pic.twitter.com/XO7QBqUSYH

— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) January 10, 2025

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3 2025 free-agent QBs the Colts should target

Mac Jones

A safe option the Colts could target is Mac Jones. My issue with this one would be that I'm not sure Jones would be able to actually win the starting job for the Colts due to his ceiling of play being lower than you would like. But he would be an excellent backup who would offer more fear of Richardson being benched for performance than we saw this year, where Flacco, as the full-time starter, struggled at age 40. And whether the Colts want to say it or not, that seemed to play a factor in Richardson being put back in the lineup after being benched. 

Jones would offer the Colts a player who excels in accuracy where Richardson does not. Jones appeared in nine games this season and made seven starts. He completed over 60% of his passes in six of those seven games. His work with Brian Thoams Jr. late in the season also shows that he can keep the explosive element of the offense alive if he were to start for an extended amount of time. 

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Justin Fields

Justin Fields seems like the perfect fit for the Colts to target. The Colts shouldn't be in the market for someone like Sam Darnold if he hits the market if they want true competition. And if we are being honest, they probably aren't going to spend what it would cost to be a realistic fit for Darnold. Someone like Fields, though, has had success in the NFL but has failed to prove himself as a franchise QB for both the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

His skill in the run game would allow the Colts to have a dynamic backfield with Jonathan Taylor, no matter which QB won the starting job. And if Richardson's leadership is in question in the locker room, Fields has been praised tremendously everywhere he's been for his leadership ability.  The question here is, would Fields rather compete with Richardson for a legit starting job with the Colts, or would he rather go and be a bridge option for a young QB and risk being benched mid-year yet again?

I have Justin Fields circled, underlined and bolded for good measure as a QB the Colts could look to add in free agency to compete with Anthony Richardson.

— Destin Adams (@TheDestinAdams) January 10, 2025

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Daniel Jones

Last but not least is former New York Giants starter and current Minnesota Vikings QB Daniel Jones. Jones had a rocky tenure in New York, and due to some pretty low moments, I think some have forgotten about the highs. Whoever lands Jones is going to try to talk themselves into him as the next success story, similar to Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold. He's undoubtedly had good moments as a starter to warrant a team taking that risk. The Colts could be a perfect spot to do so.

He would come into training camp and have to compete for a starting job, and he has the speed and arm strength necessary to allow the Colts to use a similar gameplay no matter how who is under center. I go back and forth on whether Jones or Fields would be the better signing for the Colts. Ultimately, I think signing Jones would put more pressure on Richardson to succeed because I think he would be less of a project than Fields would be. However, both offer solid options that I believe would spark true competition in training camp, which needs to be a priority. 

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