Colts’ choice to tag Daniel Jones has them playing a risky game that has the potential to blow up in their face
Colts placed the transition tag on Daniel Jones, and the next week just got a lot more stressful as a result.
The Indianapolis Colts have elected to use the NFL’s transition tag on quarterback Daniel Jones, a rare choice made by teams. How rare, you ask? Well, the last time the transition tag was used on a QB was in 1996 when the Atlanta Falcons placed it on Jeff George.
The Colts were expected to use one of the NFL’s tags ahead of the 4 p.m. Eastern deadline today on one of Jones or wide receiver Alec Pierce. Ultimately, they landed on their QB, which seems like a risky choice if you ask me.
The ramifications of this decision pose far more risk than the team needed to deal with. If they can negotiate long-term deals with both players, then all will be fine, but if they don’t, this could blow up in their faces in extraordinary fashion.
The Colts chose the most stressful outcome possible when it comes to Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce’s impending free agency
The transition tag will allow Jones to negotiate with other teams this offseason, in addition to the Colts. If he were to agree to sign an offer sheet with another team, the Colts would then have the opportunity to match said offer.
If the price exceeds what they are comfortable with, they could then pass, and he would join the said team, and Indy would receive nothing in return. The non-exclusive franchise tag would have cost the Colts roughly $6 million per year, but if he signed elsewhere, the Colts would have received two first-round picks in return.
Not only does this choice risk Jones’ future with the team, but it also ups the risk of the Colts losing WR Pierce. Pierce is now set to hit free agency and would be the clear top WR on the market if he is there when the NFL’s legal tampering period begins on Monday.
There is now a world where Jones receives an offer sheet from a desperate team that pays, say, $45 million a year, and the Colts don’t feel comfortable matching because he’s coming off a torn right Achilles tendon. Then there is also nothing to stop Pierce and his representation from testing the market and landing a deal north of $30 million a year, and just like that, the Colts lose both players and get nothing in return.
It’s a gamble, there’s no other way to put it. This time next week, we could either be sitting here talking about how it all worked out for the Colts with both players inked to extensions, or they will look like fools who lost both players, especially when that disastrous reality was avoidable.
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