Had the team applied the franchise tag for just $6 million more than the transition one ($37,833,000 in total), Indianapolis would have almost guaranteed the quarterback would return for 2026. Had he signed elsewhere, Indy would have received the equivalent of two first-round draft picks. It would have been a win-win.
Instead, Jones can agree to a deal somewhere else for more than the franchise tag would have paid him, and the Colts would get nothing back in return. The risk for general manager Chris Ballard is two-fold.
Placing the transition tag on Daniel Jones comes with a huge risk for the Indianapolis Colts
One is the team simply losing Jones to another team that understands it needs to pay the QB more than the transition tag.