Although the transition tag provided a bit of a hurdle, the Indianapolis Colts and Daniel Jones were able to agree to a multi-year deal a few days into the NFL’s free agency negotiating window.
Over the Cap now has the contract details and salary cap hit for Jones.
On paper, the Colts signed Jones to a two-year deal worth $88 million. It’s been reported that this contract can be worth up to $100 million with incentives.
Jones will receive a $44 million signing bonus that will be prorated across the life of the deal for salary cap purposes. OTC provided some additional salary cap details as well:
“If on the roster in March of 2027 another $10 million is guaranteed and Jones will earn a $4 million roster bonus. An additional $12 million in incentives are available.”
To help manage Jones’ cap hit over the next two years, the Colts utilized three void years. These void years are not an extension or anything like that, but rather they are a bookkeeping measure that puts more years on the contract on paper. Jones is still set to be a free agent in 2028, at which point the cap charges from the void year, which total a whopping $26.4 million, will accelerate and come due as dead cap that year.
Daniel Jones’ salary cap hits with Colts
- 2026: $14.68 million
- 2027: $46.8 million
As was the case with Alec Pierce’s contract, the way the Colts structured this deal provides them with added salary cap flexibility in 2026. Over the Cap has the Colts with $42.14 million in available cap space at the moment.
However, at this stage of free agency, in terms of finding high-impact additions, options are running low.
And unless the Colts and Jones were to agree to an extension early in the 2028 offseason, he will leave behind a good-sized dead cap hit because of those void years if he ends up playing elsewhere that season.
The cap flexibility that the Colts gained in 2026 could be reduced, to a degree, in 2028. At some point, these cap charges have to be accounted for.
The Colts have made several outside additions in free agency, but several roster holes still need to be addressed. With the cap space that the Colts have, Chris Ballard has the ability to make a number of additions to help create competition and hopefully raise the floor at a few different position groups.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: NFL free agency: Daniel Jones salary cap hits after re-signing with Colts
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