Anonymous NFL Exec Dishes Wild Claim on Colts' Daniel Jones

Among the most compelling moves of the Indianapolis Colts' offseason decisions up to this point has been their addition of Daniel Jones to the quarterback room; effectively adding the 2019 first-round pick into the mix to compete alongside Anthony Richardson for the honor of next year's Week One starter.

On paper, the acquisition of Jones may not completely jump off the page, and it may not even end up holding any substantial impact for next season, depending on how next year's quarterback battle shakes out.

However, in the eyes of a few in league front offices, the Colts may have struck gold with their quarterback signing.

The Athletic's Mike Sando caught up with one anonymous executive taking notice of this year's offseason shuffles, who compared the Colts' signing of Jones to the Minnesota Vikings' recent Sam Darnold situation; one of the biggest surprise stories across last season after being brought onto their roster via a one-year "prove it" deal.

"Jones has a chance to be the next Sam Darnold," the anonymous exec said. "But I wonder if that would be good for everyone there. Does [Chris Ballard] need Richardson to win the job? The watch is on for Daniel."

It's not a given that Jones will end up unraveling into a similar-looking success with the Colts, but the pieces could be present in the mix to make it happen.

Jones and Richardson will have a real battle to undergo during the motions before next season. Richardson may be the favorite to land the role in the end, but in a building where neither Chris Ballard nor Shane Steichen has truly stable job security, Jones could earn the reins to this offense if he has a truly impressive camp and pre-season. This team and those leading it can't afford to rely on predetermined dispositions to decide how this starting unit will look in such a critical season ahead.

And following a year where he was able to work alongside Darnold's same coaching staff with the Vikings for the second half of the season, the tools could be there in Jones' arsenal to be a more accurate quarterback for this offense compared to previous years, while still holding an ability to be a playmaker with his feet like this team is looking for.

The cards need to fall in the right places for Jones to earn that opportunity to start, but if he can mesh well with the Colts' receiving talent and impress the coaching staff before the season ensues, the league could have another quarterback resurgence story on their hands.