2026 Off-Season Thread

[sherck]

Originally Posted by Puck

For perspective. Have you always been against the DJ signing? Or is it after the injury?

I am not against re-signing DJ at all....

I am against re-signing him to a top tier QB contract when he has played 9 games for us at over a 100 QB Rating which is a pretty solid benchmark for good QB play. Of note, of his 4 games under 100 QB Rating, two were solid with scores in the 80s or 90s and two were bad (LAR and JAX 1.0) in the 50s and 60s.

He does not have a long enough track record to demand top dollar and enough guarenteed money to sink the team if he flames out, IMO. It is a HUGE risk to sign him to a contract mentioned above with $60m guaranteed. Sure, with Ballard, he often depleted the majority of guaranteed money in the first two seasons of a contract (1st year and most/all of 2nd year guarenteed) but that would mean giving DJ an average of $30m per season in the first two seasons I think that is way too much for his track record.

A couple things to consider:

A. He has played a complete season one time in his NFl career...
B. His highest QB Rating of his career was based on 13 games with the Colts...
C. His highest completion precentage was based on 13 games with the Colts...
D. His highest yards per game of his career was based on 13 games with the Colts...
E. His lowest stack rate of his career was based on 13 geames with the Colts...
F. He is now coming off his second leg surgery/repair.....a 2026 achilles tear on his righ leg which follows a 2023 ACL tear in his right knee. No one can predict how his mobility and throwing action will be effected by the recovery from the achilles.

On one hand, many will point to his histroically good stats and say, "See! DJ found his team!." On the other hand, I could point to them and say with certain knowledge that even 13 occurances in a change of pattern does not a new pattern make. Statistically, DJ has not yet altered the course of his performance.

Too much risk, IMO, to sign him to a top tier QB contract paying him $30m+ per season. That kind of contract killed Miami with Tua (to be fair, lots of things have killed Miami but Tua's contract does not help) and it can kill the Colts too if DJ does not recover and have better sustained top tier performance than he has shown ever in his career.

So, if DJ is willing to take a team friendly "show me" contract that pays him in bonuses and/or low money for two years with little to no guarantee and than huge 3rd and 4th years? Yeah, I am all over that kind of contract.

But, no real NFL QB agent is going to accept a contract like that, IMO. DJ is going to get paid big money after playing well and leading his team to a 7-1 start. If so, I hope it is not the Colts that pay him well from day one.