Colts Owner Needs to Fire Shane Steichen and Bench Daniel Jones — This Season Is Probably Already Over

Carlie Irsay-Gordon already fired general manager Chris Ballard after the Colts fell to 2-4 with a loss to the previously winless Titans. That was the easy part. The harder part is still sitting in front of her. Shane Steichen is still the head coach, Daniel Jones is still the starting quarterback, and the team is now 2-5 after another low-scoring loss to the Vikings. The results are not getting better. The offense is not efficient. The turnovers keep coming. Ownership has already shown it will make a move when the product is unacceptable. Steichen and Jones should be next.

Jones signed a two-year, $88 million deal after a solid 2025. That bet has gone bad. Through seven games he is completing under 60 percent, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, and ranking near the bottom of the league in passer rating and QBR. He has been sacked often and has not elevated the pieces around him. Steichen has publicly said he is not benching him and is not firing coordinators. That is loyalty to a plan that is not working. Anthony Richardson is on the roster. Riley Leonard is on the roster. Neither has proven he is a long-term answer, but continuing with a quarterback who is turning the ball over and failing to move the offense is not protecting the rest of the roster. Jonathan Taylor is still productive. The defense has flashes. Both are being wasted while the offense stalls.

Can they save the season?

Not realistically. The Colts are 2-5, three games behind the Jaguars in the AFC South, and the schedule does not get softer. They play Jacksonville next, then Dallas and Miami. Even if they win three or four of the next six, they are still staring at an 6- or 7-win ceiling in a weak division that already has a clearer leader. The margin for error is gone. A late surge would require Jones to suddenly play clean football and the defense to tighten up for an extended stretch. Nothing in the first seven weeks suggests that is coming. The honest path is to stop pretending this roster is one healthy week away from contention.

Trade everyone or stay the course?

The trade deadline is the next decision point. Jonathan Taylor still has value. Sauce Gardner and a few other veterans could bring back draft capital. Irsay-Gordon has already cleaned house at GM. A full sell-off is the logical next step if the goal is a real rebuild rather than another 7- or 8-win season that changes nothing. Keeping Taylor and the current core while starting Jones for the rest of the year locks the team into the same mediocre outcome they have lived with for most of the last five seasons. Interim GM Ed Dodds can execute a measured teardown. Ownership has to decide whether it wants picks and a cleaner slate or another year of the same.

Who replaces Steichen?

If the owner fires him in-season, the interim job almost certainly goes to a current assistant — most likely defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo or an experienced position coach already on staff. That keeps the building stable for the rest of 2026 and gives ownership a longer look at the next full-time hire. A permanent search would start in January. External names that fit a rebuild would include offensive coordinators from teams with strong recent track records, or a rising college coach willing to take a multi-year project. Steichen himself would draw interest elsewhere if he is let go, but Indianapolis no longer has a reason to keep him as the face of a 2-5 team that just fired its general manager.

The Colts have talent in spots. They do not have a functioning offense or a head coach who has shown he can fix it quickly. Ownership already moved on from the GM. The next moves are the head coach and the quarterback. Anything short of that is just delaying the inevitable.