Alec Pierce Ready To Test Open Free Agent Market
- Pierce is open to leaving Indy, citing need for QB stability and winning team.
- Colts used transition tag on Daniel Jones, allowing Pierce to test free agency.
- Pierce values having a reliable QB and believes Jones could be the answer in Indy.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts have left it up to Alec Pierce to decide his NFL future and that’s a risky game to play for a coveted free agent playing a premium position.
By giving the transition tag to Daniel Jones, the Colts have allowed Pierce the freedom to hit the open market, which begins next week.
On Wednesday morning, Pierce appeared on the Up & Adams Show with a variety of answers on his pending free agency.
“At this point now, I love Indy,” Pierce told host Kay Adams. “I have loved playing there. Great organization. Great people in the city. A ton of support. I know we haven’t been as good as we could be and I know we can be.
“But at this point, I’ve kind of earned the right to explore free agency and see what’s out there and make a decision that’s best for my career and my family.”
Pierce made it clear during his interview that having an answer at quarterback is a critical piece to what he’s looking for in free agency.
That was (is?) a question with the Colts, with Jones also a free agent in 2026. Currently, Jones is on a one-year deal at $37 million with the Colts. However, another team could make Jones a bigger offer next week, and the Colts would then have the right to first refusal in matching such a deal.
“It’s tough as a receiver to really commit to a team not knowing where the quarterback is at,” Pierce said to Adams. “My team and the Colts knew that we weren’t really going to get much done with a deal, until they got a quarterback done. Priority No. 1 was Daniel, and I guess they decided the best option to get a deal done was to place the tag on him.”
Adams asked Pierce specifically what will be important to the 25-year-old wideout finding his next home.
“Definitely quarterback play and stability in a franchise. Winning culture.” the former 2nd round pick said.
“Being in Indy, I’ve played with a ton of different quarterbacks, and I think they are on their way to figuring that out with Daniel, if they can get a long-term deal done with him, because I believe in him a ton as a quarterback.
“But I think I have understood the battle of not having that stability. So as a free agent I would look into that a lot.”
It is clear in listening to Pierce, he’s definitely a fan of the Colts trying to retain Jones. Pierce views that as a positive if one were to make a pros/cons list of the home run hitting wideout returning to the Colts.
“It hasn’t been a year, but it feels in that one year, our relationship has grown so much,” Pierce said of Jones. “He’s a great, a great friend to me. We have spent so much time together. I think just having that as your quarterback, being able to freely communicate and be on the same page, just because of how tight we were, I think is special.”
Had the Colts given the franchise tag to Pierce, and not tagged Jones, it would have cost them $27 million for the 2026 season. It’s expected a long-term deal for Pierce will lead to an annual value at that mark, if not higher.
Over the next handful of days, the Colts will try to get a long-term deal done with Pierce. With Adams, Pierce said he thought the Colts and his representation would be talking more in the next day or so.
“I think they really said they were going to start working on stuff once they figured out the Daniel stuff, which was (Tuesday),” Pierce said. “So they should be getting back to us (Wednesday or Thursday).”
A team Adams threw out to Pierce about a possible destination was the Bills.
Certainly, with Josh Allen under center, the Bills check the boxes of great stability at quarterback and a winning culture.
“That would be special,” Pierce said of the Bills and Allen. “(Allen’s) one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL. Big fan of his game. That would be cool, too.”
Pierce isn’t one that gets to “diva-y” when it comes to expressing his desire for more targets and a bigger role.
But it’s clear he is eager to do that, and knows it’s part of the territory when this second contract comes.
“I think it’s something I really believe I can do and I think it’s something I really haven’t had the chance to do,” he told Adams.
“You can extrapolate my targets (84), there’s not many receivers who have gotten 1,000 yards on under 100 targets and I had 84. I think you take those numbers, what’s a No. 1 receiver get targets wise (130-150)? You basically double my targets, I’m setting the (receiving) record.”
“That’s what I’m most excited about getting paid and getting a big contract. The coaches and the front office know that they have to back up that contract so I’m no longer going to be an 80-target player. If I get paid this big contract, they are going to have throw me the ball more and give me more things. A lot of times, the stuff I was doing was downfield and pretty low percentage type stuff. That was the nature of our offense. And we understood, we talked about it. The more short game, the more intermediate game, that’s probably a little bit easier completions, that type of stuff is going to be stuff I’m going to take on a larger portion now. I’m kind of projected towards doing that. Because you have to justify paying a receiver all this money and you can’t be a guy that’s catching two balls a game.”
If a long-term deal with the Colts doesn’t happen, Pierce can start listening to actual offers from opposing teams starting Monday at Noon, during the league’s legal tampering period.
Officially, free agency begins Wednesday, March 11th at 4:00 PM.
Alec Pierce Ready To Test Open Free Agent Market was originally published on 1075thefan.com
