The Indianapolis Colts want to re-sign wide receiver Alec Pierce, but things are a bit messy currently. To make matters worse, the Dallas Cowboys' placing the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens just made Pierce's potential return even more complicated.
Instead of risking losing Pickens to free agency, Dallas slapped the non-exclusive franchise tag on the receiver. He could negotiate with other teams, but then the Cowboys would get the equivalent of two first-round picks in return. In other words, he's staying in Dallas through at least 2026.
Due to that move, and coupled with the likelihood that Indy will place either the franchise tag or transition tag on quarterback Daniel Jones, Pierce will probably be the most sought-after wide receiver on the free agent market. That should equate to him getting paid a lot more (maybe closer to $30 million a season) than Indianapolis can or wants to pay.
Dallas Cowboys did the Indianapolis Colts no favors with Alec Pierce
The offseason is so far shaping up to help Alec Pierce become a very rich person. While he has never caught 50 passes in a season, other teams know how valuable he can be. He is 6'3" and extremely fast, and he knows how to position himself to overpower defensive backs on deep passes.
He is the only player in the NFL since 1989-90 to have back-to-back seasons of averaging 20-plus yards a catch, and Pierce has led the league in that category in each of the past two seasons. He eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in a season for the first time in 2025, but one reason for that is that he doesn't get the ball enough.
He hasn't been tasked with running a huge route tree as Indy has several good receivers who work underneath, including Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs. Pierce can run crossing routes, but he isn't called upon to do that much.
With a new team that presumes he will be its new WR1, Pierce will be asked to do a lot more and there is no reason to think he won't succeed. His catch rate should also climb from his career number of 53 percent because he won't be getting most of his targets on deep routes. He could also get to 1,400 yards receiving or more.
All of that means that the Indianapolis Colts will probably need to be prepared for getting into a bidding war for the services of Alec Pierce because the Dallas Cowboys put the franchise tag on George Pickens. Pierce is now the top receiver on the free agent market, and being the top in anything in the NFL means that player is going to get paid.
The hope, though, is that the Colts can work out a long-term deal with quarterback Daniel Jones before needing to apply the franchise or transition tag, and then the tag can be placed on Pierce. That would need to happen by Tuesday at 4 pm ET.