Chris Ballard knew he would be confronting a wide receiver problem from at least the middle of last season. The Indianapolis Colts general manager was no doubt delighted by the emergence of Alec Pierce into a legit WR1, but that development caused some dominoes to fall.
The contract Ballard offered to keep Pierce in Indy essentially required the trade of franchise stalwart Michael Pittman Jr this offseason. And it may have discouraged Ballard from pursuing another big-name free agent receiver this year.
Pierce has been slowed this summer as he recovered from ankle surgery in March. He is expected to be available when the regular season begins, but there may be some rust. The bottom line is that Indianapolis could begin the season with no Michael Pittman and an Alec Pierce still playing his way back into shape.
The Indianapolis Colts may sign a new wide receiver before the season, but it should be one of these
Recently acquired Keenan Allen has had a bumpy first week with the club. That may inspire Ballard to scan the recent releases from other NFL teams to see if there isn’t a receiver available who could help out early in the season.
There may well be. A lot of receivers became available on Sunday. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ballard signed one of them. But there are several he should avoid.
Most of the newly available wideouts are young players subject to waivers. A smaller percentage are veterans who are free agents. Some of those veterans have names known to NFL fans. They tend to be the players who are most tempting.
But they also tend to carry the most baggage.
Mecole Hardman – Buffalo Bills
Hardman has won multiple Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. His dynamic speed and kick return ability made him a second-round draft pick back in 2019. And with the recent injury to Coleman Owen, the Colts might be in the market for a quality kick returner.
The problem is that Hardman has been a shadow of what he once was with the Chiefs. He has played in just 33 games in the last four seasons and has been a virtual nonentity as a receiver.
He may still be able to break off a big return now and then, but the Colts would be better off going with a less spectacular but more reliable option like Anthony Gould, while trying to develop their own young receivers.
Sterling Shepard – Houston Texans
Shepard may have another year or two left in him, but he is a far cry from the receiver who toiled in New York for the Giants over much of the past decade. If he signs with a new team, he will be entering his eleventh season. He caught 71 balls for Tampa over the past two years, which isn’t too bad for a savvy vet well past 30.
But he makes no sense in Indy because Shepard, at this point, is basically confined to the slot. The one sure thing the Colts have at receiver entering Week 1 is Josh Downs in the slot. No reason to mess with that.
K.J. Osborn – Tennessee Titans
Osborn is very tough to figure out. Based on his play in Minnesota between 2021 and 2023, he looked to be on the verge of a solid career. Perhaps he would never be in the upper echelon of NFL pass catchers, but as a complement to a legit WR1, K.J. Osborn seemed primed for success.
Then something happened. He went to New England on a big contract and vanished. The Patriots simply wrote their free agent acquisition out of the offense in short order. He wound up with the receiver-needy Washington Commanders but couldn’t crack a weak lineup.
He was on the Falcons practice squad for a while and then was in camp with the Titans. Osborn is now 29. The last few years should have been his prime, and he produced nothing. That early promise is not likely to evolve at this point.
Noah Brown – Las Vegas
Noah Brown simply cannot stay healthy. If he ever could, Brown could be a pretty solid second or third receiver. He has good size and speed. When healthy, he has always had a penchant for making plays. The last time most of us saw him was in 2024 when he was on the receiving end of Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary that beat the Bears.
But Brown has been in the league since 2017, and he has appeared in at least 15 games just twice. 91 games over nine years. And now he has crossed the 30-year-old threshold, where most players – especially receivers – suffer decline. And they certainly do not get healthier as they age.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling – Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys were the eighth team MVS has been with since entering the league in 2018. He still has exceptional speed, and that has proven to be catnip to coaches and GMs since football began. Indeed, MVS is one of the few current wideouts to have multiple 20-yard-per-reception seasons in the past decade. Alec Pierce is another.
The problem is that MVS has not caught more than 21 passes in a year since 2022. He has a career catch rate of under 50%. He has never been a reliable target. No matter how fast he is, he has not added to the offenses he has been part of since his earliest years in Green Bay, when Aaron Rodgers was his quarterback.
There may be plenty of young – or even older – receivers who can still help the Colts this year. These five are not among them.
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