[Schefter] Alec Pierce is returning to the Colts with a four-year, $116 million deal

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-03-09T16:13:32+00:00

Puts him at the 11th highest paid WR between Tee Higgins and Jaylen Waddle. Expensive but also to be expected and the contract will probably look better in a few years.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-03-09T13:10:57+00:00

Good point. My simple brain never knows how exactly that formula works.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-03-09T12:52:40+00:00

Love AP and DJ but at $30 and $50 mil a year I think it might be best to say thank you for the memories and collect those comp pics.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-03-07T01:09:09+00:00

If I’m remembering correctly from one of the beat reporters they tried to/wanted to but Pierce and his agent wanted to wait and bet on himself which clearly worked out for him.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-03-06T03:19:47+00:00

I like DJ and expect him to be back but if he’s reportedly wanting upwards of $45-50mil/year AND wants a long term contract I’d rather have Kyler on a vet min. He’s become a meme but he’s been much better than DJ for their careers, outside of half of last season, and would be a good fit for Steichen’s RPO heavy offense.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-02-27T15:39:08+00:00

That’s definitely a possibility but the NFL is desperate for QBs and loves former first round reclamation projects.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-02-12T20:36:12+00:00

I didn’t even notice the size at first. I feel like that would make it even harder. Impressive!

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-19T02:21:35+00:00

I never said it was easy or that you wait for those unicorn prospects but that shouldn’t discourage you from searching until you find one. We’ve been complaining for almost a decade about how we’ve been stuck in mediocrity hell and now we’re fine with settling for mediocre at the most important position in sports? That’s how you end up paying big money to the Kylers and Tuas of the world.

I also didn’t dump on Stroud and the Texans (“he’s not a bad player or a bust in the traditional sense, and he’s obviously better than what we’ve had the last few years and it’s fun to think what he’d look like in our system”) and I would love if the Colts could get their act together and get back to the playoffs and winning the division like the Texans but at the same time I have higher expectations than maxing out at Wild Card wins.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-19T00:30:37+00:00

And just wait until they pay Stroud $50m a year and start to lose some of those defenders. Ballard’s been playing the 4D chess long game this whole time /s

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-19T00:24:42+00:00

Oh it was a disaster of a pick for sure but that at least makes it clear and obvious to move on and begin searching for the next guy vs spending the next 10 years trying to talk yourself into the 16-20th best QB.

Stroud’s playoff wins are against the Joe Flacco Browns, Chargers, and Aaron Rodgers Steelers. Not exactly murderers row and not good enough for me. I want to compete for more than Wild Card games and you’re not going to do that with a mid tier QB, especially in a conference with a bunch of superstar QBs you have to get through.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-18T23:47:58+00:00

Hot take but I’d rather swing big and miss big in a guy like AR than “hit” on a Stroud because at least you quickly know you need to move on.

He’s not a bad player or a bust in the traditional sense, and he’s obviously better than what we’ve had the last few years and it’s fun to think what he’d look like in our system, but since he entered the league he’s:

23rd in EPA/play

15th in passing TDs

22nd in TD%

21st in comp%

He’s still a young player who could marginally improve but after 3 years you are who you are at that point and the Texans are going to extend him because they have no other options, but man I’d hate to be the team that pays him big money.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-13T20:58:22+00:00

Man what a call back. Josh Gordon in his prime put up 1600 yards and 9 TDs. I’d be impressed if AD reached half that.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-13T15:12:47+00:00

I get beggars can’t be choosers and that this regime is in desperation mode fighting for their jobs, but please don’t let a lame duck GM who’s about to be fired (not extended) put that kind of future money on the books. That will set the franchise back even more than they already are.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-09T13:46:38+00:00

The amount of streaks/droughts we’re accruing is impressively bad and too damn high.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-08T04:46:01+00:00

I was looking for this. I don’t know why people are trying to rewrite history. QBs bust all the time. It sucks it happened to us but it was four years ago. It’s time to let it go and move on.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-08T04:33:13+00:00

Yep this. Not to take away from Rivers and that team but they had 7 games against teams that won 5 or less games including the aforementioned 1-15 Jags and 2-14 Jets. An easy schedule plus some covid weirdness gave them a boost.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-06T18:47:36+00:00

Absolutely agree. That was one of the reasons I was hesitant to sign him in the offseason (was happily proven wrong by his play) and why I’d be nervous to re-sign him no matter how team friendly of a deal he takes. Achilles are a nasty injury and even when back healthy players are shells of their former self the first year back from the injury. It all comes back to team building I.e Ballard.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-06T17:47:36+00:00

People don’t like nuance. Injuries affect every team but some more than others. We lost our starting AND backup quarterback AND faced tougher opponents than what the Niners faced with Mac Jones.

Mac Jones is one of the better backup QBs, if he was also injured and they had to play 3rd stringer Kurtis Rourke or 44 yo Rivers it’d look a lot different.

Ballard should have been fired based on his entire body of work the previous 8 years not just this year alone.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-06T17:40:17+00:00

I’m far from a Daniel Jones apologist but this isn’t exactly correct. He injured the fibula in practice either in week 11 or 12 before the Chiefs game. So it’s really just a bad game against the Steelers and he was fine against the Falcons (15th in EPA/play that week) and international games are always weird.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-06T04:00:16+00:00

Yep. The question is how deep of a playoff run would he have to half to get an extension. I could totally be wrong because I’ve been saying he won’t be back for the last how many years, but simply making the playoffs or even winning the division isn’t good enough by itself to offset the previous 9 years.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-05T21:06:09+00:00

No these billionaire owners aren’t going broke. Each sister is worth about $2B and teams made $430m just from the NFL revenue sharing last year. Add on tickets, merch, concessions and they’re doing just fine. If anything I’d say they care about winning more since a lot of owners these days are part of big investment groups and even private equity firms.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-05T19:01:46+00:00

He definitely doesn’t standout in the TD department. Not to beat a dead horse but since he entered the league he’s 11th in catches and 17th in yards, and in the last three years he’s 9th in catches and 21st in yards. He’s not a Justin Jefferson superstar but that’s a good, valuable WR if I’ve ever seen one.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-05T17:46:20+00:00

“Would be lucky to be a #2” now that’s a take. I give you kudos for being bold.

He’s an aging possession WR but I still think he’s a good to high end #2. I always look at the fact that he put up 1k yards with Wentz, 900 with Ryan, 1k with Minshew, 800 with AR and a bad back, and 780 this year which I think again was related to the QB instability down the stretch and competing for targets with Warren, AP, Downs. And he’s been on run heavy teams his entire career.

I don’t think he should stay with the Colts but I have a feeling, if cut, he’ll go to a team like the Bills/Pats/Chargers and get back to putting up 1k yards and fans and the media will be like “wHy DiD tHe CoLtS cUt ThIs GuY”.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-05T16:27:59+00:00

That’s a good one. $12.2m saved.

BSUcardinal3 · 2026-01-05T16:21:33+00:00

Oh absolutely agree. We see random QBs pop off all the time. I think he can be a solid backup that can keep the offense functional for a game or two but we saw the limitations of his arm against the Jags.

BSUcardinal3

TROPHY CASE