According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce could warrant upwards of $20M/year in a new deal this upcoming offseason:
“Teams I’ve talked to anticipate [Alec] Pierce will
hit a big number in free agency. They think the $20 million per year threshold isn’t out of the question for him. Pierce is poised for his first 1,000-yard season and has the size/speed combination teams covet.”
The Indianapolis Colts have one of the strongest starting receiver trios in the entire NFL. Their complementary makeup makes for a near-perfect combination of sorts — and then you throw in the starting tight end, rookie Tyler Warren, and the Colts have a four-headed monster running routes.
Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs — the three names that make this trio in question, a double entendre, as this was their draft order over the years. General manager Chris Ballard began rebuilding the offense during the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting two cornerstones with back-to-back picks in the early stages of the second round: wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and running back Jonathan Taylor.
The journey for offensive competency, especially through the air, continued in the 2022 NFL Draft, where the Colts selected Alec Pierce’s services with their top pick, a 2nd rounder, before finishing up a year later, as the slot receiver of the future, Josh Downs, was scooped up in the 3rd round.
A raw but explosive talent, the vision for Pierce was clear. He has since blossomed into the NFL’s best deep threat, bar none, yet he’s also showcased additional tricks up his sleeve as a passcatcher, as well as remaining the ultimate team player that he is by going all out on any and every downfield block.
Standing at a staggering 6’3”, 211 lbs, while maintaining a certain level of speed that few across the league can rival, and hardly any at his size, Pierce is the picture-perfect modern-day deep threat. He’s always been selfless, blocking his tail off at any chance he gets, but his progression as a passcatcher on more intermediate routes than his patented “he’s down there somewhere” deep shots instills reality into these contract talks.
Pierce’s route tree has evolved immensely since entering the league, but even since last season. In 2024, Pierce ran “go” routes 41% of the time, but has lessened that total to a 27% vertical rate. His improved short-area quickness and separation gained on deeper breaks was evident during training camp, and has evolved into a reliable option on non-deep shots throughout the season. Even though his opportunity downfield has shrunk a bit, he’s still among the best vertical threats this league has to offer.
Alec Pierce has the most receptions of 35+ air yards since he entered the league in 2022, with 17 such receptions, and counting. He’s also the only wide receiver so far this decade to notch multiple seasons averaging a depth of 20+ yards per target, with two of his showings (2024-present) serving as half of the total season performances (Jalin Hyatt in 2023, Alec Pierce in 2024 and 2025, Tyquan Thorton in 2025) in that timeframe.
Last season, Pierce led the league with 517 receiving yards on deep passes and averaged 21.5 air yards per target, the most in the NFL (min. 50 targets), per Next Gen Stats. Through ten weeks this season, Pierce remains the leader in ADOT among qualified receivers (min. 30 targets), leading by a staggering 3.1 yards per target. Not only that, but unlike most fellow deep threats near the top of said statistic, Pierce is among some notable names elsewhere.
Here are the following wide receivers with 50+ targets in 2025 with zero drops: Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, Tee Higgins, Drake London, Devonta Smith, Rashid Shaheed, and Alec Pierce.
The latter two are both designated deep threats, but even Pierce’s 20.2 ADOT far outweighs that of Shaheed’s 11.1. Another big-time vertical threat in Lions’ Jameson Williams recently inked a deal that makes him the NFL’s 14th-highest paid wideout at $26M annually. Regardless, the takeaway here is that Pierce regularly ranks amongst big names statistically, providing an understanding as to why and how he could warrant such a payday.
If Pierce nets the reported (potential) annual salary of $20M from the Colts, Indianapolis would become the seventh team leaguewide to have multiple $20M+/year receivers on the books, joining the Bengals, Eagles, Dolphins, Lions, Buccanneers, and Commanders.
Shockingly enough, the blockbuster move that saw the Indianapolis Colts send two first-round picks and second-year WR AD Mitchell to the New York Jets for lockdown corner Sauce Gardner has renewed contract talks with Alec Pierce. Originally, ESPN’s Stephen Holder reported that re-signing Pierce was originally deemed ‘not financially prudent’ given the state of the organization, but a collective resurgence and bringing in Pierce’s college buddy in Gardner, as well as shipping out his replacement, reopens the book entirely.
