With the Indianapolis Colts placing the transition tag on Daniel Jones, star wide receiver Alec Pierce has officially become a free agent.
As such, the Colts will have to compete with every other team trying to acquire his services, and while they still hope to work out a long-term deal, anything can happen in free agency.
That’s why GM Chris Ballard will have to be quite aggressive to keep his star pass catcher away from Foxborough. According to NFL insider Tony Pauline, the New England Patriots have emerged as a frontrunner to sign Pierce:
“In the past few hours, I also learned the New England Patriots are hot for Pierce and are expected to make a big push for the wideout,” Pauline wrote.
The Patriots cut the cord on the Stefon Diggs experiment earlier in the week, and they could certainly use a big-play specialist to help Drake Maye get back to the Super Bowl next season:
“Just yesterday, the team cut Stefon Diggs, and they've displayed little interest in Mike Evans. Which brings us to the team that was projected to aim for Evans but has changed its mind lately,” added the report.
Pierce has led the league in yards per reception in consecutive seasons. He averaged 21.3 yards per catch and only needed 47 receptions to log 1,003 receiving yards and six touchdowns last year.
However, he’s also caught passes from nine different quarterbacks in just four years in the league, so it makes sense that he’s hesitant to return to Indianapolis with all the uncertainty regarding Daniel Jones’ contract situation.
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