New England Patriots
“I am not paying $30 million for somebody to run go routes.”
The New England Patriots are in want of a brand new prime goal for Drake Maye — especially after cutting ties with Stefon Diggs.
Alec Pierce could possibly be an interesting choice for the Patriots on the free-agent market. The 25-year-old Colts wideout would seemingly mesh completely with a Maye-led offense in Foxborough because of his big-play capabilities.
Pierce led the NFL in yards per catch throughout each the 2024 (22.3) and 2025 (21.3) seasons with Indy — closing out final 12 months with 47 catches for 1,003 yards and 6 touchdowns.
After reeling in deep balls from the likes of Daniel Jones, Joe Flacco, Anthony Richardson, and Philip Rivers over the previous couple of years in Indy, Pierce may thrive as a featured participant paired with Maye.
However, he gained’t come low cost.
Given his age and manufacturing, Pierce is anticipated to command a hefty wage out on the free-agent market. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler predicted the explosive wideout will receives a commission at the very least $27 million per 12 months on his new deal.
New England is projected to have greater than $50 million in cap area after slicing ties with Diggs this offseason, so they might take up a steep cap hit for Pierce. However, with a number of different areas of the depth chart in want of an improve, the Patriots can also’t allocate all of their cap area towards one participant.
Rely former Patriots wideout Chris Hogan amongst these weary about giving Pierce such a large contract this spring.
“I’m not paying $30 million for somebody to run go routes,” Hogan stated on “The Patriots Report” podcast with The Boston Globe’s Christopher Value. “When you’re gonna are available in and also you’re gonna be capable of be a number of [roles] on this offense and be capable of run the totally different kind of routes and get open versus press, and get open versus man and run slants and curls, and make the contested catches throughout the center of the sector — not simply over routes and deep routes and posts.
“Child’s a really gifted receiver. Now, I could possibly be completely incorrect in saying this. Possibly he can do these issues, and he simply wasn’t featured in Indianapolis’ offense. That could possibly be a factor, too. Possibly they carry him for a exercise and have a unique perspective on what he’s in a position to do.”
Pierce’s power lies in his means to reel in deep passes. However he is also primed to step right into a heavier position on a brand new crew — with a crew just like the Patriots using his pace and body (6-foot-3) as a weapon on crossers, curls, and different routes.
There can be loads of danger concerned in handing Pierce a contract value over $100 million. In some respects, it’d be just like the Patriots signing Milton Williams — a rotational participant on the Eagles’ stout line of defense — to a significant contract in hopes he’d thrive in a featured position.
That transfer paid off final offseason for New England. Time will inform if they’ve the abdomen to duplicate that transfer on the offensive aspect of the ball with a free-agent goal like Pierce.
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