New England Patriots
“He’s a way more full participant than folks give him credit score for.”
The Patriots have a number of avenues at their disposal in terms of upgrading their arsenal of pass-catching weapons for Drake Maye.
They might attempt to commerce for Eagles star wideout A.J. Brown — a longtime star who already has plenty of ties to Mike Vrabel.
They might use a primary or second-round choose so as to add one other promising blue-chip expertise like Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, Washington’s Denzel Boston, or Oregon tight finish Kenyon Sadiq to their depth chart.
New England may additionally make the most of a few of their cap house on a free-agent choice, though potential targets like Inexperienced Bay’s Romeo Doubs would possibly operate as extra of a WR2 than a real prime choice.
After all, the Patriots may additionally simply stand pat, hold Stefon Diggs on his present contract, and run it again with the identical receiver grouping that thrived throughout Maye’s breakout second season in Foxborough.
However, an alternative choice may be out there for New England — Colts wideout Alec Pierce.
Going into the offseason, it appeared as if Pierce was going to be a professional candidate to get franchise tagged by Indianapolis — protecting him off the free-agent market and on the Colts’ roster via not less than the 2026 season.
However, Indianapolis switched gears on Tuesday, selecting to use a transition tag on QB Daniel Jones. That transition tag secures the Colts the fitting of first refusal for Jones — permitting them to match any competing provide sheet he would possibly signal with one other crew in free company.
With the Colts tagging Jones, the door is now open for Pierce to hit free company subsequent week.
Pierce’s potential availability ought to increase loads of eyebrows in New England, given his age, skillset, and big-play capacity.
The 25-year-old Pierce would be the prime wideout choice in free company if he goes to market, particularly coming off a season the place he reeled in 47 catches for 1,003 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Pierce could be a helpful goal for a QB who excels on the deep ball in Maye. Pierce led the NFL in yards per catch throughout each the 2024 (22.3) and 2025 (21.3) seasons with Indy.
“He averaged 21 yards a catch final 12 months,” ESPN NFL writer Mina Kimes said of Pierce last month. “Distinction between him and the quantity two participant, who was Christian Watson, was the identical because the distinction between Christian Watson and the quantity 26 participant. You simply can not within the NFL overestimate how a lot groups worth explosive gamers.”
“He’s not only a pace burner, separator. He wins with measurement, too,” Kimes added. “A few of these catches are contested catches. He’s obtained good focus downfield. He’s a way more full participant than folks give him credit score for.”
After working alongside QBs like Jones, Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco, and Philip Rivers in Indianapolis, the case might be made that Pierce has extra to offer if paired with a professional MVP candidate like Maye shifting ahead.
Maye was the conductor of probably the most explosive offenses within the NFL this previous season, with the Patriots leading all NFL teams during regular-season action in explosive-play rate (8.1 percent).
“I’m groups like New England, Tennessee,” Kimes mentioned. “There’s so many groups the place, when you obtained a big-armed quarterback, I really feel like he’s so interesting as a free agent.
A participant like Pierce — who may very well be utilized in a wide range of methods in New England in the event that they needed to pair him with one other X receiver like Kayshon Boutte — would give the Patriots much more big-play capabilities.
However, the 6-foot-3 receiver received’t come low-cost. He may simply command $25-30 million per 12 months on a brand new deal this spring.
The Patriots may afford Pierce, provided that they at the moment have $39.2 million in cap house (per OverTheCap). Nonetheless, New England wants as a lot spending energy as it could, as a number of different areas of Boston’s roster should even be addressed this spring.
On prime of that, New England might need to carve out a good portion of cap house shifting ahead if the crew palms Christian Gonzalez a large contract extension.
If New England realistically desires to leap into the bidding battle for Pierce, it will possible should restructure Diggs’ contract or choose to chop him.
By slicing Diggs — who’s due a $6 million bonus on March 13 — New England would save $16.3 million in opposition to the cap at this stage of the offseason.
Pierce may be an expensive addition. However, signing him would enable New England to seemingly improve its receiver corps with no need to relinquish the draft capital that it will take to pry a participant like Brown out of Philadelphia.
Join the At the moment e-newsletter
Get every part it is advisable to know to begin your day, delivered proper to your inbox each morning.
