March 3, 2026, 7:47 p.m. ET
After the Indianapolis Colts placed the transition tag on Daniel Jones, NFL insider Ian Rapoport had some less-than-ideal insight as it pertained to Alec Pierce.
With Jones being tagged, Pierce is now set to hit the open market as one of the most coveted free agents in all of football. Now, the Colts could prevent that from happening by agreeing to a new deal with Pierce prior to March 9th, when the NFL’s legal tampering period begins.
But as Rapoport noted, why wouldn’t Pierce want to enter free agency?
“The Colts have made a big offer to Alec Pierce,” Rapoport said. “They’re going to try to get that one done, but he’s got like five days until free agency. Hard to imagine that Alec Pierce agrees to a deal now when he’s able to talk to anyone in the NFL in just a couple days.”
That last sentence from Rapoport is the important one to take note of.
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Rapoport continued, “He’s going to get a huge deal no matter what. It does sound like he’d like to be in Indy, but because he is now free, they are really, really are going to have to pay for it. It’s not a great situation for Indianapolis who has several other salary cap issues as well but it is their reality given today’s developments.”
While the Colts have made a “big offer,” as Rapoport put it, from Pierce’s perspective, in terms of maximizing his contract value, hitting free agency where numerous teams will be interested could further increase his payday.
Even if the Colts do retain Pierce, the cost to do so may now end up being higher with Pierce’s leverage increasing.
Had the Colts been able to come to terms with Jones on a deal prior to Tuesday’s tagging deadline, they then could have used the franchise tag on Pierce.
But instead, Chris Ballard is venturing down a path that carries a lot more risk.
The Colts may have every intention of re-signing Pierce, but if he enters free agency, as Rapoport suggests could be the case, anything can happen.