{"id":749571,"date":"2026-02-13T15:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749571\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:44:14","slug":"nfl-free-agency-predictions-colts-make-head-scratching-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/749571\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL free agency predictions: Colts make head-scratching signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 13, 2026, 8:01 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

This would be a head-scratching free agent addition for the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Greg Auman of FOX Sports<\/a> recently compiled his list of the top 100 NFL free agents and then predicted where each would sign.<\/p>\n

To see where the Colts<\/a>‘ top free agents were predicted to end up, you can find that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there was also one non-Colts player that Auman predicted to sign with Indianapolis this offseason — wide receiver Christian Kirk.<\/p>\n

“Kirk, 29, disappeared for much of the 2025 season in Houston, then flashed in the playoffs, with eight catches for 144 yards and a touchdown in a win over the\u00a0Steelers<\/a>,” wrote Auman. “He’d totaled 104 yards in the previous nine games, mind you, but some team will think they can bring back 2022 Kirk \u2014 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns with the\u00a0Jaguars<\/a>. He’ll likely cost a third of the $18 million a year he got on his last contract, so there’s a chance for value. Perhaps to the\u00a0Colts<\/a>\u00a0if\u00a0Alec Pierce<\/a>\u00a0takes a big payday elsewhere?”<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

If Pierce were to sign elsewhere, wide receiver would certainly become a greater need for the Colts. But adding Kirk doesn’t solve the Colts’ need for a downfield presence at the receiver position if they are without Pierce.<\/p>\n

In addition to that, since 2021, the vast majority of Kirk’s snaps have come lined up in the slot. The Colts already have Josh Downs to fill that role.<\/p>\n

Re-signing Pierce should be a priority for the Colts. Beyond his big play ability, he’s shown he can attack other levels of the field, and his vertical presence opens up opportunities for others with the spacing he helps create.<\/p>\n

However, if that doesn’t happen, signing Kirk likely won’t provide the Colts with what they need at receiver in Pierce’s absence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 13, 2026, 8:01 a.m. ET This would be a head-scratching free agent addition for the Indianapolis Colts,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,49915,95900,96014,95882,96255,95903,95936,103368,95896,95888,95895,95899,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-749571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-indianapoliscolts","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcolts","16":"tag-sstsncolts","17":"tag-tagalec-pierce","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagfox-sports","20":"tag-tagindianapolis-colts","21":"tag-tagjacksonville-jaguars","22":"tag-tagjosh-downs","23":"tag-tagnational-sports","24":"tag-tagnfl","25":"tag-tagnfl-hub","26":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","27":"tag-tagsports-news","28":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116064096636808640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}