![\"Alec](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771103355_616_alec-pierce-indianapolis-colts.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
(Photo by Michael Hickey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> watched their NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>, capture Super Bowl LX in their own stadium. Meanwhile, another division opponent, the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>, pushed deep into the playoffs and reached the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n Although the Niners did have key players like Nick Bosa and Fred Warner<\/a> missing in the divisional round loss to the Seahawks last season, it\u2019s clear the team needs to upgrade its talent to keep up with Los Angeles and Seattle. <\/p>\n One position on the team that needs improvement is the wideout group. Jauan Jennings<\/a> is a free agent, and Ricky Pearsall had injury issues that plagued him in the 2025 season. As a result, NBC Sports Bay Area\u2019s Matt Maiocco believes the 49ers need to address this position in free agency and even floated a name to target. <\/p>\n \u201cThe player that I would keep an eye on from the free\u2011agent market is scheduled to hit the market and probably will not be designated as a franchise player by his team, and that is Alec Pierce<\/a> from the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>. When I look at Pierce, this is a guy who has good size \u2014 6\u2011foot\u20113 and 215 pounds. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s very fast. He\u2019s not a slot receiver, so he\u2019d be playing on the outside. But the one thing that really separates him is just his ability to make big plays, and that is something that the San Francisco 49ers offense was severely lacking in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n Alec Pierce Brings Traits That the 49ers Need<\/p>\n Moreover, Maiocco highlighted key traits Pierce brings that would make him a valuable piece for the Niners in 2026, should the team beat out the competition and sign him this offseason. <\/p>\n \u201cThe ability to stretch the field, the ability to make big plays,\u201d Maiocco added. \u201cI also think that the quarterback situation with the Colts has kind of limited what Alec Pierce can do. In the last couple of years, the Colts\u2019 quarterback situation was really bad, except for a few games last season when Daniel Jones<\/a> was playing at a high level. Last year, Alec Pierce was targeted 84 times, catching only 47 of those. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not a great percentage, but I put more of that on the Colts\u2019 offense and the quarterback than on Pierce. He still had 1,103 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and that 21.3 yards\u2011per\u2011reception average is the kind of offensive spark that the 49ers need.\u201d<\/p>\n Niners Get Another Wideout Name They Should Target<\/p>\n Pierce isn\u2019t the only wideout name that\u2019s being floated by a reporter who covers the 49ers. The San Francisco Standard\u2019s David Lombardi shared his take on a potential target that the Niners can pursue to begin reshaping their wideout position.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, at receiver, if you\u2019re the 49ers, that\u2019s where you\u2019re looking at multiple pickups, both through the draft and possibly through at least mid\u2011tier free agency,\u201d\u00a0Lombardi said in a Feb. 1 video published on his YouTube channel<\/a>. \u201cYou face a lot of potential pitfalls at wide receiver with the separation issues that the 49ers have struggled with over the past two years.<\/p>\n \u201cRomeo Doubs is a target I really like, formerly of the\u00a0Green Bay Packers<\/a>. His market rate might only be [$12 million] to [$15 million], especially if you can\u2019t bring back Jauan Jennings because he costs closer to [$20 million]. Doubs could be a really, really nice pickup for the 49ers.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on 49ers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Michael Hickey\/Getty Images) The San Francisco 49ers watched their NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-752437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116071037685199389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752437","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=752437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}