{"id":784738,"date":"2026-03-01T16:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784738\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T16:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:58:15","slug":"steelers-to-lose-chance-at-signing-top-free-agent-wr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784738\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers to Lose Chance at Signing Top Free-Agent WR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 16, 2023 — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to add to their depleted arsenal of weapons this offseason. However, they now have one less option as one of this year\u2019s top free agents may not even see the open market.<\/p>\n

According to ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler, the Indianapolis Colts have made it clear to wide receiver Alec Pierce that they plan to do whatever it takes to retain him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWide receiver\u00a0Alec Pierce\u00a0was a front-of-mind topic at the combine. The team has made it clear to Pierce that he will be a Colt, either through a tag or a long-term deal, before the new league year,\u201d Fowler wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe Colts have work to do to make that happen, but that is the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce, 25, is coming off the best season of his young, NFL career. In 2025, he recorded a career-high 47 catches for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\"\"Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 16, 2023 \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Much of Pierce\u2019s increase in production could be due to the improved play at quarterback by Daniel Jones, but Fowler believes Jones could turn out to be the only reason Pierce isn\u2019t in Indianapolis in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Pierce seems like a logical tag candidate, multiple people connected to the situation believe Jones is a prime candidate for it,\u201d Fowler wrote. \u201cThe Colts haven\u2019t tipped their hand in a possible direction. Pierce would command a massive contract if he hit free agency. In November, we reported his market could hit $20 million. Think higher now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only time will tell what the Colts will decide to do, but it seems more likely than not that Pierce will be back in Indianapolis next season and beyond.<\/p>\n

A second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pierce has recorded 157 catches for 2,934 yards and 17 touchdowns in his professional career.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Alec Pierce<\/a> Indianapolis Colts<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 16,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4994,7,392,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-784738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-alec-pierce","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis-colts","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116154986238814933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784738","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=784738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}