{"id":793240,"date":"2026-03-05T07:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/793240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T07:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:31:15","slug":"the-patriots-check-the-biggest-box-on-alec-pierces-free-agent-wish-list-98-5-the-sports-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/793240\/","title":{"rendered":"The Patriots check the biggest box on Alec Pierce’s free agent wish list – 98.5 The Sports Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s very, very rare that game-changing receivers hit outright free agency. However, this year could be an exception, as Indianapolis Colts wideout Alec Pierce is expected to hit the market after the team elected to use its transition tag<\/a> on quarterback Daniel Jones instead. <\/p>\n

That’s potentially major news for the New England Patriots. They’re in the market for a top of the depth chart wide receiver – even more so with the impending release<\/a> of Stefon Diggs. <\/p>\n

Last week at the NFL Combine – when it still looked like Pierce could be the one getting the tag in Indy – Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel made note of how rare this kind of opportunity could be. “They\u2019re not going to be there in free agency,\u201d Vrabel said of finding a top wide receiver on the open market. \u201cYou have to try to draft them. I think that\u2019s where a lot of them are. You develop them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that opportunity now nearing a reality with Pierce though, it sounds like the Patriots could be ready to jump at it. Appearing on Pardon My Take earlier this week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter named the Patriots first when asked for teams that would be interested in Pierce in free agency. He later named the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, as well as the Colts. <\/p>\n

The Colts still technically have until noon on Monday, March 9 (the start of the legal tampering period) to exclusively negotiate with Pierce and avoid having to bid against other teams. However, the 25-year-old sounds ready to test the open market.<\/p>\n

“I love Indy\u2026but at this point, I’ve kind of earned the right to explore free agency. See what’s out there,” Pierce said on Wednesday during an appearance on Up & Adams<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It certainly makes sense for the Patriots to pursue Pierce if\/when he hits the open market. The question is, will that interest be mutual? Adams asked Pierce what is important to him in a new team, and his answer sure sounds like the situation in New England. <\/p>\n

“Definitely quarterback play, and stability in a franchise. Winning culture. Things like that, I’d say, are probably the most important,” Pierce said. “Being in Indy, I played with a ton of different quarterbacks. I think they’re on the way to figuring that out with Daniels [Jones]…I think I’ve understood the battles that come with not having that stability. So I think as a free agent, that would be something that I would look into a lot.”<\/p>\n

It’s easy to see why that would be a preference for Pierce. Drafted in the second round by the Colts in 2022, he played with nine different quarterbacks<\/a> over four seasons. Five different quarterbacks threw him 30 or more passes, and none more than 62. There was really never any consistency at the position during his time there, although as he notes a long-term contract with Jones could be a step towards changing that, as long as Jones continues to perform like he did in the first half of 2025 and stays healthy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Patriots certainly check his boxes. They’re coming off of a Super Bowl appearance, and 23-year-old Drake Maye was the runner-up for the MVP. Stylistically the two are a fit as well, with the deep ball being a major strength for both players. <\/p>\n

As always, money will be a factor as well. The Patriots did open up some more room with Diggs’ release, and are now projected to be at $57 million in cap space according to Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Benzan<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Pierce will be a rare talent at his position on the open free agent market, so he should be in demand. As the negotiating goes on though, it does seem like the Patriots should check some of the biggest non-financial boxes he’s looking for. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s very, very rare that game-changing receivers hit outright free agency. However, this year could be an exception,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,249,6,2592,111578],"class_list":{"0":"post-793240","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-new-england-patriots","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-free-agency","16":"tag-patriots-offseason-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116175404133207125","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793240","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=793240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}