Colts Signing Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce Seen as Risky

The two biggest priorities during free agency for the Indianapolis Colts were to retain Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce for the foreseeable future.

Despite Indianapolis getting these contracts handled, Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport logs these two deals as a pair of the 10 worst free agent signings.

Let's dive into Davenport's reasoning with each player's signing.

Daniel Jones

Jones' story from the 2025 season is a fantastic one.

After resembling a fish out of water during his six campaigns with the New York Giants, Jones found his footing in the biggest way with Indianapolis after taking the reins as starting quarterback from the incumbent, Anthony Richardson Sr.

However, after such an impactful start, Jones' injury issues started to rear their ugly head. First, in the form of a fractured fibula, which he continued to play on.

Next was the awful Achilles injury that ruined what was an excellent year under Shane Steichen. This led to Indianapolis turning to Philip Rivers and Riley Leonard as the QBs since Richardson was on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone.

Despite the shakiness of the Achilles injury, Indianapolis rewarded Jones with a massive two-year, $88 million deal with $49,490,000 guaranteed per Over the Cap.

This is where Davenport makes his argument.

"Maybe Jones will be ready for Week 1 despite the severity of the injury. Maybe he can repeat last year's success despite his struggles in New York. Maybe he's the next Sam Darnold.

Or maybe the Colts should have let Jones play out the 2026 season on the transition tag while they saw how all those "maybes" played out."

The #Colts’ record last season:

• 8-2 with Daniel Jones
• 0-7 without Daniel Jones https://t.co/xfZJWmlR1h
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 11, 2026

Jones did have an excellent and resurgent campaign before falling to his Achilles, but that's where the concern lies.

Essentially, Indy was put into a corner as far as re-signing Jones, especially considering how bad the Richardson project has been since 2023.

If Jones can bounce back from his Achilles injury, and follow that up by staying healthy and playing a complete season, then hats off to Indianapolis for making the right decision.

The contract wouldn't matter, especially if Indianapolis takes the AFC crown and finally returns to the playoffs.

However, if Jones' rehab leaks into the regular season, or he somehow regresses to the "Danny Dimes" of old with the Giants, then this will be another brutal quarterback situation for the Colts.

For Davenport to place this as a horrible free agent signing is a stretch, but it's understandable why he put Jones in this entry.

Indianapolis' success is riding on a QB who hasn't played a full NFL season in seven years. The hope is that he can stave off any more injuries to give the Colts the consistency under center they've been seeking for years.

Alec Pierce

Pierce has looked excellent as a deep threat over the last two seasons, leading the NFL in yards per catch for both of them.

However, it was last season that the NFL saw Pierce take his game to the next level.

Pierce set career-highs in catches with 47, as well as receiving yards with 1,003. He emerged as the top wide receiver with three more starting quarterbacks throwing him passes.

In fact, there were multiple games where Pierce looked like the top wide receiver, even with Michael Pittman Jr. on the field.

After seeing what he accomplished in 2025, Indianapolis decided to give Pierce a massive four-year, $114 million deal. This currently puts him as the 10th-highest-paid wide receiver in the league, per Over the Cap.

But Pierce hasn't eclipsed 50 catches in any of his four years, and the best catch percentage he's logged is 56 (2025). Pierce will need to be much more than a vertical threat to back up such a huge contract.

This is where Davenport raises the concern about the signing.

"It's entirely possible that, had the Colts not backed up a Brinks truck for Pierce, someone else would have. But in terms of total contract size, he's now being paid like a top‑10 NFL receiver.

Last year, he ranked 76th in receptions, 20th in receiving yards and 27th in receiving touchdowns.

And with Michael Pittman Jr. no longer in Indy, Pierce is now going to see the lion's share of opposing defenses' attention."

Alec Pierce on his way to the BANK 🏦 @Colts pic.twitter.com/tWZwIUQuXg
— NFL (@NFL) March 9, 2026

Pierce will have to elevate his skill set as a wide receiver to be the top option for Jones, especially considering Pittman won't be on the field to soak up targets and take away the defense's attention.

Indianapolis is slated to either draft a Pittman replacement or sign more help through what's left of the free agency pool, but the pressure is on Pierce now.

Davenport's argument here is more valid than his entry with Jones. It's understandable why Indianapolis ponied up the contract they did for Jones since he's a quarterback and gave the Colts efficiency at the position they hadn't seen since 2020 with Rivers.

However, Pierce getting such a massive deal is a large risk. It makes sense why they traded Pittman to free up $24 million in cap space, but Pierce hasn't shown to be much outside of a deep weapon.

Perhaps Pierce is on track to smash the naysayers. However, he'll need to haul in at least 70 catches, eclipse 1,000 receiving yards again, and be an even more potent touchdown target than years past to be worth $28,500,000 per year.

All eyes are on the former Cincinnati Bearcat, and he'll need to put up quite an impressive 2026 to make the Colts feel good about that deal they gave him.

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