The Indianapolis Colts are approaching a trade deadline fire sale. Alec Pierce won’t be going anywhere, but he’s also nowhere to be found.
The Colts signed Pierce to a nine-figure contract extension in the offseason to make him their No. 1 wide receiver. Instead, Indy has barely seen Pierce on the field.
It just adds to the frustration for a Colts team that will likely trade Josh Downs, Grover Stewart and Keenan Allen before Tuesday’s trade deadline — and maybe even Jonathan Taylor.
It’s not Pierce’s fault entirely that the Colts are trending in that direction, but he hasn’t helped.
Pierce’s contract was part of the reason the Colts traded away Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers, thinning out the depth in Indy, and then Pierce got hurt very quickly, ruining the Colts’ offensive upside almost right away.
When Will Alec Pierce Return?
There is no defined timeline on an Alec Pierce return from injury.
He hurt his heel in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He was making a cut at the top of the route and got hurt.
A heel injury was particularly concerning, because Pierce had offseason surgery on his heel (presumably the same one), so this appeared to be something going wrong with a spot Pierce thought he had already fixed.
The Colts placed Pierce on injured reserve after that Week 2 loss. An IR placement comes with a four-week minimum absence. Pierce has served that now.
Despite Pierce having missed six games, there’s still no clear window for a return.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen’s most recent comments on Pierce said there was no official timetable. Pierce has pretty much vanished.
Colts WR Depth Chart About to Change
The Colts are likely about to trade away Josh Downs and Keenan Allen, who are both in the final years of their contracts. They’d be free agents at the end of the year if they weren’t moved, which increases the logic in trading them away in a lost season.
But that means that without Pierce already, the Colts will be super thin at wideout, down to the likes of Laquon Treadwell, Deion Burks and Ashton Dulin.
Pierce has been out so long that the Colts tried to sign Darius Slayton to replace him, never actually played Slayton and released him after not seeing enough from him in practice — all while Pierce remained on IR.
It’s been a brutal season for the Colts, and the lack of Pierce definitely hasn’t helped.
When Will Alec Pierce Return? Injury Timeline for Colts WR