Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - PRESSURE'S ON: Alec Pierce PUTS THE HEAT On the Indianapolis Colts in Media Appearance

Starting point is 00:00:01 Indianapolis Colts wide receiver, Alec Pierce, says that at this point in his career, he has earned the right to see what is out there and what could be best for his family. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Now, the number one sports podcast network around. Hello, everyone.

Starting point is 00:00:34 My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd of Horseshoe, dot com and i'm joined as always by our boots in the ground from roundtable sports a jake arthur today we're talking about the fallout still of the transition tag on daniel jones and the most notable fallout being what this means for alec pierce and his potential future with the indianapolis colts uh so to kick off today's show we're going to talk about his recent media appearance on the k adams show uh where pierce had some pretty revealing quotes uh some of them leaning towards a resigning with the colts some of them leaning towards testing the market. I don't know if there's too much you can glean from that, but it is interesting,

Starting point is 00:01:10 nonetheless. So we'll dive in that to kick off today's show. And then we'll talk about the disaster scenario that is Alec Pierce thing this offseason, how that changes the Colts free agent approach, how that changes their draft approach, which I think honestly is probably the biggest thing it changes. So we'll discuss that in the final two segments. But Jake, you were watching a lot of that segment with Kay Adams and Alec Pierce. You got a good chunk of the quotes written down there. What was kind of said by Pierce that opened your eyes and what was kind of notable about that conversation that he had on Good Morning Football? It was on Up and Adams. Oh, sorry, Up and Adams. My fault. Sorry, Kay's all over the place. Up and Adams, not Good Morning Football.

Starting point is 00:01:51 Busy gal. No, so I think the one that's got everyone kind of with their eyes peeled is the fact that he said at this point in his career, he deserves to test free agency and kind of see what's out there. Now, I don't think that's 100% certain that he'll get there, but there's a good chance of it. Because he did also say the timeline was once the Colts got some sort of quick resolution with Jones, which they place the transition tag on him, they're going to shift their focus to Pierce now. So if the Colts go and get something with Pierce that he really, really is into and doesn't feel the need to test the market, then of course, maybe that resolves itself. but it was it was really a revealing look into what's important for Pierce as he weighs all of his options

Starting point is 00:02:39 what I guess would get him to stay in Indy or intrigue him to stay further in Indy and ultimately how he's going to make his decision but Kay asked him like what was some of the biggest factors most important he mentioned quarterback stability and like stability within the organization a good culture winning culture things like that But he said, you know, obviously I've seen what it's like when the quarterback situation isn't, isn't great. And, you know, I would love to avoid that, essentially paraphrasing, which is true. I mean, we've seen whole seasons where he's been rendered useless because of the quarterback situation.

Starting point is 00:03:16 He broke out with Daniel Jones. And, you know, he said he likes the fact that the Colts are working on something with Jones and would like, you know, to see them further work out something multi-year because he's a very big fan of Jones and believes in him significant. as a quarterback. And then another thing I thought was pretty eye-opening was the fact that, now part of this is expectations based from any team who signs him, whether it's the Colts or elsewhere. But he's going to get a fat payday, right? And with that added money is going to become,

Starting point is 00:03:51 are going to come expectations of him growing further as a player. Chris Ballard has said it all the time. You pay players for what they're going to be, essentially, not what they've already accomplished. So being a guy who only gets 80 targets and just scratch the surface of a thousand yards, that's not going to be enough. He wants to be like in every down, do-it-all receiver

Starting point is 00:04:13 that gets, you know, 130, 140 targets and gets the type of volume that a true number one receiver would because he said he's capable of doing more and wants to do more. It just hasn't been within the Colts offense to do that. He's been kind of rendered mostly a downfield specialist, which it doesn't seem like he has interest to do.

Starting point is 00:04:36 So when I'm reading between the lines with that, what he wants from the Colts, he wants to see Daniel Jones locked up, probably to something beyond the transition tag, but he does, I think, like the fact that the transition tag has been applied at least. If he comes back to the Colts, he's going to want a more significant role in the past game with higher volume of targets,

Starting point is 00:04:56 which is going to be tough to come by because, you know, Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Michael Pittman, Jr., we have talked that the Colts probably would prefer to just fix something with the contract. I don't see you in an avenue to that greater of a bounce to targets with Pittman still being there. So that one's kind of tough. But ultimately, I would expect him to probably still get to the market, but I don't think it's a done deal that he's just. just hitting pause on everything, Colts, and, you know, waiting until Monday to do anything. Yeah, I think if you want to be an optimist with this, the way that you can read into a lot of what he's saying is the big thing is he wanted Daniel Jones established that he's going to

Starting point is 00:05:42 be in Indianapolis next year for him and consider the Colts this off season. And with the transition tag that is signaling that, hey, Jones will be here. Now, he might want more stability than that and say, hey, get Jones on a long-term deal established first. and then I'll consider you guys. So that might be why the Colts went transition tag first. But again, you play the risk with that because it doesn't look like Jones is going to get a long-term deal with the Colts until the market establishes his price with both sides, which means after the market opens on Monday, establishes that price, which leaves Pierce able to negotiate with other teams who have maybe some better stability with like, I don't know, Drake May, Josh Ball and Bethleh. guys are never going anywhere with their organizations.

Starting point is 00:06:27 So that might be more intriguing to Pierce. But again, as an optimist, he does say that he is very close with Daniel Jones. He liked the chemistry they had. And I'm sure that he sees the potential for a bigger role in this offense next year with Daniel Jones back as quarterbacks. So like you said, I don't think that there's, the book is completely closed on getting a deal before Monday. But I don't envision a Daniel Jones extension before Monday, because this. and why would you place the transition tag? You want other teams to talk to him to set that market.

Starting point is 00:06:58 So I do think he's going to hit the open market come Monday afternoon, and the Colts are going to get into a bidding war over Alec Pierce's services. And again, like, he could have this super close relationship with Jones, and I think it could help the Colts in this situation. But look, at the Patriots with like $90 million in cap space right now, come call in and say, hey, you could tie yourself with Drake. May, one of the most promising young quarterbacks in football, who's never going anywhere out of New England for the next couple years. And we can give you like $30 million a year. We don't

Starting point is 00:07:32 care. We have nobody else to pay. We're a young team. I think that would be a tough decision for Alec Pierce to turn down. So again, there's pros and cons to every decision that the Colts make. This is a very risky decision like we talked about all day yesterday on multiple shows. This doesn't mean that Pierce won't be back, but he wants to see what's out there. And usually when you see what's out there, you get a lot of money and a lot of interesting suitors, which drives up that price that I don't think the Colts have been wanting this to go to. Yeah, I do think there's a faction of the fan base that probably doesn't realize the interest that there is an Alec Pierce across the league. He brings an elite trait that not everybody has at

Starting point is 00:08:17 the receiver position. And I think he's going to be one of the more highly sought after offensive weapons to hit the, to hit the actual market in a while. Another thing I'm taken from this before we move on to the next segment, though, is I feel like Chris Ballard sounded a lot more optimistic about this than where we are now. Now, that was a week ago. Last Tuesday is when Ballard spoke to the media. But, you know, in a couple different ways, he basically said, you know, the feeling is mutual. We want Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce back. They would like to be back.

Starting point is 00:08:51 And usually when both sides are motivated to get something done, it works out in the right way. Not that it couldn't, but I didn't expect it to get to this point. You know what I mean? We do still have what, like four days or so, four or five days, but it looks risky. I mean, you can see in the comment section, like half the fan base is basically like he's gone at this point. And I just never really saw it getting to that point. And it makes you wonder, you know, why something with Pierce wasn't done before now. So you're not having to have this super high pressure situation for your quarterback and your top pass catcher.

Starting point is 00:09:32 You know what I mean? Like it's a lot to have to manage all at once. When you traded AD Mitchell and it was very evident that Alec Pierce was going to have a big year, it probably should have been closer to then that you started this. so you don't have these two massive items on your to-do list. Yeah, I still don't even think the biggest concern is why they haven't locked up Pierce at this point. It's them being such sticklers with Daniel Jones's money. When all off season, I don't even think they're being sticklers with Pierce's money.

Starting point is 00:10:00 I just think that Pierce is now, now he's not tethered to the Colts. He can get into a bidding war. I think they're being sticklers with Daniel Jones's money here, or Jones wants $40 plus million per year. And whatever you think, guys, if that's too much to pay, like honestly, it probably is too much to. pay Daniel Jones at this point. The Colts have openly committed to him as their franchise quarterback. If you commit to a guy as your franchise quarterback, $40 million is not too much to pay.

Starting point is 00:10:25 And being such a stickler over him getting over $40 million and making sure that it's going to be below that by transition tagging him might cost the Colts Alec Pierce. So that's the weird part of all this to me that doesn't make any sense. But we talked all about that yesterday. I don't want to get back into it and rehash similar talking points because now Jake and I are going to dive into what this offseason could look like if Alec Pierce is no longer with the Colts. So first up, we're going to talk about their free agency plan of attack and if that changes with or without Alex Pierce. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. March is the time to celebrate women, especially around International Women's Day, and to recognize just how much they carry at work

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Starting point is 00:11:36 Both of us have our wives as our best friends. But, you know, it's important for all of us to just like take care of each other and make sure that we're all good and, you know, keep checking on your people. And that's when something like BetterHelp can really come into play. With over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than 6 million people served worldwide, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. And it works. Fill out a short questionnaire, get matched with a licensed therapist. And if it's not the right fit, then you could switch at any time. Your emotional well-being matters.

Starting point is 00:12:06 Find support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash locked on. That's BetterHelp, help.com slash locked on. All right, welcome back. Everydayer's free agency is here and so are we. Get one month free of the Everydayer Club with code free agency, no spaces now through March 15th. Go ad free and keep this conversation going over on the Discord. Join the club at Lockdown, Colts.

Starting point is 00:12:37 supercast.com to join or even gift to subscription. And again, earlier today, we put out the call for questions just for the everydayer club and the insider program for a Q&A episode that we're going to have later this week. So if you're not a member yet, go ahead and join the club, either the insider program or every day or club and get your questions in. And we will get that episode rolling later this week. All right, Zach, so let's discuss the free agent ramifications of whether Alec Piers

Starting point is 00:13:07 leaves in for agency or not. It's, it's tough to even think that because, like, even just a week ago, I was like, nah, he's not going anywhere. Like,

Starting point is 00:13:16 too many teams want him. The smoke is too thick there. Like, the Colts won't let it happen. But now it appears he very well could see the open market. So let's say Pierce gets wooed by someone offering 30 or so million a year, a good quarterback situation, Drake May,

Starting point is 00:13:32 Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Holmes, whatever, a quarterback that's, you know, not coming off in Achilles and has got more of a reputation than Daniel Jones, essentially. Where does your focus shift if you're the Colts in for agency?

Starting point is 00:13:47 Like, does it change how you feel about Daniel Jones at all? You have this big chunk of change to now spend elsewhere. Like, what do you do if Pierce walks? Yeah, I do want to put it out there first because there are a lot of questions. We're getting people like, oh, the Colts are four or six million dollars over right now? Where are they getting on this money to spend? They can create a lot of cap space, especially, if and when they agree to a long-term deal with Jones,

Starting point is 00:14:09 they can structure it in a certain way to where that's plenty of cap space coming back, extending Quentin Nelson can free up 10 plus. They will touch Michael Pittman Jr's contract in some way. He's not playing a $29 million cap hit next season, regardless if he's the only receiver on the roster or not, they will touch that contract. So they have plenty of ways of creating cap space. I will say, though, when it comes to free agency,

Starting point is 00:14:32 I don't envision receiver being much of a factor if they don't get Pierce. Because there is some speculation like, oh, could they pivot to, I think his name's Dobbs from Romeo Dobbs from Green Bay, who's probably going to make like 15 plus million per year because he's not nearly as good a receiver as Alec Pierce. But he's perfectly adequate. But I don't think that I see the Colts going that way because they have been very committed to this big changes coming on defense this off. season. So I think the approach in free agency for the most part probably stays the same, if not gets a little bit more aggressive on that side of the ball because they have extra money to spend now to devote to resources. So if they lose Pierce, maybe you can lock in Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:15:18 or something or the Colts being very aggressive in the Trey Hendrickson market to come here. And then probably some other additions on defense. But I think in terms of how it approaches the free agency plan in particular, I really don't see it. changing too much outside of just having a little bit more money to spend on that side of the ball or maybe ballard's perfect world right here he doesn't have to make many tough calls on getting rid of guys now right you don't have to cut zire franklin anymore you don't you can maybe offer nick cross a little bit more to bring him back right so yeah so maybe maybe that's the way he would pivot there but i do think a lot of the resources in free agency would still go towards

Starting point is 00:15:56 uh defense um yeah i would agree with that because outside of Romeo Dobbs. You're looking at like Joanne Jennings from the 49ers. That's really about it. Other than that, you could get some sub 10 million per year receiver, like at least one to like help and be like a veteran that knows what he's doing essentially because you kind of do need that safety net. You can't just go into it with like Anthony Gould and Ashton Doolin backing up Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Dowd. It's like that's just not going to be enough. But I do still think you hammer out something with Jones multi-year. I don't think it should affect Nick Cross much because, you know, that's still a lot of money to pour into the secondary. You know, I think you probably still have that hard line on whatever, whatever line you have on Nick Cross. You still at like Quitty Pago.

Starting point is 00:16:47 Still go about it as if you need to create cap space because you don't know what is out there waiting for you or what could develop. Like other big name players could get released. The Vikings are putting Jonathan Grenard on the trade block, it seems. If you want to do something like that, you need money. We need the picks, though, Jake. We need the picks. Hey, well, they have some, they have some ammo. We happen to have a quarterback that they fancy.

Starting point is 00:17:10 Oh, yes. Okay. Our quarterback, I think we'd have to offer a little bit more than just the quarterback. Sure. Yeah. I mean, there's ways to make this all work. But free agency-wise, I think they would absolutely load up on defense because there's nothing great at receiver and you're going to have to spend a top 100 pick on a receiver.

Starting point is 00:17:31 you like if you want someone to come in and do any of what pierce and or pitman were doing you have to spend a reasonable draft pick on them you're not going to get pukunakua falling into your lap in like the fifth route it's just not going to happen so you have to draft one or two receivers at least one of them early in the draft so that means you better have taken care of defense super agency yeah no for sure i guess one receiver i'll throw out there to you jake and i have my strong opinion on this I want to know what your opinion is. Rashid Shaheed at like, what, $10 plus million per year, $15 plus million per year? Do you think that would be an adequate Alec Pierce replacement?

Starting point is 00:18:10 I have my opinion. What's yours on that? I really like Rashid Shaheed. I think he was an enormous X factor in the Seahawks getting to where they were and ultimately winning the Super Bowl. Where did you say about 10 million or so? Probably 10 or 15 plus million. I don't.

Starting point is 00:18:26 I'm not too in on his thing. but what we got there? Yeah, so that's about the level of veteran receiver I was talking about. Like, you have to have at least someone come in that's been there. But not only does he affect you, he's like one of the better deep targets in the game. He's also an enormous X factor in the return game as well. So I would be in on Shahid. That would be fine with me.

Starting point is 00:18:48 I thought he was dreadful last year. What? Okay, here's the thing. Here's the thing. He was really bad with New Orleans early last season. He goes to the Seahawks. and he's very solid in the punt return and kick return game, like awesome and special teams.

Starting point is 00:19:04 So bad on office. So bad. Like he can run, I guess, still at this point. But, oh, man.

Starting point is 00:19:11 You're not looking for a star every down player is the thing. You're looking for someone to give your vertical game respectability. And I think he would do that. I don't know if he really gives you much respectability. You're not so sold? I don't, no, I don't think he is right now.

Starting point is 00:19:28 I think he's a great special teamer at this point. Like one of the best special teamers in football. I think he's a Super Bowl champion, Zach. He is a Super Bowl champion. So is Jake Bobo, who's about to hit the market as well. So Jake Bobo could be the big pivot. We need a big white boy. Let's get Jake Bobo in here.

Starting point is 00:19:45 But yeah, no, for me, I don't think the pivot should be Rashidjahe. I think you have to kind of build up in the aggregate when it comes to replacing Alec Peers. And I think the big way is building. in the draft with it. I think two receivers should be on tape on on deck. So coming up, again, coming up, we're going to talk about how this changes, changes draft plans because all offseason,

Starting point is 00:20:09 we were talking about linebacker at 47, edge rusher at 47, or, you know, spreading those two positions out across second and third round. If they lose Alec Pierce, I think wide receiver becomes the biggest draft need for the Colts if they want to keep this offense humming next season. So we're going to talk about that and more in the final segment. Talk about a couple guys.

Starting point is 00:20:28 who could fit the Colts in this adequate wide receiver draft. I think it's an adequate wide receiver draft. Hey, it's Matt Derry from the Lockdown Lions podcast. The people I love depend on me. If I'm gone, the financial responsibilities don't disappear. I didn't want my family figuring things out during the hardest moment of their lives. That's why I knew only one place to go. I chose life insurance through my friends at Ethos.

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Starting point is 00:21:38 All right. Welcome back every dayers. We are talking about Alec Pierce specifically. He was on the Up and Adam show today. And I mean, he stated rightfully that he deserves to see what's out there on the free agent market. Will the Colts sweeten the pot too much to let him get there? We'll see. but ultimately it seems like a pretty good chance that come Monday,

Starting point is 00:22:00 Pierce is going to be talking to some other teams. So we talked about the ramifications of that. We talked about what free agency might look like if Pierce were to walk. But now we've got to talk about what the draft might look like if Pierce walks. So, Zach, we discussed free agency, you need to go, you need to buy defense. You need impact players on the defense now because you're going to have to spend a top 75, top 100 pick on a receiver. And, I mean, there's luckily.

Starting point is 00:22:27 some good ones out there. Some burners out there that can replace some of what Alec Pierce gives you. But it really kind of sucks that the fact that you now have to spend rich resources on receiver when before it was linebacker edge, defensive tackle, the positions we finally wanted them to invest these picks in. And it's going to have to probably be a receiver early. Yeah, because it's just so hard to, like when we look at the Colts offense, last year, right? They were such a perfect amalgamation of roles that these guys fit into that

Starting point is 00:23:02 complement each other really well. You have arguably the best deep threat in football that that opens up space and creates opportunities underneath, a budding young tight end who could thrive in that space that's created, your physical wide receiver, yes, he's declining, but he still can make some tough catches, and then Josh Downs your man-beater underneath as well. If you remove that dominant deep threat over the top, it changes the dynamic of the offense. You really can't operate without that. And even if you want to put an Ashton Doolin in that role, Doolin has never stayed healthy when he's given when he's been given offensive opportunities. That's really where a lot of his injuries have come, either in practice working on offense or in games working on

Starting point is 00:23:43 offense. So it's hard to really project Doolin stepping up and replacing that, although he can be part of the answer in the aggregate when it comes to all the guys that you throw in there. So I think for sure, and like the top, like that 47 overall pick could make sense for it. Although your boy Malachi Fields probably isn't in play for 47 anymore, Jake. I'm trying to think of a pun with his 40 time, but I've yet to. Best pun in the comment section below about Malachi Fields running a 30 second 40 yard dash can let me know. And I will send it Jake's way. I got something for you next on that.

Starting point is 00:24:17 Okay, okay, good. But I think like Chris Brasel from Tennessee makes some sense. sense. There is certainly some concern with a Tennessee wide receiver, but Razzle, I think, is a very intriguing player. And if you're going like round three, I think it's a little more intriguing with like a guy like stribling for sure out of Old Miss who we talked about today, how we're talking about guys like Skyler Bell from Yukon, I think is a very solid player. Yeah, there's some speedy players. It makes sense. Bryce Lance, Tray Lance's brother from North Dakota State, height weight speed, demons. So there are intriguing players, but we don't have many, like, guys that go crazy in year

Starting point is 00:24:58 one, right? It usually takes a minute for them to really build up. So you'd have to expect that in their first year that they're not going to come in here and give you a thousand yards on 40 catches. You know, it's going to take some time for these guys to build up. So it's probably just about buying like a bunch of different players that fit certain roles, kind of like how the Packers did it a couple years ago, right? With all those. All the twos. Right. All those young receive it with Jaden Reed on a rookie deal. Romeo dubs on a on a rookie deal. It was Reed, dubs,

Starting point is 00:25:27 and there was another guy as well. I know you're talking about. Yeah. They had a lot of those like, green? No, probably not. Christian Watson would throw in there when he's healthy. Yeah, when he's healthy. But like a lot of day two, day three type picks and they built a receiving core through the group effort like that.

Starting point is 00:25:46 You can kind of do that, I think, in this draft where I don't know if there's many true number ones in this class, but there's a lot of guys who can fit roles like stribling to be a guy with some juice and some physicality that can catch the ball underneath and then you add like a skyler bell who can beat you over the top if you add like two guys like that to your core plus increase a little bit of the role for duelin i think that can make a lot of sense in terms of just again filling that aggregate out to replace ale pierce yeah i think i would trust dueling a little more put a little more on his plate probably get another veteran that's not on the vet minimum,

Starting point is 00:26:21 but you know, you're going to have to pay a little bit for them, but probably not to the degree of like 10 million a year. And then I would spend an early pick on a receiver, only because they do take a while. They tend to take a while to get there. But I mean, my man, Malachi Fields, what he lacked in the 40,

Starting point is 00:26:38 he was one of the fastest when it came to the GPS data, my friend. And you know who else that was true of. Hooka Nakua, that's who it was true. Is that your comp? Is that your comp from Malachi, Fields. Malachi Fields is this year's Pooka Nakuha. You heard it here first. I mean, that would be super convenient for the Colts having fumbled the Alec Pierce situation and fallen into the next Pooka Nakuwa situation. You heard it here first and you heard it here last. It's the only

Starting point is 00:27:04 place you're going to hear it. That's fair. But yeah, no, I do think this wide receiver class is solid. I think it's really solid. Like I've poo-poot on it a little bit in recent weeks. I don't think it's a bad wide receiver class. I just think you have to know what you're expecting when it comes to the wide receiver class in terms of just a lot of solid role players that like, yeah, in the right situation, they could give you some production. But I think it's, again, it's about building up a core of guys rather than your bona fide starter.

Starting point is 00:27:36 So I don't know if they would have like, like, I think if they were to go about it, this approach, I don't know how many, like, what you're, like, leading snap getter, like, what his number would look like outside of Pittman and downs next year, right? Because it's not going to be like a Pierce situation where, look, Pearson, Pittman never came off the field last season. I don't know if you would have another outside receiver to be like that in this kind of, like, even if you took a guy at 47, I don't know if you're going to play him entirely on, like, all the time on offense, because I think you're going to need just a bunch of guys in there to fill that role. I'm quite confident that Tyler Warren would catch 110 balls. If all this goes to plan, or if all this goes how we're talking about it, Tyler Warren is going to have ridiculous numbers next year. He wasn't that far off last year as a rookie, and he kind of hit the rookie wall,

Starting point is 00:28:26 and he lost his quarterback for five games down the stretch. So I don't, you know what? Our biggest takeaway here, Jake, and you're a big fantasy football guy, invest in Tyler Warren. Yes. No matter what. Yeah, especially with the Colts going more. 12 and 13 personnel more tight ends are going to be on the field

Starting point is 00:28:44 Tyler Warren over 100 catches next season I think it could happen for sure yeah I'm taking the over on that another name another guy I'll throw out there if you're not if you're not getting like instant huge impact anyways Ted Hurst from Georgia State right another big body vertical guy who I mean coming from a low level of competition but again you're going to have to develop whoever you take anyways he's got a lot of upside again was he like 6-4 200-ish like he's got a nice frame we've talked about chris brazil a lot germy germy bernard is a nice kind of like well-rounded guy like he can he can fill kind of a multitude of those little role-based uh things that

Starting point is 00:29:25 you're doing with the the basketball team analogy with the receiver core so pick your you know pick your favorite flavor when it comes to receiver like there's a little bit of everything out there on day two. I'd just be curious if the culture trying to find a one-for-one replacement of the vertical game that they will be missing without peers. Yeah, I don't know if there is a one-to-one replacement

Starting point is 00:29:48 because honestly, over the last two years, there hasn't been a better vertical threat in the league. I mean, your closest comparisons when it comes to operating on the vertical plane in the last two years are probably what George Pickens and I'm not making this comparison, like a Jamar Chase, the way that Jamar Chase wins on the vertical plane.

Starting point is 00:30:06 Not saying he's on Jamar Chase's level. Jamar Chase is one of one. But I'm saying in terms of how they win vertically, like you're putting Pierce up there with the top receivers on that aspect of his game. Now there are many other aspects that you want to see him be a little bit better, and that's what you're paying him to eventually be. But you're not getting a one-to-one replacement of that

Starting point is 00:30:27 unless you're hitting on like a Nico Collins type of hit in round three. And even Nico Collins, it took him three years to get to what he came. You know, it took him a minute because he was a developmental project. So it's going to take time. If they lose Pierce, their offense takes a step back next year, almost certainly. And I think that they're going to have to reinvest so much in the defense to kind of correct that and make sure that they can still stay on pace. So we will see what is in store for the Indianapolis Colts going forward. But we want to thank you again for tuning in today to Locked on Colts.

Starting point is 00:31:00 We'll be back yet again tomorrow. So make sure you subscribe to our show and get all those latest episodes. and if you don't already, make sure you're following out Lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur and NFL and at Zach Kicks to All On Socials. And if you never miss an episode, then remember the everydayer club is built for you. Get Locked On Colts audio ad free plus members only Discord access and much more. Head to Lockdowncults.com to join the club and remember to use our code free agency or follow the link in our show notes for that free month as well.

Starting point is 00:31:28 And go to that right now. Again, we'll see you guys back here tomorrow afternoon. hopefully with an Alec Pierce contract signed and in the books.

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