With the NFL franchise tag deadline passing, ESPN’s Ben Solak highlights the winners and losers from what happened. For the Indianapolis Colts, they have a player in every category.
One of Solak’s honorees is Alec Pierce. By not being tagged, Pierce will have the opportunity to hit the open market, where he’s sure to draw a lot of interest, and with it, a bigger payday.
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The Colts hope to reach a long-term deal before then, but from the sounds of it, Pierce wants to explore all of his options.
“Pierce should see a lot of interest, as the roster of teams desperate for WRs coincides with the teams with the richest salary cap,” Solak wrote. “The Titans, Raiders and Jets all need help at receiver, with the Steelers and Patriots not far behind.”
Pierce was among the winners, while Solak classified Daniel Jones as the loser. The Colts will use the transition tag on Jones. This allows him to test his market and negotiate with other teams, but the Colts will have the opportunity to match any offer.
As Solak said, the Colts are challenging Jones’ reps to see how strong his market actually is after a major injury.
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“For Jones, it’s not bad “Results,” Solak wrote. “His best football — and thus his best path to a big contract — will almost certainly be with Steichen in Indianapolis. It’s still possible that he can get the deal done; he could use free agency to get an accurate assessment of his market and then sign an extension with the Colts before July 15. His performance warrants a multi-year deal, and I’d bet that he ends up with a deal… even if it’s just a little smaller than he’d hoped.”
The Colts won’t be included in the underdog category until we see how this all unfolds, but it’s worth watching. If Indianapolis fails to sign either Jones or Pierce to a long-term contract, it’s a failure. Even if they do, Indianapolis could end up paying more for it depending on how free agency unfolds as these two teams are able to negotiate with other teams.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Analysts Use Conversion Tags to Assess Colts’ Good and Bad
