Pro Football Rumors
Entering last season, the Colts featured a wide receiver surplus. They rostered longtime No. 1 target Michael Pittman Jr. to go with deep threat Alec Pierce, slot cog Josh Downs and former second-round pick Adonai Mitchell. Trades have since halved that quartet.
The Colts included Mitchell’s contract in the Sauce Gardner trade and then dumped Pittman’s salary on the Steelers, who reached an extension agreement with the seventh-year veteran, to make room for Pierce and Daniel Jones raises. Indianapolis did not make a major addition to the room, which now includes Pierce on an upper-crust contract. While the team retained Pierce, it may now be a bit thin at the receiver position thanks to the recent swaps.
[RELATED: Gardner Clarifies He Will Turn 25, Not 26, This Year]
Indianapolis waited until Round 7 to draft a wideout, doing so after adding Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on a low-cost deal ($438K guaranteed). Westbrook-Ikhine may not even be leading the team’s WR3 competition; veteran special-teamer Ashton Dulin looks to be leading the competition after minicamp. As the Colts hope Jones — on a massive raise following a two-year, $88MM extension — can be their long-sought-after quarterback answer, they may need more help at receiver.
The team is indeed mulling an addition here, ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder notes. A bit of a buyer’s market has formed, with a host of accomplished veterans available. Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, Tyler Lockett and Deebo Samuel remain unsigned. The Colts figure to give this collection a look, as Dulin has not eclipsed 200 receiving yards in a season since 2022 — his only season doing so.
Allen is 34 but has a history with Shane Steichen; the two overlapped in San Diego and Los Angeles from 2014-20. Steichen was Allen’s Chargers OC from 2019-20. Allen, however, said in early 2025 he would only keep playing if an opportunity in Los Angeles or Chicago arose. The Bolts have not ruled out an Allen return, and he was productive last season (81 catches, 777 yards, four TDs), but he would be an apparent Colts scheme fit.
Samuel is the youngest of this decorated lot, turning 30 this offseason. The former 49ers and Commanders target stayed healthy last season, catching 72 passes for 727 yards and five scores. Hill’s Kansas City tenure overlapped with Chris Ballard‘s — barely, as the latter was a John Dorsey lieutenant when the Chiefs controversially drafted the speedster in the 2016 fifth round. However, Hill will not be for everybody given his off-field baggage — and potential suspension — and he is now rehabbing a major knee injury. Considering Ballard and Steichen’s tenuous job statuses, signing a receiver unlikely to be ready for Week 1 may not be wise.
Diggs, 32, has not been connected to the Colts but would make sense as a possession receiver complementing Pierce. The former Vikings, Bills, Texans and Patriots pass catcher is now up to seven 1,000-yard seasons and is in the clear regarding an NFL suspension after...
