The Indianapolis Colts have a big season coming up, and general manager Chris Ballard had some unfortunate news to share about Alec Pierce , fresh off landing his monster extension.
The Indianapolis Colts
haven't made a major outside-the-building move this offseason. Their biggest moves have been retaining their own.
Their choice to extend wide receiver Alec Pierce has been one of their biggest moves. They handed him a four-year, $114 million contract
to make Pierce their WR1 going forward.
A small bump in the road towards seeing Pierce take over that role has arisen, though. With general manager Chris Ballard sharing some rough news about the health status of Pierce ahead of OTAs.
Dec 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce (14) looks on during warmups before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium. Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
47 receptions
84 targets
1,003 yards
6 touchdowns
Ballard held his annual pre-draft press conference on Monday, covering multiple topics related to the team. Before a single question was asked, he covered a couple of them on his own.
One of which was health updates on key players, Pierce being a notable one. Ballard shared that Pierce had a procedure done to clean up his ankle. He also revealed that Pierce played through the injury last season.
As a result, Pierce is now set to miss the team's OTAs, which are scheduled to begin on May 26. This is not how the Colts wanted Pierce's offseason to start ahead of what should be the biggest year of his career.
On the bright side, Ballard shared that they expect him to be fully ready to go when training camp kicks off later this summer. Hopefully, missing OTAs won't cause Pierce to get off to a slow start in camp, which could then lead to a slow start in the 2026 season.
The team is already dealing with quarterback Daniel Jones
' recovery from his torn Achilles tendon. So if they had to be without Pierce in training camp or even the start of the season, it would be a disaster.
The fact that he arrived ahead of the team's first official day of the offseason on April 21 seems like a good sign.
