Insiders share latest on Colts' contract talks with Jones, Pierce
· Yahoo Sports
Coming out of the 2026 NFL combine, where do things stand with the Indianapolis Colts and pending free agents Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones in contract talks?
We know that the Colts are making a concerted effort to retain each of those players. However, there is a balancing act that comes with doing so. For one, both players are going to command relatively hefty deals.
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But in addition to that, if new deals aren't reached by March 3rd -- the deadline to apply the franchise or transition tags -- the Colts also have to navigate how they utilize those tools.
The purpose of using a tag isn't to have Pierce or Jones play out the 2026 season on that deal. That's not a cap-friendly option for the Colts, while Pierce and Jones want long-term deals.
Instead, a tag could prevent one of those players from hitting the open market, thus extending the negotiating window. We saw the Colts use this tactic in 2024 with Michael Pittman, although it's not a path GM Chris Ballard wants to go down this offseason -- he'd rather have deals done.
"It's not what we want to do," Ballard said of the franchise tag. "It's a tool we have, but it's not what we want to do, though."
However, if new contracts can't be agreed to in time, how do the Colts approach this situation? ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano shared what they heard coming out of the NFL combine.
Fowler is hearing that of the two, Jones is the "prime" candidate to be tagged.
"Pierce has a good relationship with Jones," Fowler wrote. "If the team tags Pierce but doesn't reach a deal with Jones, for example, that could be an issue for Pierce. Conversely, tagging Jones ensures he will be there in 2026, a move that would appeal to Pierce."
Graziano added that the transition tag is what the Colts would specifically use for Jones. If so, how does that impact things?
"That means Pierce could hit free agency and another team could sign Jones to an offer sheet (and the Colts wouldn't get draft pick compensation if he were to sign elsewhere)," Graziano wrote. "I think the Colts push to get a long-term deal done with Jones to avoid those possibilities, but as of Saturday morning, it doesn't sound close."
As the old saying goes, deadlines spur actions, but as of now, there still seems to be a lot of work that has to be done over the next 48 hours in order to reach a new deal with Jones.
Last week, when speaking with reporters at the combine, Ballard said that all parties are driven to get a deal done.
"Look, when both sides are driven to get it done, it usually works out in the right way," Ballard said. "I know four or five days doesn't seem like a long time but it can be in these situations. They're driven, we're driven, the agents have been great to work with, we just gotta keep working through it."
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: 2026 NFL combine: Latest updates on Daniel Jones, Alec Pierce contract talks