Alec Pierce went down Sunday night and the Colts moved within 24 hours. That tells you how serious they think this is.
Pierce aggravated his surgically repaired left heel in Indianapolis’ overtime loss to the Chiefs and was carted off. He is expected to miss several weeks and could be back sometime midseason. For now the plan is to rehab without another surgery, though surgery has not been ruled out.
The response was Darius Slayton, who agreed to terms with the Colts on Monday. It is a sensible move, and it is a better one than it looks on the surface.
The Daniel Jones Connection Is Real
Slayton spent seven seasons with the Giants after going in the fifth round in 2019. He played with Daniel Jones from 2019 through 2024, and he was Jones’ most-targeted wide receiver in both 2022 and 2023 before Malik Nabers arrived and changed the hierarchy.
That is not a trivia note. Indianapolis is signing a receiver in Week 3 and hoping he can contribute immediately. Slayton does not need to build chemistry with his quarterback from scratch, because he already spent six years doing it.
For his Giants career, Slayton caught 296 passes for 4,435 yards and 22 touchdowns while averaging 15.0 yards a catch. Last season he had 37 receptions for 538 yards and a touchdown across 14 games. New York cut him earlier this month, ending his run as the team’s longest-tenured player.
He is 29. He is not a number one. He is exactly the archetype the Colts just lost.
Pierce’s Role Is the One That Needs Replacing
Pierce is the vertical element in this offense, the guy who pulls a safety out of the box and forces defenses to respect the top of the field. Slayton’s 15.0 career yards per catch is the same kind of production, generated the same way. That matters more than raw volume.
The Colts also needed a body. Veteran Ashton Dulin is sidelined with an ankle injury, which thinned the room out further, and Indianapolis plays Houston in Week 3. Slayton may be needed that fast.
Is it a downgrade? Of course it is. Pierce is 26 and on the upswing. Slayton was available in late September because a rebuilding Giants team decided it had better uses for the money.
But this is the right kind of signing for exactly this situation. Low cost, immediate fit, proven rapport with the quarterback, and a skill set that keeps the offense’s shape intact instead of forcing a redesign.
The Bigger Picture
The Colts are already dealing with a loss to Kansas City that ended in a controversial ruling in overtime, and now they are without their field-stretcher for a stretch of the schedule. Losing Pierce for several weeks in an AFC South that will be decided by a game or two is a real problem.
Indianapolis handled it the way a team that believes in its season handles it. No panic trade, no waiting to see. They identified the closest available replacement, checked that their quarterback already trusted him, and signed him inside of a day.
Slayton will not replace Pierce. He will keep the offense from having to become something else while Pierce heals. That is the whole job, and he is well suited to it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.