The Pittsburgh Steelers have made it to the first dead period of the offseason, where they are doing a ton of work and research behind the scenes to find the best possible players to fit the team for the upcoming 2026 season. It's a good thing that they are loaded with draft capital and cap space because there are a ton of holes on the roster that need to be filled if they want to fulfill Art Rooney II's desire of not rebuilding and trying to get back to the Super Bowl.
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Steelers Team President Art Rooney II stands on the field while watching his team get ready for a regular season game.
There may be one great option for them, but it would come with a large price tag. While making an appearance on You Better You Bet, Chris Mack spoke about a big need that the Steelers have, and how desperation could lead them to one player in particular.
"Alec Pierce to the Pittsburgh Steelers," Mack said. "The Steelers are desperate for wide receivers. Desperate. It's DK Metcalf and DK Metcalf and a bunch of blank spots on the depth chart. Alec Pierce gives you somebody to stretch the field: something they didn't have last year with George Pickens being traded to Dallas. They probably have to overpay to get it done, but they have the cap space to do it, especially if they restructure a deal or two."
Alec Pierce has become the face of the big play, as he led the entire NFL in yards per reception over the previous two seasons during his time with the Indianapolis Colts. On a Steelers team that is void of receiver talent, getting a young star to take the top off of opposing defenses would be huge to the development of this young offense, whether they have a young quarterback or not in 2026 and beyond.
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Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce celebrates after scoring a big-time touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pierce logged his first 1,000-yard season in 2025 despite only having 47 receptions. He also only had one drop, which shows how great his hands are in these contested deep balls. He had all that with 84 targets, so a more accurate deep-ball quarterback could lead to him having more receptions and more splash plays. Depending on who Pittsburgh's starter is, this could be a great or terrible fit for him.
Even if Pierce sees less targets, his big-play threat could lead to defenses putting more of an emphasis on him and less of one on DK Metcalf. Opposing coordinators learned that if they double-teamed Metcalf, he would not be much of a threat at all due to his limited route tree. They can't double-cover both wideouts or that will expose defenses, so when one of the wideouts gets single coverage, that threat of the deep ball would loom large.
Would The Steelers Be Willing To Give Out Another Massive Receiver Contract?
In the 2025 offseason, the Steelers gave up a second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire Metcalf via trade and gave him a monster extension. Mack spoke about how Pierce's projected contract might be an overpayment, as it is currently listed at $20.2 million per season. Between those two receivers, they would account for over $50 million combined while playing a very similar style of wideout.
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Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf (4) during a regular season matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills.
Many people would say that the Steelers overpaid Metcalf, so there are concerns about possibly overpaying for a younger version of him, even if he is about $10 million cheaper per year. Pierce could definitely help Pittsburgh's offense, but the question is how much? The Steelers have to figure out if that high price tag would be worth it for another deep threat with a less-than-stellar route tree in this kind of offense.
What do you think about the Steelers potentially signing Pierce out of pure desperation? What contract value would you consider to be fair? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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