Patriots Rumor Alec Pierce question

LAC and SF seem to be better choice for Pierce.

But he could want to come to the patriots.

mgteich said:

LAC and SF seem to be better choice for Pierce.

But he could want to come to the patriots.

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If everything was equal maybe weather plays a role, maybe not.
If everything he said was true (established franchise with a QB, winning culture.....etc), Pats would be at the top of the list.

That sucks if he lands on the west coast. He'd be great paired with Maye.

Nice job by LAC on the cap. They are sitting pretty.

DoubleDeluxe said:

If everything was equal maybe weather plays a role, maybe not.
If everything he said was true (established franchise with a QB, winning culture.....etc), Pats would be at the top of the list.

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Yes, there used to be a Brady-Belichick winning franchise and culture. Look it up in the history books.
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Vrabel is establishing a new winning franchise and culture. Maybe we are a much better choice, or NOT.

I think Harbough can convince Pierce that he has brought a winning culture into LA.
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The chargers were and are competitors for the division. They were a playoff team in 2025. The chargers have on of the very best QB's in the NFL.

Boutte made some downfield plays last year but it was low volume and defenses didn't react to it. Not the way you really want them to. He didn't open things up for others. Defenses viewed it was a product of the QB and him making some good contested catches. They didn't feel it was something they had to direct a ton of extra attention to. Led to us facing a lot of loaded boxes in the run game Pierce is a guy who should change that. He gives you elite deep ball production against defenses that spend extra attention to stop it. That actually opens things up for others. That would be the idea of signing him. That type of route tree on high volume (and with lesser QB play) is going to lead to a lower completion percentage. That doesn't really concern me with him.

You are right that he doesn't project to be a high volume receiver here. If we did get him, I'd expect his numbers to keep looking like last year honestly - 50 catches and 1K yards, give or take. But with that statistical production would also come the off the stat sheet contribution of pushing defenses back and therefore opening up room for others underneath and making run blocking and QB/OL blitz pickup reads easier as a result.

You do have to weigh paying for the guy doing that vs. paying for the guy who's making those over the middle/underneath catches on higher volume. The market for Pierce that I've read is about $25M/year which is barely top 15 for WR money. So this idea he's being paid like some high end #1 would be fallacy at that range. If the market pushed him much higher

I'm a fan of NOT paying top WR1 money and instead spreading the ball around. The downside to that is then you have no one who draws extra attention. So I'd be willing to pay up (but far from WR1 money) for a guy like Pierce because a premier deep ball threat like that gives you that benefit of added attention and dictating coverage just by virtue of big plays being such a premium for defenses to defend against. That open sup room for those "lesser" WR targets which means you can invest the true top of the market dollars in the trenches on offense and on defense and let the elite QB have the targets play up above their on paper level.

mgteich said:

LAC and SF seem to be better choice for Pierce.

But he could want to come to the patriots.

Click to expand...

DoubleDeluxe said:

If everything was equal maybe weather plays a role, maybe not.
If everything he said was true (established franchise with a QB, winning culture.....etc), Pats would be at the top of the list.

Click to expand...

If Pierce gets on the phone with Harbaugh, then gets on the phone with Vrabel, how would you think this ends? The money is going to be the same, it comes down to who you want to play for. My money is on Vrabel.

Huckleberry1 said:

If Pierce gets on the phone with Harbaugh, then gets on the phone with Vrabel, how would you think this ends? The money is going to be the same, it comes down to who you want to play for. My money is on Vrabel.

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All he has to do is watch Harbaugh's pre and post game pressers before our playoff game.
Guy seems to be losing his marbles.

Huckleberry1 said:

If Pierce gets on the phone with Harbaugh, then gets on the phone with Vrabel, how would you think this ends? The money is going to be the same, it comes down to who you want to play for. My money is on Vrabel.

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He might even fly in for a day and compare the plane, the facilities, and the night life.

KCSVEN said:

Chargers are a possibility, but everyone has Pats as 1 of the top 1 or 2 most likely destinations.
California the one place where taxes and cost of living is a disadvantage to Boston.
Chargers also have 15 less players under contract than the Pats they need to sign a lot more guys so cap difference not as great as it looks.

Neither team will be constrained by cap space.

Probably 5-6 teams will at least take a look at him seriously.

His college coach is one of Vrabel's best friends. Vrabel will have a lot of insight in determining how high he wants to go.

Let's not forget Milt Williams spurned Carolina (much nicer weather, better tax situation) and signed with Pats.

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The College Coach point seems to be the one that stands out besides his comments

Besides Vrabel having great intel on him. He will have great intel on Vrabel. I like both of those odds

Real fan 02 said:

Stefon Diggs Expected to Join Los Angeles Rams After Patriots Release

After a torn ACL limited him to just eight games with the Houston Texans in 2024, wide receiver Stefon Diggs bounced back in a big way. Before the 2025 season, he joined the New England Patriots on a three-year, $63.5 million deal. Diggs led in targets (102), receptions (85) and yards (1,013)...

sports.yahoo.com

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That's a great spot for him.

mgteich said:

Yes, there used to be a Brady-Belichick winning franchise and culture. Look it up in the history books.
==========
Vrabel is establishing a new winning franchise and culture. Maybe we are a much better choice, or NOT.

I think Harbough can convince Pierce that he has brought a winning culture into LA.
==========
The chargers were and are competitors for the division. They were a playoff team in 2025. The chargers have on of the very best QB's in the NFL.

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A Hyundai is a car just like a Cadillac is

mgteich said:

I'm sure that Providence nightlife and the availability of good snowshoeing is a major plus for the patriots.

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If he made his career choice based upon the nightlife, he wouldn’t be highly sought

Real fan 02 said:

Stefon Diggs Expected to Join Los Angeles Rams After Patriots Release

After a torn ACL limited him to just eight games with the Houston Texans in 2024, wide receiver Stefon Diggs bounced back in a big way. Before the 2025 season, he joined the New England Patriots on a three-year, $63.5 million deal. Diggs led in targets (102), receptions (85) and yards (1,013)...

sports.yahoo.com

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That headline is very misleading. It’s some guy speculating he would be a possible target (he used fall back plan) for the rams.

UGAPatsfan said:

If the Chargers want him they probably get him if offers are close.

LA vs Boston weather isn’t close.

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Let's hope that the tax advantage in MA is a deal maker, LOL

I love this time of year for football. How you build a championship team has always been the most interesting part of football for me.

Completion rate 20+ yards down the field in 2025:
Colts QBs to Pierce: 39% (9/23)
Colts QBs to everybody else: 26% (6/23)
Median qualified QB: 34.3%
Maye: 51.2%

Pierce elevated his QBs in a way that his (fairly decent) teammates didn’t on deep passes. The hope would be that there was still some meat left on the bone due to the Colts QBs not being among the best deep passers in the NFL like Maye.

stinkypete said:

I have a question about Pierce's production and fit for this offense. Pierce's career catch percentage is only 53%, and his career high is 56%. This seems concerningly low. How is this explained?

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A revolving door of poor to average quarterbacks.

mgteich said:

LAC and SF seem to be better choice for Pierce.

But he could want to come to the patriots.

Click to expand...

Paying CA taxes is a better choice?

Sciz said:

Completion rate 20+ yards down the field in 2025:
Colts QBs to Pierce: 39% (9/23)
Colts QBs to everybody else: 26% (6/23)
Median qualified QB: 34.3%
Maye: 51.2%

Pierce elevated his QBs in a way that his (fairly decent) teammates didn’t on deep passes. The hope would be that there was still some meat left on the bone due to the Colts QBs not being among the best deep passers in the NFL like Maye.

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BTW, Pierce against the Patriots' three AFC playoff opponents:

DEN: 4/5-68-0
LAC: 5/10-98-0
vs. HOU: 4/5-78-1
@HOU: 4/7-132-2

Total: 17/27-376-3

And, for the record, @SEA: 1/1-16-0