Although the Browns' receiving room in 2024 wasn't particularly great, they didn't make any significant upgrades to a room that lost Elijah Moore and Amari Cooper. Despite their seven picks in the NFL Draft, Cleveland didn't come away with any wide receivers and signed Diontae Johnson as the most notable addition to the room. While the upside with Johnson is undeniable, he spent the 2024 season with three different teams and had his worst season in terms of production yet.
The two biggest position groups in need of help following the draft were receiver and safety, but the Browns went out and signed veterans Damontae Kazee and Rayshawn Jenkins to solve the latter. In an article by PFF's Mason Cameron, he outlined one final move every team should make this offseason. He believes the Browns should look to add an outside receiver and brought up Colts receiver Alec Pierce as a reasonable option.
Colts receiver Alec Pierce named as one last offseason move for Browns
Pierce was a second-round pick to the Colts in the 2022 draft, and he has put up 1,931 yards over his first three seasons. He has aligned out wide for at least 80 percent of his pass snaps in his career, and is coming off a personal-best season where he had a 1.82 yards per route run contributing to his 74.3 PFF grade.
At 6-foot-3, 211 pounds, Pierce posted a fantastic 9.83 out of 10 RAS score before the draft thanks to his combination of size and speed. He puts that speed to use as an excellent field-stretcher who was fourth in the entire NFL in targets of 20 or more yards with 30. He trailed only D.K. Metcalf, Terry McLaurin, and George Pickens in that category and hauled in 12 of those targets for 517 yards and three touchdowns.
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Between Jeudy, Tillman, and Johnson, all three receivers aligned out wide at least 70 percent of their pass snaps a year ago, so the fit on paper seems a little clunky. However, the Browns are likely to increase their 12 personnel (two tight ends) usage, and only have two receivers on the field. There will be plenty of reps where they don't have a receiver in the slot, and Jeudy has tremendous versatility to align anywhere they need.
Pierce would bring a much-needed element of speed and a deep threat to fill out the receiver room. He also played some games with Joe Flacco in Indianapolis a year ago and had two of his three highest receiving yards totals in a single game with 134 and 122.
Pierce would need to be acquired via trade and is entering the final year of his deal, so the Colts could look to move him if they aren't thinking about an extension. He's set to make a base salary of $3.66 million with a cap number of $4.15 million in 2025. Should the compensation be reasonable, Pierce would be a very solid addition to the room.