Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.'s first quarterback with the Colts was Philip Rivers and he wound up playing with Rivers again to close out his six-year run with the team in 2025.
Those were Rivers’ first games since the end of Pittman’s rookie season in 2020 and his improbable return to action came after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles in the team’s 13th game of the season, but Pittman was no stranger to quarterback changes before that twist. The Colts ran through Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles, Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew, and Joe Flacco before getting to Jones, Rivers and Riley Leonard last season.
Living through all of those changes may explain why Pittman is sanguine about the Steelers’ quarterback uncertainty after being traded to the team last week. Aaron Rodgers has not shared his plans for the 2026 season, which leaves Mason Rudolph and Will Howard as the in-house options in Pittsburgh. Pittman said he feels confident about moving forward with either player if that’s how things play out.
“Whenever you have a chance to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback, you always take that,” Pittman said, via Chris Harlan of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We also have two really good quarterbacks here in Mason and Will, so whatever ends up turning out, I think we’ll have a good plan offensively and we’ll make the most of it.”
If Rodgers opts to do something other than lead the Steelers offense, there may be other options on the table in Pittsburgh but it seems unlikely that Pittman will find himself catching passes from Rivers again in 2026.
The Colts are re-signing veteran tight end Mo Alie-Cox to a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Alie-Cox, 32, has played all eight of his NFL seasons in Indianapolis, appearing in every game the past five seasons.
He is one of the NFL’s best blocking tight ends.
In 2025, Alie-Cox caught 13 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. He played 39 percent of the offensive snaps and 47 percent on special teams.
He has 127 receptions for 1,550 yards and 16 touchdowns in his career.
Alie-Cox also has six career tackles.
Last night, we mentioned that a guitar used by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd generated a record price of $14.6 million. That was just one piece of the broader auction of the Jim Irsay collection.
Via Dan Hajducky of ESPN, the full complement of high-end memorabilia yielded $93 million.
“The Irsay sale did justice to the brilliance of the collector, and of the monumental pieces he brought together, iconic objects that tell the story of our culture and our times,” Christie’s Americas president Julien Pradels said in a statement.
The collection broke 23 records. Jack Kerouac’s original typescript of On the Road went for $12.135 million, the most ever paid for a literary manuscript.
Per Christie’s, “a portion of the proceeds of these sales will be donated to philanthropic causes supported by Jim Irsay during his lifetime.”
Irsay, longtime owner of the Colts, died last May at the age of 65.
The late Jim Irsay collected rare musical instruments. And he made some wise investments.
Via BBC.com, a guitar played by David Gilmour on six of Pink Floyd’s albums sold for a record $14.6 million at auction.
That makes it the most expensive guitar ever sold.
The 1969 Fender Stratocaster, dubbed by Gilmour the ‘Black Strat’, was used on all Pink Floyd albums recorded between 1970 and 1983.
Christie’s had estimated that the guitar would sell in the range of $2 million to $3 million.
Other items from the Irsay collection that were sold on Thursday include a custom-built guitar owned by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead ($11.6 million), the guitar used by Kurt Cobain in Nirvana’s video for Smells Like Teen Spirit ($6 million), a piano owned by John Lennon ($3.2 million), a drum set owned by Ringo Starr ($2.4 million), and Sylvester Stallone’s handwritten script for Rocky ($508,000).
Irsay died in May 2025. His family announced last year that the items would be sold, per his wishes.
“Look, it’s not mine,” Irsay said in 2023. “I always say, ‘You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul.’ I mean, I don’t own anything. Someone else is going to own it, and someone else is going to be in here.”
The Colts are signing free agent safety Juanyeh Thomas, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
The Colts lost safeties Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas II in free agency this week. They added Thomas and Jonathan Owens, who will compete for playing time.
Thomas, 25, spent the past four seasons with the Cowboys.
He signed as an undrafted free agent and was on the practice squad and the active roster during his time in Dallas. He played 550 defensive snaps and 706 on special teams in 36 games.
Thomas has totaled 62 tackles, five pass breakups and one forced fumble.
