Michael

Pittman

This of course assumes Rodgers, 42, will return for another season under center for the Steelers, now coached by Rodgers’ former Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy. The Steelers acquired Pittman from the Colts on Monday. Rodgers, DeFabo said, “seems to prefer veterans who understand the nuances of route running, how to read coverages and what it takes to prepare for an opponent. Pittman, a solid possession receiver who slots in as a No. 2 behind [DK] Metcalf, checks a lot of those boxes.” Pittman, entering his age-29 season, last season had a career low yards after the catch per reception, reeling in 80 balls on 110 targets as Alec Pierce emerged as Indy’s No. 1 wideout. If the Steelers offense is pass heavy enough Pittman could hold some value in deeper PPR formats in 2026.

Aaron Rodgers’ new No. 2 receiver figures to fit in well in Mike McCarthy’s West Coast system. Because we’re expecting the Steelers to throw less in 2026 than the Colts did, Pittman Jr. probably profiles best as a WR4 going forward. It’s still a huge upgrade for the Steelers on a position where they were desperately trying to find bodies that Rodgers approved of towards the end of 2025. Adam Schefter reports the Steelers will sign Pittman Jr. to a three-year, $59 million extension as part of the trade. The $24 million cap savings for the Colts are the main benefit — it also helps solidify Alec Pierce as the team’s No. 1 receiver and elevates Josh Downs into a bigger role in 2026.

Pittman Jr’s return to the Colts seemed to hinge on Alec Pierce leaving in free agency. With that cap space now thoroughly allocated, it would not be a surprised if Pittman was traded or released in the coming hours or days. It should be noted Chris Ballard did not seem to give an inch on the idea of keeping Pittman when asked about it at the combine, but his cap hit will almost assuredly have to come down if he’s going to stay in Indianapolis.

Boyd predicts (but doesn’t report) that Pierce will leave in free agency, and projects a quick pivot that would include Michael Pittman staying with the team and the Colts chasing another receiver to replace Pierce outside. Shaheed does fit the need for speed even if he doesn’t exactly have the contested-catch ability that Pierce leads with. Shaheed has already been linked to the Commanders, Bills, and Raiders this offseason — though the Bills have since traded for DJ Moore.

Ballard would almost certainly have to restructure Pittman’s contract to retain both Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce. Entering his age-29 season, there was some beat writer smoke around the Colts parting ways with Pittman — it does seem like Ballard would rather hang on to him than not. If the Colts run back last year’s receiver room, Pittman will likely be on the WR3 line in 2026.

Pittman “basically admitted after the Colts’ regular-season finale that he might have played his last game for the franchise.” The franchise stalwart has a $29 million cap hit in 2026 and would free up $24 million for the Colts if he were cut. Entering his age-29 season, it’s possible that Pittman generates some low-end trade interest ahead of free agency if he’s willing to restructure his contract for other teams. It’s also possible the Colts simply cut him or restructure him and keep him.

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Pittman was averaging 5.4 catches and 58 yards with six touchdowns. Afterwards, with Daniel Jones hurt and then out for the year, he had just one game with more than 10 targets and cracked 35 yards just once from Weeks 11-17. Entering his age-29 season, Pittman has a wide range of offseason outcomes. His $29 million cap hit is prohibitive enough that the Colts could release him, trade him, or re-sign him to lower his cap hit. All that we’re sure about is he’s not playing on that cap number. Alec Pierce could re-sign with the Colts, or he could move on and vacate targets. Pittman’s upside case is in the WR2 range, but the median in his range of outcomes is probably more like a high-end WR4.

He left the game briefly at the end of the first quarter, but returned and played 50-of-58 snaps. The Jaguars sat on most Colts underneath stuff, forcing Philip Rivers to throw deeper. That isn’t exactly Pittman’s game, so he mostly disappeared. We haven’t heard what the Colts will do in Week 18 directly from Shane Steichen yet but it wouldn’t be surprising if Pittman was a candidate to rest, as he’s not especially close to any real milestone numbers or contract incentives that we know of.

Pittman trailed rookie tight end Tyler Warren and slot receiver Josh Downs in targets while Alec Pierce erupted for two touchdowns, routinely finding it difficult to shake free on the perimeter against the zone-heavy 49ers. Veteran quarterback Philip Rivers simply relied heavily on his targets over the middle of the field, something that could change if the team elects to turn back to Riley Leonard under center for the final two games of the regular season now that they are eliminated from the playoffs.

Pittman saw four targets on his first ten pass routes but was invisible for much of the final three quarters in Philip Rivers’ first start of the season, and his first NFL action since 2020. Pittman was tied with Josh Downs — who caught a touchdown — and Ameer Abdullah in targets, trailing only Tyler Warren. The Colts schemed up a few screen passes for Pittman in the first half, before the team’s offense sputtered in the final two quarters. Pittman should be considered a borderline WR3 next week against the 49ers.