Michael

Pittman Jr.

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.

Pittman produced some good PPR stuff, but had an interception snatched out of his hands by Greg Newsome. Still, it was nice to see the Colts offer some targets to Pittman after he’d been held under 30 yards in each of his last three games. He would have scored in the second half, but was instead called for offensive pass interference in the end zone. With Riley Leonard likely under center going forward, Pittman is probably more of a WR3 in Week 15 against the Seahawks.

It’s been a concerning trend for Pittman that the Colts continue to get their other pass-catchers more involved when Daniel Jones gets blitzed, as well as Jones pushing the ball downfield to Alec Pierce when he has time. This was Pittman’s third straight game under 30 yards, and he didn’t see a single red zone target to make up for it. You’ll be starting him as a classic WR3 profile against the Jaguars in Week 14, but this isn’t going notably well for Pittman of late.

Daniel Jones couldn’t get anything going downfield in this game. That, of course, is not the end of the world for Pittman. The Colts’ top wideout soaked up underneath looks, leading the team in targets en route to a 26 percent target share. Pittman cashed in early with a six-yard score to punish a Patrick Mahomes interception. The veteran wideout is up to eight touchdowns on the year. He isn’t likely to hit nine in Week 13 versus the Texans, but Pittman’s role as the Colts’ top pass-catcher will keep him in the WR2 ranks.

Tyler Warren operated as the team’s top pass-catcher in this game, easily leading the way with 10 targets. Alec Pierce was also heavily involved, seeing seven looks. There simply weren’t enough touches to go around with those two players stepping up and Jonathan Taylor seeing 35 touches. Better days should be ahead for Pittman, but an increase in looks for Warren could cut into his role. He will get at least one more week in the WR2 ranks when the Colts return from their upcoming bye.

The Colts gave Pittman the day off on Wednesday. Evidently well-rested and ready to roll, Pittman fully participated on Thursday and Friday, and can be started with confidence this weekend. The Colts’ X-wide receiver has four half-PPR WR1 finishes and three half-PPR WR2 finishes in nine games this season.