The New England Patriots' dream-like season ended with a nightmare. The offensive line crumbled at the worst possible time, and quarterback Drake Maye could never find anyone down the field against the Seattle Seahawks' hard-hitting defense.
New England's defense held its own for the most part, but the offense is still clearly a work in progress. Considering that, the executive vice president of player personnel and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf will have to spend some cash to give his quarterback some more help.
That's why, with several star pass catchers set to test free agency, the Patriots should set their sights on Alec Pierce.
Patriots Must Go All-In on Alec Pierce in Free Agency
According to OverTheCap, the Patriots will have roughly $42 million in available cap space, which is the eleventh-highest mark in the league. Of course, that number can always go up with some restructured contracts, cuts, and trades.
That puts them in a strong position to make a run at Pierce. Per Spotrac, the Indianapolis Colts' star wide receiver has a market value of $20.2 million, the second-highest among free agents behind only George Pickens.
Pierce would give the Patriots' passing game the big-play threat they're missing. He led the league in yards per catch (21.3) for the second consecutive season, and he averages 18.7 yards per reception for his career.
Despite not being the focal point of the Colts' offense, the 25-year-old finished the season with 47 receptions on 85 targets. That's all he needed to reach 1,003 receiving yards and six touchdowns, averaging 66.9 receiving yards per game.
Pierce would probably account for a much larger target share in New England, as he'd instantly slide as the WR1. The team still needs to figure out what to do with Stefon Diggs, as moving on from him would free up $22 million in cap space, but even if they keep him around — which is a big if after his blunder in the Super Bowl — adding Pierce by his side would make perfect sense.
The Patriots are clearly ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process. Head coach Mike Vrabel is the right guy to lead this team back to contention. That said, we've seen great teams fall flat and fail to return to the big game after losing in the Super Bowl.
That's why the Patriots must be extremely aggressive this offseason to keep their championship window open for a little longer. Adding a talented playmaker like Pierce to Maye's arsenal would help with that, making the pending Colts free agent someone to monitor in the next month.