Chargers trade proposal adds $6 million breakout star for Justin Herbert

The Los Angeles Chargers remain one of the teams to watch when it comes to adding another wide receiver, as the team could use more depth and an established veteran on the outside.

The Chargers are in great shape in the slot, where they have 2024 breakout star Ladd McConkey. However, Los Angeles is currently slated to start Quentin Johnston and Mike Williams on the boundary and both are major question marks.

In a recent article naming one player from each team who could be traded, Pro Football & Sports Network's Sterling Xie pegged wide receiver Alec Pierce for the Indianapolis Colts. Xie believes the Chargers are a team that could make a play for him.

"The Chargers are the cleanest fit (for Pierce)," he wrote. "They lost Josh Palmer in free agency after Palmer had the third-deepest aDOT last year and also employ Pierce’s former offensive coordinator, Marcus Brady, as their passing game coordinator."

With Pierce, Michael Pittman, Josh Downs and Adonai Mitchell, the Colts have a crowded situation at wide receiver, which could lead to the team trading one of the four wideouts. And, with Pierce in the final year of his deal, it's reasonable to think he might be the one the Colts decide to trade.

Pierce is coming off his best season as a pro in 2024 when he had personal bests in receiving yards (824) and touchdowns (seven), which is made more impressive by the fact that the Colts had a terrible quarterback situation.

With a much better signal-caller in Justin Herbert, Pierce could really explode in his fourth season. He'd offer a better option on the outside than Williams can at this stage in his career and would add a deep threat to the offense, as evidenced by his whopping 22.3 yards per reception in 2024 that was tops in the NFL.

Seeing as how the former second-round pick is in the final year of his $6 million rookie contract, he shouldn't be too expensive. It should only cost a Day 3 pick to bring Pierce in.

While we'd like to see the Chargers make a bigger splash than this to improve their wide receivers room ahead of a season in which the team is looking to build on its playoff appearance from last year, Pierce would be the next best thing.