Michael Pittman Jr. is not leaving in 2024

Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is listed by PFF as a “2024 free agent that they can’t afford to lose.”

PFF states that wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. of the Indianapolis Colts is the 2024 free agent that the organization cannot afford to lose:

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: WR MICHAEL PITTMAN JR.

This is a simple response. This season, Pittman elevated his game for the Colts, providing one of the best floors as a powerful possession receiver who hardly ever drops the ball and appears to be the ideal safety net while Anthony Richardson blossoms in the NFL.

Pittman has the sixth-most targets in the NFL over the last three seasons (413), and in 2023, despite starting the season with Gardner Minshew at quarterback instead of rookie Richardson, he recorded a career-high 2.04 yards per route ran.

A strong Colts free agency class that features defensive tackle Grover Stewart, safety Julian Blackmon, and cornerback Kenny Moore II is also deserving of this praise.

However, considering Pittman’s youth (he is only 26), his steady production (last season, he led the Colts in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions; his 109 receptions were the fifth most in the NFL), his overall positional importance (the NFL is a passing league, so talented receiving playmakers are needed), and the fact that quarterback Anthony Richardson, who will soon enter his second season, is still developing, it all makes sense.

It’s currently difficult to imagine a scenario in which Pittman Jr. and the Colts don’t sign him to a big long-term deal or, at the absolute least, franchise tag him for the 2024 campaign. Given that he and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins are both extremely productive free agent wide receivers who have demonstrated impressive production over the past several NFL seasons, he should be able to negotiate a new contract that is comparable to Tee Higgins’.