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Michael Pittman Jr.'s goal in a contract year? 'Be the guy that Anthony can trust'

INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Pittman Jr. has always been a goals guy.

Pittman writes them out before the season, keeps track of how he’s doing during the season.

A handful of his goals are numbers. The counting stats, the stuff that goes on the back of a football card and sets his fantasy football rankings from year to year.

Some goals are simple.

Like the most important goal he’s set for 2023.

“I’ll tell you one of them,” Pittman said. “Be the guy that Anthony (Richardson) can trust in any situation.”


Pittman Jr. has a lot riding on this season.

Firmly established as a productive wide receiver after piling up 182 catches, 2,007 yards and 10 touchdowns over the past two seasons despite playing with four different starting quarterbacks, Pittman Jr. is headed into the final year of his rookie deal, and another big statistical season could send his next contract skyrocketing.


If that’s on his mind, though, Pittman hasn’t let it slip out much publicly, saying he’s willing to let his agent handle it. Being a wide receiver has its advantages; a rising market for pass catchers means Pittman will almost certainly get the big deal he’s seeking, as long as he stays healthy.

Pittman does believe he’s established himself as one of the better receivers in the NFL.


Even if he doesn’t like to say he’s a No. 1 receiver out of respect for the other receivers on the Indianapolis offense.

“If you’re asking me if I feel like a dominant receiver, then I would say yes,” Pittman said.

A truly dominant receiver could be a potent weapon for Richardson, who will open the season as the Indianapolis starting quarterback after making just 13 starts in his college career at Florida.


The rookie quarterback is carrying the hopes and dreams of an entire franchise.

And Pittman, who grew up around the NFL, has a pretty good idea how difficult that can be.

“Being a quarterback is probably the hardest job in sports,” Pittman said. “For him, being so young, I don’t want to make his job more difficult. I want to make it easy. Any way I can do that, take on more responsibility, I’m going to try to do that.”


A playmaking wide receiver can take a lot of worry away from a rookie quarterback, who already has to focus on reading defenses he’s never seen before, making the right audibles and adjusting to coverages that often change after the snap.

Richardson doesn’t need to be worrying about whether or not his receivers will be in the right place.

Established, legendary quarterbacks who have been in the NFL for a decade do not want to have to deal with that kind of uncertainty.

What a quarterback needs is a receiver who will be exactly where he’s expected to be.

“I think it’s everything,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Making sure you’re on the same page, because all guys run routes just a little bit different. The depths might be a little different on certain things, for certain defenders, the body language is a big deal when you’re throwing to those guys.”


Pittman has been there for Richardson throughout the offseason, taking over the lead on setting up the player-led offseason minicamp the Colts always hold during the dog days of summer, being on the field for every practice in order to build chemistry with the rookie.

More:Inside the Colts' player-led offseason throwing sessions in Miami

But he’s also been around enough to know that Richardson’s not always going to put the ball in exactly the spot Pittman wants it to be.

When that happens, any quarterback — not just the rookies — need a receiver who can go get it anyway.

“Sometimes, I’ve just got to make a play,” Pittman said. “It may not be the best pass, it may not be the best route. … Sometimes, I’ve got to make him right, sometimes he’s got to make me right.”

If Pittman is playing at that level, the other goals, the ones he wasn’t willing to share publicly, will likely come, and the lucrative second contract every NFL player wants to land will end up following in due time.


In other words, if he takes care of Richardson, the rest will take care of itself.

“I’m just trying to lift weight off of him,” Pittman said. “He’s got the weight of the world on him.”

A truly dominant receiver makes the hardest job in sports a little easier.

And it’s hard to put a value on that.