The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[Conn]

I really wish we could see the list of players we put in claims for after final cuts, but didn’t get (that would be all of them at the end of the waiver order). I’d just love more insight into the types of end of roster players who intrigue our FO and coaching staff. More data points is always better.

 

[tomwvr]

I wouldn't blow a fuse, but I would demand for a change in GM.

I will say the first somewhat kind thing about Heinicke I have said in maybe 4 years: he's definitely better than Hartman.

But I'm not sure he's better than Josh Johnson. At least Johnson can get the ball to the sidelines.

I think the Hive needs to come to grips that absent a mid-season because of injury signing, Heinicke's career is probably over. The entire league seems to have finally caught up to the fact his ceiling is backup XFL QB, which he was before we signed him as the emergency COVID QB.

Stats and numbers say taylor is better.

Josh Johnson vs. Taylor Heinicke: Head-to-Head Stats Comparison | Stathead

Compare Players: Check out the head-to-head stats of Josh Johnson and Taylor Heinicke including their awards, honors, championships, playoff and regular season stats, and much more on Stathead

stathead.com

 

[Chris]

Why in the world has Jeff Driskel not been considered? He looked better last year than Hartman and what J. Johnson has shown this year. Did he retire or something?

 

[DWinzit]

Why in the world has Jeff Driskel not been considered? He looked better last year than Hartman and what J. Johnson has shown this year. Did he retire or something?

I thought about him as well. He appeared fairly competent and confident playing with the Commanders.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Their pursuit of Bourne can only mean one thing, they are down on Luke McCaffery. I think it's becoming clearer by the day that this was a draft day miss. It happens but it sure stings when a 2nd rounder misses. You don't spend a 2nd round draft pick for a WR5-6.

 

[HOF44]

Their pursuit of Bourne can only mean one thing, they are down on Luke McCaffery. I think it's becoming clearer by the day that this was a draft day miss. It happens but it sure stings when a 2nd rounder misses. You don't spend a 2nd round draft pick for a WR5-6.

3rd rounder but still you hope for better. Maybe Lane hits this year.

 

[DWinzit]

Their pursuit of Bourne can only mean one thing, they are down on Luke McCaffery. I think it's becoming clearer by the day that this was a draft day miss.

Could be. Or they have concern with the lack of depth and know Noah and Deebo have injury histories. They need another guy that can get deep too.

 

[Anselmheifer]

Could be. Or they have concern with the lack of depth and know Noah and Deebo have injury histories. They need another guy that can get deep too.

They have said they view Luke as a slot and that he’s been forced to play outside because of injury. Which means there isn’t a WR currently on the roster to be a true backup to Noah Brown, when he inevitably goes down.

 

[MartinC]

They have said they view Luke as a slot and that he’s been forced to play outside because of injury. Which means there isn’t a WR currently on the roster to be a true backup to Noah Brown, when he inevitably goes down.

Is Noah Brown practicing? Not sure he’s actually ‘up’ now!

 

[Anselmheifer]

Is Noah Brown practicing? Not sure he’s actually ‘up’ now!

My read of the situation is that he hasn’t been playing 11v11, but that he will be playing week 1. This is based on quotes from Quinn, Keim, etc.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Stats and numbers say taylor is better.

Josh Johnson vs. Taylor Heinicke: Head-to-Head Stats Comparison | Stathead

Compare Players: Check out the head-to-head stats of Josh Johnson and Taylor Heinicke including their awards, honors, championships, playoff and regular season stats, and much more on Stathead

stathead.com

My response is I don't give a crap what stats and numbers say.

If you take out the number of times TH did the "&@$! it, Terry's down there somewhere" thing and Terry bailed his dumb ass out, the numbers wouldn't look so good.

Taylor was the absolute luckiest QB the league has ever seen for stretches at a time. Bram Weinstein even referred to it as "having a rabbits foot."

When he lost the rabbits foot, he descended to be one of the absolute worst QBs who has played in the last 2 decades.

Give it 2 weeks. I'm pretty sure the NFL is going to take my side on this one. As of this post, I don't see that he's been signed. Which likely means he won't be signed before the season. If he isn't signed by week 4, the NFL will have agreed with me that he just can't play.

Nobody has even put him on a practice squad to stash him as a emergency backup 4th string guy. At least not yet. There are ~102 QBs either on an active roster or practice squad, and none of them are Taylor Heinicke. That says a lot.

 

[Faithful Fan]

My response is I don't give a crap what stats and numbers say.

That’s such an odd thing for someone calling himself the voice of reason to say, but that’s bias for you.

Give it 2 weeks. I'm pretty sure the NFL is going to take my side on this one. As of this post, I don't see that he's been signed. Which likely means he won't be signed before the season. If he isn't signed by week 4, the NFL will have agreed with me that he just can't play.

Nobody has even put him on a practice squad to stash him as a emergency backup 4th string guy. At least not yet. There are ~102 QBs either on an active roster or practice squad, and none of them are Taylor Heinicke. That says a lot.

I don’t know if the NFL will have agreed with you or not. How many millions of dollars has he made over how many seasons since you started saying he doesn’t belong?

If he is to retire at 32, then he will have managed to stick around the NFL for nine seasons and earn $19 million in his career. Not bad for an undrafted kid out of Old Dominion.

 

[RexTomb]

It happens but it sure stings when a 2nd rounder misses.

He was selected with a compensatory pick at the end of the 3rd round. https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft/rounds/_/round/3?season=2024

 

[Simeon]

He was selected with a compensatory pick at the end of the 3rd round. https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft/rounds/_/round/3?season=2024

Uh… I don’t think the Luke M. story is done yet. No receiver got a good look in preseason because no passes were thrown by a competent QB.

He may be surpassed this year by Lane but still contribute. According to the coaches he got better than last year and he’s still relatively inexperienced at WR. If he continues to improve he might be a legit option by the end of season.

 

[Boone]

We just flat out don't know what either McCaffrey's or Sinnott's ceilings are. Only time will tell. I'm more optimistic with McCaffrey because I think he is more physically gifted and a very good athlete.

 

[Hail Raiser]

It's tough to find a guys ceiling when they've got studs in front of them.

Sinnott has the leagues best blocking TE and a borderline HoF receiving TE in front of him.

LMC has Deebo and now an insanely explosive WR in front of him, while learning the position.

Noah Brown can not stay healthy, which is why they're looking at Bourne.

 

[Boone]

Certainly a valid point Hail. For those looking for reasons not to be confident on McCaffrey and Sinnott, probably the most telling stat from 2024 was just how seldomly either guy was involved in a play. Regardless of who is in front of you on the depth chart, for a 2nd and 3rd rounder to have so few opportunities (or positive contributions) even in a rookie season - it was jarring. Neither guy did anything to justify where they were drafted. So we will have to see if they can change the narrative in their 2nd seasons.

 

[Commander Wraith]

Certainly a valid point Hail. For those looking for reasons not to be confident on McCaffrey and Sinnott, probably the most telling stat from 2024 was just how seldomly either guy was involved in a play. Regardless of who is in front of you on the depth chart, for a 2nd and 3rd rounder to have so few opportunities (or positive contributions) even in a rookie season - it was jarring. Neither guy did anything to justify where they were drafted. So we will have to see if they can change the narrative in their 2nd seasons.

Their snap counts reducing fairly significantly as the season went on was troubling as well. It also seems like they’ve been pushed/overtaken by Lane and maybe Yankoff (as a more dynamic pass catcher and potential ST contributor).

Now, with that all said, it’s worth bearing in mind that until recently (especially at TE) conventional wisdom was that it often took until year 3 for things to really click. I’ll be looking for some flashes and maybe a little more consistency in their play even if their opportunities aren’t plentiful.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

It's tough to find a guys ceiling when they've got studs in front of them.

Sinnott has the leagues best blocking TE and a borderline HoF receiving TE in front of him.

LMC has Deebo and now an insanely explosive WR in front of him, while learning the position.

Noah Brown can not stay healthy, which is why they're looking at Bourne.

The problem with Sinnott, as others have pointed out, is his snaps and production decreased as the season went on. Logan Paulsen questioned him some as well.

He needs to show enough that he finds ways to get himself on the field in ways other than special teams. Work his way into specific packages to start. We didn't see a lot of that.

McCaffery, I think was maybe taken a round or two early if the expectation is he was going to really produce right away. He made a position switch from QB to receiver, which is a hard shift, midway through college. He just had his first full off-season in the NFL. Now we can see where he is, and if he can work himself into some packages.

One thing his father said at the combine is they tried to have him learn all the WR positions all at the same time so they could see what stuck. That's probably good for the long term but not as good for the short term.

I still think the jury is out on both. Though I tend to be one of the ones where I give rookies A LOT of time. It used to be you judged a draft class after 3 years. I'm not sure it's that long anymore, but it's certainly after the second season.

I compare this to "regular jobs." When you get your first job out of college, you literally have no idea what you're doing probably for 3-4 years. It's all learning and development, with some hope of contribution. NFL, everything is accelerated because you only have elite graduates and it has to be because careers are generally over in your late 20's or early 30's.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

That’s such an odd thing for someone calling himself the voice of reason to say, but that’s bias for you.



I don’t know if the NFL will have agreed with you or not. How many millions of dollars has he made over how many seasons since you started saying he doesn’t belong?

If he is to retire at 32, then he will have managed to stick around the NFL for nine seasons and earn $19 million in his career. Not bad for an undrafted kid out of Old Dominion.

If you'd like to continue this conversation, I'd be happy to in the History thread:

Washington Redskins Football Team Commanders History Discussion Thread

Given a number of threads seem to be derailed at times because somebody (often me) will bring up a comparison from the past, and then we start going down the road discussing that topic, and derail the thread. So, this is a place to discuss all of the things which happened before, previous...

www.bgobsession.com