The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Chris]

Well, to be honest I liked Maye coming out because of his arm, size and age.

He has a strong arm but had significant struggles with accuracy against very questionable talent in the powerhouse ACC conference. In ‘22 UNC lost their last 3 games. In ‘23 UNC lost 4 of their last 6 games, beating only Duke in double OT and Campbell (who?).

I loved his size but didn’t swoon over how good he looked in his uniform. 🤣

I definitely liked his age.

 

[Bulldog]

And if I am the owner that is my question to Peters.

In order to keep Daniels on the field and here for the long-term to maximize his impact, do we need to envision an offense that takes a bit less risk with him and change the way we are doing things on offense?

If that is my #2 pick investment out there I don't want to see him running the ball on first down and taking on 245-250 pound inside linebackers on called runs.

If we don't have a running back capable of getting 4-5 yards on a first down carry let's go out and get that player instead of using Daniels as a battering ram.

Kliff loves taking risks and doing the unconventional but he doesn't seem to embody the principal philosophy that Job #1 is to ensure our franchise player stays on the field.

 

[method man]

It's hard to tell what is an exact measure of a draft but to me with 9 picks in 2024 and selecting near the top of each round, in my mind Washington to have a quality daft should have been able to come away with 3 impact starters and at least 2 other players that are on the roster and making a visible contribution with the ability to elevate over time.

Philly was able to come away with TWO starting corners in the 2024 draft that helped take them to the Super Bowl and win it.

Beyond Daniels, we haven't really seen any other player from 2024 flash uber ability and skills.

Sainristil is a competitive guy and has fire, he will be in the NFL for a long time. But whether he will ever be a pro bowler or top level cover man is question.

Newton falls into that deep fog at DT that seemed to envelop Phidarian Mathis a few years ago. Like Mathis, Newton was a guy that came out and had injury problems before the draft. As it turned out his injury issues were more serious than initially thought by Washington doctors, although other NFL teams took him off their draft boards - as it turns out the worry over structural issues were well-founded. Newton is going to play at 290 in the NFL, the hope he was going to grow out to be 305 or so and gain traction inside won't happen due to weight/foot issues.

I agree that Sinnott hasn't showed much. When I heard Peters say he was like a Swiss Army Knife, my immediate thought was in Round 2 we should be getting more value out of a pick than a versatile change of pace guy.

Heck, Chris Cooley was a #3 pick and came in with less fanfare and was in the pro bowl by Year 3.

Coleman and McCaffrey are on the roster but have not been major contributors in 2025 on offense.

Magee is still largely an unknown. Baptiste is on IR.

2 starting Pro Bowl corners…

 

[Conn]

He has a strong arm but had significant struggles with accuracy against very questionable talent in the powerhouse ACC conference. In ‘22 UNC lost their last 3 games. In ‘23 UNC lost 4 of their last 6 games, beating only Duke in double OT and Campbell (who?).

I loved his size but didn’t swoon over how good he looked in his uniform. 🤣

I definitely liked his age.

These were real concerns, you’re right. I was a Maye guy who came around on Daniels once it became obvious he was our guy. Ironically my concern with Daniels was the small sample size of him throwing over the middle, more than his size. Because I’d seen offenses hollowed out by QB’s who weren’t comfortable challenging NFL defenses in the most dangerous (but most profitable) part of the field. That turned out to be an LSU offense thing, which SIP correctly identified before the draft, to give credit.

I thought Maye was Jay Cutler with legs (who actually loved football). That was really exciting to me but I agree with your overall take that he’s basically just having the year Daniels did last year due to schedule. The future will reveal all.

 

[DWinzit]

We have Jayden and he has proven to be a game changing player so lets set the Maye discussion aside.

We have built Jayden good protection except maybe at good receiving RB's able to pass protect.

Now we need for them to get him serious upgrades at WR, receiving TE and at RB.

We do need to see the receiving side of our recent draft picks Luke, Lane and Sinnott to improve. Their return and blocking has improved greatly but need better coaching up to develop as receivers.

Defensively we do need upgrades all around. Stop ignoring this!

 

[Conn]

And if I am the owner that is my question to Peters.

In order to keep Daniels on the field and here for the long-term to maximize his impact, do we need to envision an offense that takes a bit less risk with him and change the way we are doing things on offense?

If that is my #2 pick investment out there I don't want to see him running the ball on first down and taking on 245-250 pound inside linebackers on called runs.

If we don't have a running back capable of getting 4-5 yards on a first down carry let's go out and get that player instead of using Daniels as a battering ram.

Kliff loves taking risks and doing the unconventional but he doesn't seem to embody the principal philosophy that Job #1 is to ensure our franchise player stays on the field.

I do think Daniels can be a great passer without even using his legs, but his legs make him special and frustrates defenses in a way that opens up other things.

The running him up the gut on designed runs (outside the red zone) infuriates me though. Because he’s not even that good at it. He’s special breaking off chunk runs out of structure, or even just grabbing the first down, as a scrambler. That’s a cheat code for a guy who hasn’t had very good weapons in his time here. Let him do that. He can learn to protect himself doing that. He’s not breaking off huge runs up the crease on designed RPO’s for over 25 career games now. Just stop. It’s a huge problem I have with Kliff. It’s idiotic and it doesn’t even work well.

 

[skinsinparadise]

There's an interesting philosophical debate here. Peters seemed to do everything in his power to shore up protection. Adding Tunsil and Connerly is nothing to sneeze at relative to resources. In terms of weapons, Peters definitely went light although he probably imagined a Terry, Deebo, and Noah being a good starting trio. No one really expects to need their fifth and sixth receivers to start for the majority of the season. In hindsight, Deebo probably was the wrong bet. Deebo did okay, but isn't a YAC guy anymore and that was his superpower. A good free agent receiver (or two) would have given him better bang for the buck. As for tight end, I can see why they wanted to roll with Ertz one more year based on the connection him and Daniels had in 2024.

Absolutely but as I mentioned you can walk and chew gum at the same time. the Bears for example both loaded Caleb with weapons and beefed up the O line.

Considering Noah can't stay healthy and wasn't healthy that off season as the kicker -- to bank on him as your Z WR is ridiculous IMO. Even healthy, Brown would be like WR #5 on most teams. He's the #2 here? Keim in his podcast said they had higher hopes for Chris Moore, KJ Osborn and Michael Gallup so I gather the thought was if Brown can't do it Gallup or Osborn would emerge.

But what kind of low level ambition have they got cooking when they are banking on a veteran minimum salaried WR coming off retirment or a dude that was discarded from the WR starved at the time NE? That's why my theory is Peters let the Zaacheus signing go to his head from last year and or just thought hey if Jayden can make lemonade out of lemons from Crowder, Dyami and Zaccheus than why not Chris Moore, KJ Osborn, Michael Gallup?

I actually liked the Deebo trade and still like it. But he's not a traditional WR. He's more of a YAC gadget guy. Deebo is really all Peters did as far as weapons. Deebo arrives and Zaccheus, Dyami, and Crower dg. Is Deebo better than those three? Yep. But the depth got weaker,

If you are serious about loading up your franchise QB you don't fart around with it. NE signs Diggs, A. Hooper, Mack Hoillins, goes to town on the O line, drafts Treveyon Henderson, W. Campbell, Kyle Williams. Spends more than three times the money this team does to improve their defense in FA.

The Bears go even crazier. A team that already has Kmet, they draft Loveland. A team with already D. Moore and Odunze, draft L. Burden. And they take their WR depth seriously including by signing our old friend, Zaccheus.

lol, I'll keep quoting this agent from Standig's agent survey

• “Give them credit for staying focused on rebuilding the roster, but why not be more aggressive with the QB on a rookie deal when you might already be the second-best NFC team? At the very least, they should have filled in some gaps or replaced a few older players. Instead, they have tons of 2026 free agents, meaning in your third year, you're still filling too many holes.”
• “Certainly, the team where a sophomore slump comes to mind.”

I am actually ironically higher on Peters than most fans who are very critical of him. I think Peters has clear strengths. But IMO he needs to have more balls as to shooting for higher risk players. He's proven he's a good value investor, not great, but good. But IMO he needs to be a growth investor if SB is the goal.

What I like:
A. Building the O line is a big deal and its part of my optimism moving forward
B. He'e good with his FA signings -- a lot of hits
C. I think his drafts have been decent even the maligned 2024 one -- my issue with them is the same with FA, I want better than solid players. they need difference makers.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I do think Daniels can be a great passer without even using his legs, but his legs make him special and frustrates defenses in a way that opens up other things.

The running him up the gut on designed runs (outside the red zone) infuriates me though. Because he’s not even that good at it. He’s special breaking off chunk runs out of structure, or even just grabbing the first down, as a scrambler. That’s a cheat code for a guy who hasn’t had very good weapons in his time here. Let him do that. He can learn to protect himself doing that. He’s not breaking off huge runs up the crease on designed RPO’s for over 25 career games now. Just stop. It’s a huge problem I have with Kliff. It’s idiotic and it doesn’t even work well.

The two plays I'd dump is the up the A gut designed run. The other is the wildcat. I am gathering the wildcat must look great against this team's trash defense in practice considering they keep trying it -- but it looks awful in real games.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I was definitely not and quite vocal about it here, before most of the active posters here arrived, for about 5 reasons. He has surprised me but I’m not crowning him off of one very fortunate set of circumstances type of season. If he has the same level of success next year with a 1st place schedule, I will admit my stupidity.

On ES it was a hot debate, more liked Maye, most liked one but not the other. I am guessing I was one of maybe 6 people or so who loved both QBs. I slightly preferred Maye.

I recall my issue with Maye was he wasn't at his best in the big moments and big games, especially late in those games. So I am interested to see what he does in the post season.

The fact that their opponents are even below 400 ball is insane. I recall seeing somewhere weeks back that the Pats have the easiest schedule in the history of the NFL.

 

[Chris]

On ES it was a hot debate, more liked Maye, most liked one but not the other. I am guessing I was one of maybe 6 people or so who loved both QBs. I slightly preferred Maye.

I recall my issue with Maye was he wasn't at his best in the big moments and big games, especially late in those games. So I am interested to see what he does in the post season.

The fact that their opponents are even below 400 ball is insane. I recall seeing somewhere weeks back that the Pats have the easiest schedule in the history of the NFL.

SOS makes the Rams season even more impressive.

 

[clskinsfan]

The whole strength of schedule thing is a weird argument imo. They beat those teams to make their win percentage lower. They have beaten the Bills, Buccs and Ravens this year. Those are good teams. The Ravens are having a down year though for sure.

 

[skinsinparadise]

We have Jayden and he has proven to be a game changing player so lets set the Maye discussion aside.

We have built Jayden good protection except maybe at good receiving RB's able to pass protect.

Now we need for them to get him serious upgrades at WR, receiving TE and at RB.

We do need to see the receiving side of our recent draft picks Luke, Lane and Sinnott to improve. Their return and blocking has improved greatly but need better coaching up to develop as receivers.

Defensively we do need upgrades all around. Stop ignoring this!

Yeah going back to an analogy I used earlier. In 2024, they got the prom queen to go out with them even though they had a bit of a beer belly.

We got to 2025, they keep that beer belly and break their leg and in turn get very overweight, the prom queen now laughs at them when they ask her out. And 2024 feels like some outlier pipe dream that's now vanished.

I think Peters got cocky. I doubt he's cocky anymore. He'd have to be a bit psycho to be cocky after this season. I'd think he's not asking the prom queen next year with a beer belly let alone grossly overweight.

This off season I think will be fascinating. Going back to my corny Rocky 3 analogy I used last summer. They got their asses kicked. They are humbled. I've seen Quinn talk about it now some and he comes off truly humbled. Will see though.

But for me, I am waiting to see the off season version of the come back. It's part of the reason why i am more optimistic than some fans. I think it has to be all hands on deck. I like but don't love Peters-Quinn -- I don't think they are stupid. And I'd think they'd have to be stupid to not see where they screwed up last off season.

I also like the foundation. You got the QB, you got an O line, good special teams sans kicker. Got something to work with on offense. They IMO need to add a major weapon to the offense. But outside of that its just about staying healthy. It's all about the defense -- go to town to fix it. And its easier to rebuild a defense than it is an offense.

 

[clskinsfan]

And its easier to rebuild a defense than it is an offense

They dont even need to build a top 10 defense to be competitive. This offense has no issues scoring points. Give it a middle of the pack defense that forces a few turnovers and we are a completely different team.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The whole strength of schedule thing is a weird argument imo. They beat those teams to make their win percentage lower. They have beaten the Bills, Buccs and Ravens this year. Those are good teams. The Ravens are having a down year though for sure.

You actually help the argument against them. Their version of "good" teams are two who are below 500. Bills are good but they had some down moments this season, quite a bit banged up and the Bills beat the Pats on the road the last time they played

 

[philibusters]

I feel like the Deebo trade and Lattimore trade were mitakes in hindsight. The Lattimore trade was definitely the bigger of the two mistakes as we gave up a 3rd and 4th rounder minus some change as we got back a 5th for a 6th. With Lattimore it was not just the draft capital. Lattimore's 18 million was the second biggest cap hit on the team. We could have picked up Carlton Davis, DJ Reed, or Chavarious Ward for that same amount apy (would have been a smaller cap hit in 2025) and got a better player and saved he draft capital. Its why trading for non blue chip players is so dangerous. You can end up paying just as much as in free agency and give up draft capital. Lattimore really grinds me becaues he didn't even show up for OTA's. You give up that draft capital, pay the guy top dollar, and he is too lazy to show up for work if he doesn't have to. Great locker room pickup there.

The Deebo trade doesn't seem that bad because we only gave up a 5th rounder and he was a little bit better than Lattimore. But he cost 18 million when he was like a 12 or 13 million dollar player. Now his cap this year was only 5.5 million but if he leaves via free agency we will have 12.5 deadcap it. Given that we have 25 million in capspace, we should put the entire cap hit on this year. You may ask if it makes a difference given we can rollover our extra cap space to next year. And from a cap perspective it doesn't make a difference, but by ading void years we are no longer entitled a comp pick if he signs with another team because we are releasing him rather than his contract expiring so that restructure likely cost us a 6th round comp pick or so and we are a team that needs the picks. And he simply isn't worth keeping. He is a low end #2 at this point. He is a gadget guy and basically I think a bigger receiver like Treylon Burks can probably do a similar role at like a third of the price. I am not as upset by Deebo because he looked like a competitor out there and he did things like show up for OTA's and acted like he cared, but still a bad trade.

 

[Chris]

The whole strength of schedule thing is a weird argument imo. They beat those teams to make their win percentage lower. They have beaten the Bills, Buccs and Ravens this year. Those are good teams. The Ravens are having a down year though for sure.

Let’s take a zoomed-in look at SOS by comparing the Rams (11-4) and the Pats (12-3) schedules-

The Rams have played 8 games against current playoff teams and also the Ravens (8), the Panthers (8), and the Lions (9).

The Pats have played 3 games against current playoff teams and also the Ravens (8), and the Panthers (8).

That is why SOS matters.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I feel like the Deebo trade and Lattimore trade were mitakes in hindsight. The Lattimore trade was definitely the bigger of the two mistakes as we gave up a 3rd and 4th rounder minus some change as we got back a 5th for a 6th. With Lattimore it was not just the draft capital. Lattimore's 18 million was the second biggest cap hit on the team. We could have picked up Carlton Davis, DJ Reed, or Chavarious Ward for that same amount apy (would have been a smaller cap hit in 2025) and got a better player and saved he draft capital. Its why trading for non blue chip players is so dangerous. You can end up paying just as much as in free agency and give up draft capital. Lattimore really grinds me becaues he didn't even show up for OTA's. You give up that draft capital, pay the guy top dollar, and he is too lazy to show up for work if he doesn't have to. Great locker room pickup there.

The Deebo trade doesn't seem that bad because we only gave up a 5th rounder and he was a little bit better than Lattimore. But he cost 18 million when he was like a 12 or 13 million dollar player. Now his cap this year was only 5.5 million but if he leaves via free agency we will have 12.5 deadcap it. Given that we have 25 million in capspace, we should put the entire cap hit on this year. You may ask if it makes a difference given we can rollover our extra cap space to next year. And from a cap perspective it doesn't make a difference, but by ading void years we are no longer entitled a comp pick if he signs with another team because we are releasing him rather than his contract expiring so that restructure likely cost us a 6th round comp pick or so and we are a team that needs the picks. And he simply isn't worth keeping. He is a low end #2 at this point. He is a gadget guy and basically I think a bigger receiver like Treylon Burks can probably do a similar role at like a third of the price. I am not as upset by Deebo because he looked like a competitor out there and he did things like show up for OTA's and acted like he cared, but still a bad trade.

Cap savings carries over from one year to the next. It's part of the reason why Keim said the cap room is going to be higher than what we see now. This years cap carry over isn't part of the equation, yet. If they are getting comp picks after this upcoming run of free agent signings -- I'lll be really pissed at Peters but that would likely mean a noin aggressive FA run again.

Good trade IMO. He probably ends up with about 75 catches and about 750 yards. In a depressing season to watch, where we got Robbie Chosen, Chris Moore, Jacoby Jones, etc -- it was fun to see at least one legit weapon in some games.

 

[philibusters]

Cap savings carries over from one year to the next. It's part of the reason why Keim said the cap room is going to be higher than what we see now. This years cap carry over isn't part of the equation, yet. If they are getting comp picks after this upcoming run of free agent signings -- I'lll be really pissed at Peters but that would likely mean a noin aggressive FA run again.

Good trade IMO. He probably ends up with about 75 catches and about 750 yards. In a depressing season to wacth, where we got Robbie Chosen, Chris Moore, Jacoby Jones, etc -- it was fun to see at least one legit weapon in some games.

Yeah I said from a cap perspective it doesn't really make a difference, but it kills our chances of geting a comp pick. And you are probably right that this is going to be an offseason where we were not going to get a comp pick regardless, but its hard to predict how these things will play out and I would have liked to have had that possibility on the table.

I just don't think it was a good trade. I don't think he was an 18 million dollar player this year. His 700 to 750 yards is fine, but he is on pace to get 101 targets. So far he is averaging 7.17 yards per targe, which is fine. I just don't think he brings much that a cheaper player like Treylon Burks couldn't bring. To me teams just played a lot of man against us with Terry out and Deebo just cannot separae against man. The cost was 18 million plus a 5th rounder. I don't think he was worth 18 million this year so that alone makes it a bad trade, add in the 5th rounder which has an implied value of around 2 million based on the difference you would have to pay a veteran to produce what a 5th rounder on a rookie contract could be expected to produce.

 

[skinsinparadise]

As for the Pats schedule, I've seen posts also about their weak defensive schedule as to opposition. I just went through it, wow.

I mentioned yesterday Washington played 8 of their games against top 11 defenses as to points allowed.

How many top 10 or 11 or heck even top 12 defenses as to points have NE played against? ZERO.

9 of their games were against bottom 10 defenses
13 of their games were against bottom half defenses.
if I adjusted that by just one game above bottom half, 15 of their games against bottom half defenses.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Yeah I said from a cap perspective it doesn't really make a difference, but it kills our chances of geting a comp pick. And you are probably right that this is going to be an offseason where we were not going to get a comp pick regardless, but its hard to predict how these things will play out and I would have liked to have had that possibility on the table.

I just don't think it was a good trade. I don't think he was an 18 million dollar player this year. His 700 to 750 yards is fine, but he is on pace to get 101 targets. So far he is averaging 7.17 yards per targe, which is fine. I just don't think he brings much that a cheaper player like Treylon Burks couldn't bring. To me teams just played a lot of man against us with Terry out and Deebo just cannot separae against man. The cost was 18 million plus a 5th rounder. I don't think he was worth 18 million this year so that alone makes it a bad trade, add in the 5th rounder which has an implied value of around 2 million based on the difference you would have to pay a veteran to produce what a 5th rounder on a rookie contract could be expected to produce.

Treylon Burks wasn't available in the summer and from what I recall wasn't healthy. I am the same person who trashed this team's WR depth coming into the season who also likes it coming into next season. the one upside of having your season go to hell is it can help build depth by osmosis and searching for new players and Burks was a beneficiary of that.

What's the hit rate of a late 5th rounder like 5%? It's not like this team is hungry for more cap room to sign this or that player. They had all the cap room in the world last off season and still 13 teams outspent them. And yeah I'd be stunned and pissed if they came out of this off season with comp picks. So that doesn't faze me at all.

And sticking to Burks. I'd love to think you are right, Burks can do the same thing, bring me that 75 catch, 750 season from him. I think we are jumping the gun on that. Lets see if the dude can stay healthy. Peters already banked on an often injured Noah Brown to man one spot. Burks with the other? lol, I'd trash Peters even more on this point than I am doing now if he played it that way. I am good with Burks as a backup. But am not counting on him for a 75 catch 750 yard season considering he's never come near those numbers, yet.