The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[0rder 0f 0ut]

Top paid coordinators make as much as Quinn. I can't see throwing $ to get a top candidate on either side of the ball.

 

[Conn]

Top paid coordinators make as much as Quinn. I can't see throwing $ to get a top candidate on either side of the ball.

Coach money is pennies compared to player money, I don’t think it’s a consideration at all. And this is coming from someone who thinks they haven’t been willing to pay enough to FA’s to this point.

 

[method man]

Ulbrich is 100% the guy we’d want and need. He might wind up being the Falcons HC, though. Or Kliff… and he keeps him. I’m not sure we get Ulbrich.

I think the Falcons can aim higher. I think their job is the best on the market. They have star power on both sides of the ball in a weak division. It may actually be fair to say they have the best roster in the division.

Blank has been getting advised by a sports management consulting firm the last couple months and Matt Ryan is playing a role in the hiring process.

The world is their oyster. If I am Arthur Blank, I am keeping a close eye on Stefanski if he gets fired. Stefanski + Schwartz with one of the talented folks in the Cleveland Browns FO such as Glenn Cook (who interviewed here for our GM job) would be a coup. Stefanski worked with Kirk in Minnesota and knows him intimately. Schwartz takes that D to an even higher level.

 

[SkinsFTW]

Blank has been getting advised by a sports management consulting firm the last couple months and Matt Ryan is playing a role in the hiring process.

Well hopefully Matt Ryan does as well for the Falcons as Tom Brady is doing for the Raiders. Hahaha.

 

[Riggo44]

Well hopefully Matt Ryan does as well for the Falcons as Tom Brady is doing for the Raiders. Hahaha.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in Tom Brady's GM's last name being Spytek?

 

[DWinzit]

It's time to start working on a new Tunsil contract. Get it done early, no Terry type BS

 

[Bulldog]

Agree, although I think you will admit that the hesitancy in regards to the Terry contract is the question about whether he is actually a 1A receiver in the NFL.

I don't think there is much argument that Tunsil is one of the best LTs in the NFL.

Completely different situation - plus the age factor at wide receiver is more important than it tends to be at LT.

 

[0rder 0f 0ut]

Coach money is pennies compared to player money, I don’t think it’s a consideration at all. And this is coming from someone who thinks they haven’t been willing to pay enough to FA’s to this point.

Agreed but you can't pay the coordinator more than Quinn. And you can't give Quinn a raise after a failed season.

 

[skinzplay]

It'll be interesting to see how things shake out in ATL. The GM won't have final say, the new team president will. Might be that Blank already knows who the prez of football ops will be (new position in the FO). I like Ulbrich too for our DC, hopefully he doesn't stick around in ATL.

 

[Riggo44]

First things first: a dynamic, innovative DC...preferably not Raheem Morris.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

First things first: a dynamic, innovative DC...preferably not Raheem Morris.

Well, the 9ers made good use of the Rooney rule over the last few years I think.
Robert Saleh as DC -> Jets HC ==> Rooney Rule gives 9ers 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks
Demeco Ryans as DC -> Texans HC ==> see above
Robert Saleh as DC (Rehired!) -> ???? ==> see above

So... maybe they hoped Whitt could be a guy like that (maybe AP hoped that). Maybe it will be one of the data points for the next hire. If so, Morris may have a leg up. Just spitballing, I personally think that idea is bad mainly because I don't believe in Morris either. However, getting 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks.. getting 4 extra 3rd roudn picks in a short window of time... that's good.

 

[Bulldog]

Hiring Pete Carroll was a mistake that was not hard to see coming.

Coaches seem to hit a wall where their skills in pushing a team forward peaks and after that they are living off legend.

It happened to Jimmy Johnson in Miami. It happened to many other coaches over 65 who were brought in as saviors and ended up falling flat.

Raheem Morris was redeemed by McVay and the Rams.

McVay provided the structure for Morris to be the players' coach he is known for being.

Morris does not have the ability to run a team as HC, in that regard he is a bit like Norv Turner.

 

[heisenberg]

Well, the 9ers made good use of the Rooney rule over the last few years I think.
Robert Saleh as DC -> Jets HC ==> Rooney Rule gives 9ers 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks
Demeco Ryans as DC -> Texans HC ==> see above
Robert Saleh as DC (Rehired!) -> ???? ==> see above

So... maybe they hoped Whitt could be a guy like that (maybe AP hoped that). Maybe it will be one of the data points for the next hire. If so, Morris may have a leg up. Just spitballing, I personally think that idea is bad mainly because I don't believe in Morris either. However, getting 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks.. getting 4 extra 3rd roudn picks in a short window of time... that's good.

I still dont understand the execution of the Rooney rule.

I get the need for it but the 9ers a a great example of where the execution falls flat in my opinion

A team with a white head coach and a white general manager has been rewarded with what 5 3rd round picks by a program that's designed to get minorities into those two positions.

To me I'd think that rule could be as much of a hindrance as it is an advantage.
Sure it may get teams like the 9ers to put minorities in roles just below those positions in hopes to be rewarded but it might also keep teams from promoting them in order to prevent giving such a huge advantage to another team.
For the life of me I can't see why they dont at minimum give one of those 3rd rounders to the team doing the promoting.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I still dont understand the execution of the Rooney rule.

I get the need for it but the 9ers a a great example of where the execution falls flat in my opinion

A team with a white head coach and a white general manager has been rewarded with what 5 3rd round picks by a program that's designed to get minorities into those two positions.

To me I'd think that rule could be as much of a hindrance as it is an advantage.
Sure it may get teams like the 9ers to put minorities in roles just below those positions in hopes to be rewarded but it might also keep teams from promoting them in order to prevent giving such a huge advantage to another team.
For the life of me I can't see why they dont at minimum give one of those 3rd rounders to the team doing the promoting.

They don't want to reward the promotion because it would influence hiring directly on the actual hire.

For example, if the Commanders do nothing to improve EB's ability (when here) as a coordinator (don't train him, don't help him improve), well, he ends up taking a year off with no jobs, and then as RB coach for the Bears. So no reward.

If they were able to help him - maybe HC talks to him on strategy, gives him some opportunities to coach or visibility... they are working to encourage his career growth and they get rewarded.

 

[heisenberg]

They don't want to reward the promotion because it would influence hiring directly on the actual hire.

This part i get, you dont want undeserving candidates getting promoted simply for the reward.
I guess there's no simple answer.
Just feels weird that the niners keep getting rewarded like they're somehow cheating the system.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

This part i get, you dont want undeserving candidates getting promoted simply for the reward.
I guess there's no simple answer.
Just feels weird that the niners keep getting rewarded like they're somehow cheating the system.

It's interesting, I would say they are cheating less than say a KC would be with EB.
With KC, I mean - Andy Reid is the OC. So name EB the OC and hope that he gets a HC opportunity? It's just that EB is not a good interviewer so he never got hired (this is what I interpret from those pressers; EB was not a good communicator, so how could he really interview well? That played out in how many interviews he went on and how infrequently he landed jobs).

With SF, that is an offense expert HC, and his DCs are having success and getting hired elsewhere. So I think it's more valid in that sense. Are they hiring minority candidates more frequently at the DC level and thinking to get them moved to HC opportunities? Possibly. That, though, would be almost the "ideal" outcome of the Rooney rule in a sense. Looking at it from a slightly narrow lens, a win/win. You have become a factory to advance minority candidates who are potentially not getting a fair shake league-wide (so the data may indicate, and the eye-test may indicate as well).

The 9ers have done so much with the Rooney rule. https://atozsports.com/nfl/san-fran...-positive-rule-the-league-itself-implemented/

By the way, you mentioned that teams may not want to hire a minority candidate and give 3rd round picks - yes, but it probably means that the hire would more frequently occur across conferences, where that concern gets minimized greatly.

 

[method man]

Well, the 9ers made good use of the Rooney rule over the last few years I think.
Robert Saleh as DC -> Jets HC ==> Rooney Rule gives 9ers 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks
Demeco Ryans as DC -> Texans HC ==> see above
Robert Saleh as DC (Rehired!) -> ???? ==> see above

So... maybe they hoped Whitt could be a guy like that (maybe AP hoped that). Maybe it will be one of the data points for the next hire. If so, Morris may have a leg up. Just spitballing, I personally think that idea is bad mainly because I don't believe in Morris either. However, getting 2 3rd round compensatory draft picks.. getting 4 extra 3rd roudn picks in a short window of time... that's good.

No one is giving Raheem a third shot as a head coach. Unfortunately, Flores is the only minority I can think of who has a history as a stud playcaller who may get a HC job down the road.

Remember that some of the Niners picks came from minorities getting hired to GM roles too including Mayhew and Carthon

 

[method man]

It'll be interesting to see how things shake out in ATL. The GM won't have final say, the new team president will. Might be that Blank already knows who the prez of football ops will be (new position in the FO). I like Ulbrich too for our DC, hopefully he doesn't stick around in ATL.

I thought Rich McKay was the team president. Did he get fired too?

 

[Discobob]

It's time to start working on a new Tunsil contract. Get it done early, no Terry type BS

He's good enough that you just make him the highest paid tackle. He's not the best there is, but once you are in the top ~5, that's how it goes.

 

[method man]

He's good enough that you just make him the highest paid tackle. He's not the best there is, but once you are in the top ~5, that's how it goes.

Charles Cross just signed an extension for $24M a year. He is not on Tunsil’s level though. Wirfs currently has highest AAV at $28.1M. Get Tunsil to $28.5M over 3 years and make it easy to get out before year 3