The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Chris 44]

Yeah you could be right on a lot of those plays, good call. Hopefully it's scheme because so far I've seen nothing to make me believe Luvu is an effective blitzer.

Does anyone expect Bobby Wagner to return? God I hope not.

Yeah, and its not so much I don't want Wagner on the team as much as he will take away snaps from the other LBs that need to get the reps. My fear is that coaches will pay him just because they respect him and wont "demote" him (which I believe happened last year to the detriment of the team). But yeah, I hope he doesn't return because the team will not grow with him out there.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Not sure. But listening to some people talk about it. Here's what I suspect.

They have gone 100 miles an hour and spent a lot to improve the facilities for the players including by adding top flight recovery equipment among other things. Put money in the old stadium. They are going to town on the new stadium and putting a ton of money into it. All of which is A plus, fantastic.

And I gather what Harris is doing with all his sports teams is giving a cash figure that he's comfortable with and asking the GMs to go to town with it. But that cash figure isn't low, isn't high but slightly above average. So he probably feels that's enough. They spent the 15th most in FA. But the three trades they made for Tunsil, Deebo, Lattimore involved some high salaries.

I gather Harris figured that worked in 2024 so why not in 2025? But it crashed in 2025 so I suspect but don't know that he releases the purse strings more. I think he'd be foolish not to as to the investment in the team -- I don't think he can afford two bad seasons in a row when he needs to build this fan base back up.

One thing we know about Harris that is different than Snyder: he has other mechanisms for generating income other than the team and if he wanted to spend whatever dollar amount, he could do it.

What he's not going to do is spend recklessly.

Snyder wasn't cash poor or cash strapped, simply because of the revenue sharing nature of the NFL. But he also didn't have any other income streams to support the team if he wanted to front load spending. Harris does.

Harris also has a whole lot of other expenses because Snyder neglected the team for 30 years. So between buying the team, paying for a stadium, renovating a stadium which will be torn down, re-building Commanders Park (or whatever they are calling it), investing in other infrastructure, he's got a lot to be getting on with.

But between Harris and Mitch Rales, they have enough liquid cash to spend absolutely any amount of money they would want to. Remember, Rales is worth somewhere about 4.5 to 5 billion, in addition to Harris' estimated $12 billion. And Harris still has investments in private equity and other things which throw off cash.

For the HOG, it's entirely a decision on what they want to spend, because they have the cash or access to cash, to do whatever they want.

Snyder didn't have that. And, as we learned, he over-leveraged the team in order to do things like paint his air plane and support his lifestyle. Dumbass.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Reading which I just did about Flores scheme, feels like versatility is the key. And makes sense you want D lineman who can drop into coverage because if they were bad at it, be tough to orchestrate the unpredictability-chaos that their defense brings.

Dudes that don't have to be masters at any one thing, but can do a little of everything

lol, am guessing Bobby Wagner doesn't survive this.

Bobby Wagner was exactly what we needed in 2024.

He is not what we need in 2026.

Also, Jordan Magee, who they love, needs to play more. He has tons of speed. He stayed healthy last season (I think.)

I don't understand why he didn't play. Was it because they just did't want to remove Wagner? Dunno.

But before I really delved into FA to find fast LBs, I would look at Macgee and Luvu and see how they were utilized, when they were utilized, and if they could be used better and that might solve a problem without going outside.

I really appreciate what Wagner brought to the team. You need HOF veterans, and he was good for Daniels as well as the defense. But it's time to find the up and coming Wagner.

 

[mcdonaldrw]

I think Luvu and Mikey S. were both improperly used. I just don't think you can drop off as badly as they both did from one season to the next, if they aren't. Hopefully our new DC will bring them both back where they need to be

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think Luvu and Mikey S. were both improperly used. I just don't think you can drop off as badly as they both did from one season to the next, if they aren't. Hopefully our new DC will bring them both back where they need to be

The thing with that is, both Whitt and Quinn were there in 2024 and decided how to use them.

Why the hell did they break it?

Was 2024 just luck?

It's one thing if you sign a player and then are incorrectly used.

If you have a guy who was having a good season, then has a bad season, but the coaching remains the same, that's sometimes a real head scratcher.

 

[mcdonaldrw]

Honestly that's a good question VoR, and I have no idea. I wonder if they were misused because of other injuries, or if they both just over performed in 24. I guess for me I'm hoping that we have at least a couple pieces that are in place.

 

[burgold]

Yeah, I think it was largely necessity. In the case of Luvu, we were down Armstrong, Weiss, Jean-Babtiste and just needed to put a body at rush end and were out of players. In the case of Mike, it was sort of the opposite. Despite Sainristil proving himself on the outside they were determined to put him at nickel because of his size. His play improved when they moved him back outside (again because of injuries.)

I still find it a little strange that they wound up with two players (Coleman and Sainristil) who looked like they could become stars at one position and decided to force the issue and play another one. I don't mind experimenting during the offseason to see if they can play that position in a pinch, but if the experiment isn't panning out why force a guy out of position. (Obviously, the answer is they drafted Connerly and Amos who they preferred there because of their prototypical attributes.)

 

[Bulldog]

Sainristil can play opposite Amos.

A good owner and GM would eat the dead cap money and move on from Payne and resign Tunsil.

If they go the other way and Tunsil ends up as a holdout and we have to go through another Terry situation in the offseason I will sour on this group.

Hopefully Harris won’t turn out like Mark Lerner with the Nationals after his father died, cheap and largely a guy that exported good players rather than resign them.

 

[HOF44]

Yeah having lazy guys like Payne on your roster can de infectious in a bad way.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I think Luvu and Mikey S. were both improperly used. I just don't think you can drop off as badly as they both did from one season to the next, if they aren't. Hopefully our new DC will bring them both back where they need to be

There were some reports that covered Luvu on this topic.

There were specific reports on them wanting Luvu to expand on his role; I think they were talking about him dropping back, being more "read and react" in part. So in the first couple of games, it didn't go well. I got the impression that they weren't totally surprised. Then by game 3 or 4, he had a play or two, and the reaction in general was like "OK, we expect to see more of this."

It didn't develop and overall Luvu looked much worse than in 2024 (although I think when DQ took over he altered this part and that helped? I think? My brain is starting to shut out some of these aspects perhaps because I'm so busy and it knows what's best for my sanity?)... Luvu has roles he can fill. We know that. However, you do have to have an overall vision and if you get injuries and you need him to step out of his comfort zone? That is where our main LBs (Luvu and Wagner) have had some significant weaknesses, and I think part of what happened this year (2025) that made it different wasn't just schematic change (although that happened).

We also faced OCs who specifically knew they wanted to attack those weaknesses and did so.

 

[burgold]

Sainristil can play opposite Amos.

A good owner and GM would eat the dead cap money and move on from Payne and resign Tunsil.

If they go the other way and Tunsil ends up as a holdout and we have to go through another Terry situation in the offseason I will sour on this group.

Hopefully Harris won’t turn out like Mark Lerner with the Nationals after his father died, cheap and largely a guy that exported good players rather than resign them.

It's hard to see Harris being cheap the way he's been spending on facilities, the field, FedEx, and the new stadium. I can imagine a short term drain on the budget though because of all these outside expenditures. Someone (maybe VOR or SIP?) speculated that Harris lays out an overall budget for player expenditures and then lets Peters do his thing. My guess is that if Peter wants to go beyond that he can, but that he needs to get a sign off.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

A good owner and GM would eat the dead cap money and move on from Payne and resign Tunsil.

There's no dead cap for Payne. I mean, ok, there is, but it's still a net $16m savings.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

If they go the other way and Tunsil ends up as a holdout and we have to go through another Terry situation in the offseason I will sour on this group.

They did EXACTLY what they needed to with Terry. Terry's ask was ridiculous, and they couldn't make him see reason, until he saw reason.

I think Tunsil is an entirely different story. He's a top 5, in his prime LT, and he's going to get top 5, in his prime LT money.

Terry was a top-10-ish WR who was going to be 31 by the time the extension kicked in and he was asking to be paid like Chase and Jefferson. That's coocoo bananas.

 

[RedWolf]

Payne is going to play out his contract here because we have enough defensive holes, and solely for that reason

 

[HTTR]

H

Payne is going to play out his contract here because we have enough defensive holes, and solely for that reason

Despite the warts, he’s one of our better players on defense. Not that that’s necessarily saying much. But no reason to just let him go, unless at some point we need the salary cap space. And we’re a long way from that.

 

[skinsfan4128]

H

Despite the warts, he’s one of our better players on defense. Not that that’s necessarily saying much. But no reason to just let him go, unless at some point we need the salary cap space. And we’re a long way from that.

Im more in line with this as we really don't need to create another hole on a squad that's currently full of them. He's a solid player that can wreck havoc on an offense when the mood strikes him. Unfortunately, he's a talent that could be better than he is but runs too hot or cold to realize that potential.

However, if AP is smart, I'd listen intently to any offers teams may call offering. I would definitely be willing to entertain moving him if the price is right. I just don't believe he is penciled in next year with any objective certainty.

Also, I'd like to see how our new DC views the guys that are currently on the roster. Obviously, I can't say for sure what the selling point for DQ was to Jones, but im sure at least part of the conversation was bringing in talent on the D via FA/draft.

Im fine if Payne stays or if he goes at this point. Again, his potential was never truly realized (outside a contract year where he balled out). Good news is we won't to wait too terribly long to find out.

HTTR!

 

[RedWolf]

Im more in line with this as we really don't need to create another hole on a squad that's currently full of them. He's a solid player that can wreck havoc on an offense when the mood strikes him. Unfortunately, he's a talent that could be better than he is but runs too hot or cold to realize that potential.

However, if AP is smart, I'd listen intently to any offers teams may call offering. I would definitely be willing to entertain moving him if the price is right. I just don't believe he is penciled in next year with any objective certainty.

Also, I'd like to see how our new DC views the guys that are currently on the roster. Obviously, I can't say for sure what the selling point for DQ was to Jones, but im sure at least part of the conversation was bringing in talent on the D via FA/draft.

Im fine if Payne stays or if he goes at this point. Again, his potential was never truly realized (outside a contract year where he balled out). Good news is we won't to wait too terribly long to find out.

HTTR!

Well said, but it is a contract year for him. Probably his last hurrah but he has said that he has enough money

 

[Gooseneck]

Do you think we should bring in Bruce Allen to help us win the off season

 

[skinsinparadise]

One thing we know about Harris that is different than Snyder: he has other mechanisms for generating income other than the team and if he wanted to spend whatever dollar amount, he could do it.

What he's not going to do is spend recklessly.

Snyder wasn't cash poor or cash strapped, simply because of the revenue sharing nature of the NFL. But he also didn't have any other income streams to support the team if he wanted to front load spending. Harris does.

Harris also has a whole lot of other expenses because Snyder neglected the team for 30 years. So between buying the team, paying for a stadium, renovating a stadium which will be torn down, re-building Commanders Park (or whatever they are calling it), investing in other infrastructure, he's got a lot to be getting on with.

But between Harris and Mitch Rales, they have enough liquid cash to spend absolutely any amount of money they would want to. Remember, Rales is worth somewhere about 4.5 to 5 billion, in addition to Harris' estimated $12 billion. And Harris still has investments in private equity and other things which throw off cash.

For the HOG, it's entirely a decision on what they want to spend, because they have the cash or access to cash, to do whatever they want.

Snyder didn't have that. And, as we learned, he over-leveraged the team in order to do things like paint his air plane and support his lifestyle. Dumbass.

That's probably so. If you look at this as an investement. they didn't have to spent a ton to get almost to a SB to 2024. So why spend a ton on personnel in 2025, my GM tells me we can do this without going crazy, etc. Lets be fiscally prudent.

Just a guess but that's my feeling.

Now the whole plan crashed in 2025. Yeah injuries were the central plot. But the defense looked horrible even before the injuries. All they really did on defense is swap a cheaper version of a safety and DT than what they had before. Swap Fowler for Von Miller. And add D. Wise for peanuts while making a big deal about that signing as if they signed the best run stopper in the league which was absurd.

Basically it was obvious that their defense sucked in 2024 but was masked by Jayden's heroics and crazy good time of possession. Yet their solution to fix it was to do nothing. They had their weird narrative about how they focused on run stopping because of their signing of D. Wise, pedestrain run stopper according to PFF and NE beat guys, and coming off of a meh season where he was discarded by his team and was older than 30. It was about as unambitious as it gets.

What they did at WR and RB. Ditto as unambitious as it gets. And at WR they got weaker IMO.

Their whole off season seemed to be predicated on the idea that D. Wise would be a better run stopper than Fowler so that will make a world of difference for the defense. And yes maybe they don't have the depth at WR in theory as last year but we got Adam "Fing" Peters as Harris calls him, so you think Zaccheus was good and Dyami and Crowder surprised wait to you get a load of Gallup, Osborn and Chris Moore.

But yeah the only spot they took seriouisly was O line. Awesome job on that. A. But F on everything else. And I don't think Harris is dumb, he can see the Bears and Pats went to town on fixing multiple spots at the same time and now look at them and look at Washington.

 

[Chris 44]

But yeah the only spot they took seriouisly was O line. Awesome job on that. A. But F on everything else. And I don't think Harris is dumb, he can see the Bears and Pats went to town on fixing multiple spots at the same time and now look at them and look at Washington.

Stadium deal a done deal. Basically shovels in the ground at this point. Gotta think that Harris is now looking firmly toward the future of the on field product. Better believe that he does not envision a 5-12 team the first year in the new stadium. Im thinking a renewed focus for him toward the team, IF this year is not a significant improvement he wont hesitate to make changes. After this year there is just 3 years before opening, that would be about the right amount of time for a new staff to come in and get established.