The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[KDawg]

Why are we assuming that tunsil is going to use Terry's playbook?

Has he said he will holdout if he doesn't get an extension?

He did tweet that he wanted his money, I’m not sure what thread it was in. But it looks like it was deleted since.

 

[heisenberg]

Peters would have to be a moron to lose Tunsil for the 2026 season in whichever way it happened

There are so many factors that suggest it will never happen.

First off tunsil wasn't a cheap rental like deebo, we paid good compensation for him and we did so to anchor the line not to try to win a championship.

Second that compensation isn't even fully paid, unlike the Lattimore trade which is in the past and we can write off as a bad decision and walk away, we still owe good draft picks for this one and tunsil isn't washed, peters would look like a complete clown if we gave up high 2nd and 4th round picks for a guy not on the roster unless he can pull off an equivalent trade somehow.

Third, we aren't in cap hell or have an abundance of talent that we need to make tough decisions on, peters recognized a need, traded good capital to fix it and it worked, why would he backtrack a year later.

This is the kind of crap that happens every year in the nfl and unfortunately more often with guys like tunsil who really like to get paid (cant blame him) but this one will get done i have almost no doubt especially considering the Terry debacle from last year puts more pressure on peters to get it done.

 

[skinsinparadise]

There are so many factors that suggest it will never happen.

First off tunsil wasn't a cheap rental like deebo, we paid good compensation for him and we did so to anchor the line not to try to win a championship.

Second that compensation isn't even fully paid, unlike the Lattimore trade which is in the past and we can write off as a bad decision and walk away, we still owe good draft picks for this one and tunsil isn't washed, peters would look like a complete clown if we gave up high 2nd and 4th round picks for a guy not on the roster unless he can pull off an equivalent trade somehow.

Third, we aren't in cap hell or have an abundance of talent that we need to make tough decisions on, peters recognized a need, traded good capital to fix it and it worked, why would he backtrack a year later.

This is the kind of crap that happens every year in the nfl and unfortunately more often with guys like tunsil who really like to get paid (cant blame him) but this one will get done i have almost no doubt especially considering the Terry debacle from last year puts more pressure on peters to get it done.

Agree. Could it drag some into camp the negotiation? Maybe. But i expect them to get it done.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I've been critical of some of Peters moves. But I don't think he's a moron. By reputation he's a smart dude.

I also pore over quotes and things these guys say to try to figure out the truth, it's kind of a sport.

The read I can get from that situation is, based on Terry's quotes (no surprise) and Peters to a lesser degree:
- I think Terry wanted more than his market, we all know that
- I think Deebo contract didn't help (KDawg 100% on this, and no one is really saying it but we can see it, it's clear)
- I think, and this is the big one --- out of the gate, Terry may have made some demands or some suggestions or whatever - but Terry says communications kind of died there. So it's not totally clear here, but Terry has said that he wishes at least there was more communication. Terry came off poorly (I had other words here earlier... haha) in some of his quotes, late summer - but I do think he's telling the truth on this. I think Peters has had some very mild references to it, but it's not much to go on. Right now, the main things Peters could have done differently, from my read:

1) Talk to Terry (and stupid agent too? Perhaps) more. Even if it's not to cave, communication in these situations is paramount. If Terry feels, not that "hey I didn't get what I want" but "hey I am not getting communication" the second is a fair statement. He has made the second statement, and he said early in Summer it felt that way. The truth, it's hard to tell. He misrepresented some things enough where there is some broken trust, and AP is not revealing too much beyond "maybe there are some things I could do differently" and maybe he mentioned communication but it's not clear to me.
2) Definitely, structure the Deebo deal better or work Terry into that equation. Again, there is some conjecture, but in some of these cases it seems like clear logic. AP knows this, I think - but maybe got a bit excited about two factors: a) Deebo, I like my guy and b) Terry is cool, no worries. I think he misread that.

 

[HTTR]

I also pore over quotes and things these guys say to try to figure out the truth, it's kind of a sport.

The read I can get from that situation is, based on Terry's quotes (no surprise) and Peters to a lesser degree:
- I think Terry wanted more than his market, we all know that
- I think Deebo contract didn't help (KDawg 100% on this, and no one is really saying it but we can see it, it's clear)
- I think, and this is the big one --- out of the gate, Terry may have made some demands or some suggestions or whatever - but Terry says communications kind of died there. So it's not totally clear here, but Terry has said that he wishes at least there was more communication. Terry came off poorly (I had other words here earlier... haha) in some of his quotes, late summer - but I do think he's telling the truth on this. I think Peters has had some very mild references to it, but it's not much to go on. Right now, the main things Peters could have done differently, from my read:

1) Talk to Terry (and stupid agent too? Perhaps) more. Even if it's not to cave, communication in these situations is paramount. If Terry feels, not that "hey I didn't get what I want" but "hey I am not getting communication" the second is a fair statement. He has made the second statement, and he said early in Summer it felt that way. The truth, it's hard to tell. He misrepresented some things enough where there is some broken trust, and AP is not revealing too much beyond "maybe there are some things I could do differently" and maybe he mentioned communication but it's not clear to me.
2) Definitely, structure the Deebo deal better or work Terry into that equation. Again, there is some conjecture, but in some of these cases it seems like clear logic. AP knows this, I think - but maybe got a bit excited about two factors: a) Deebo, I like my guy and b) Terry is cool, no worries. I think he misread that.

The lack of communication was Terry’s side of the story. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. My guess is it wasn’t that they didn’t talk, it’s that AP wasn’t saying what Terry wanted to hear. And I still think Terry and his agent were going to wait until training camp no matter what to get maximum leverage. They’ve seen other players do this recently, and it worked out for them as far as getting paid. So I think the communication complaints, and other complaints, were all part of the act. But even if it was a factor, communication goes both ways. Isn’t that why Terry has an agent?

 

[philibusters]

I think in the early summer they were far apart and neither side was ready to make any big concessions. Talks died down because there wasn't much too talk about. Only after training camp started and we got closer to the season did Terry's side back down and at that point the talks resumed. When you are far apart and neither side is willing to budge, what are you supposed to talk about.

I am not upset with Terry either. The Steelers gave DK Metcalf a really good deal. Terry wanted to use that as the starting point. But he is two years older than Metcalf for one things and second the team just wasn't willing to give Terry as much of a player friendly deal as the Steelers were willing to give Metcalf. There was a standstill. I don't think McLaurin's position was completely unreasonable. A similar caliber player to him got a deal and he wanted something in the range of that deal. The question became is that the new norm for a top 15-20 WR in the NFL or was Metcalf's just a very player friendly deal.

 

[HTTR]

I don’t want to fault for him trying to squeeze every penny out of it, but in doing so, he did hurt himself and the team. There’s no getting around that. There were better ways to handle it, but he got bad advice from a bad agent.

Anyway, I’m done with this dead horse. Let’s get the thread back on track.

Sign a guard and sign Kenneth Walker!!

 

[Anselmheifer]

I think in the early summer they were far apart and neither side was ready to make any big concessions. Talks died down because there wasn't much too talk about. Only after training camp started and we got closer to the season did Terry's side back down and at that point the talks resumed. When you are far apart and neither side is willing to budge, what are you supposed to talk about.

I am not upset with Terry either. The Steelers gave DK Metcalf a really good deal. Terry wanted to use that as the starting point. But he is two years older than Metcalf for one things and second the team just wasn't willing to give Terry as much of a player friendly deal as the Steelers were willing to give Metcalf. There was a standstill. I don't think McLaurin's position was completely unreasonable. A similar caliber player to him got a deal and he wanted something in the range of that deal. The question became is that the new norm for a top 15-20 WR in the NFL or was Metcalf's just a very player friendly deal.

The word was not that Terry wanted to be paid like Metcalf, which I still don’t think is reasonable. He reportedly wanted to be paid more than that, like a Chase, or Jefferson. Also, it is in fact unreasonable to just flat out deny that age matters when signing a 30 year old receiver to a long term contract. Why should we assume he is the exception to the rule and screw up our cap by paying him that way? No other team was going to pay Terry like that.

Regarding this year, we are obviously going to sign some defenders. But I don’t want them to treat the offense like a step child. Jayden’s weapons are the worst in the East and probably in the league, and he fell back to earth a little last year. The biggest determinant of our long term future is not going to be having a top 10 defense rather than a top 16 defense next year. Our future hinges on Jayden. We need to give him to tools to excel and improve. We have to sign an impact TE, an impact WR, WR depth and upgrade at running back. I want comparable weapons to the rest of the NFCE. Tonot provide that for Jayden would be a failure, and malpractice.

 

[Conn]

The word was not that Terry wanted to be paid like Metcalf, which I still don’t think is reasonable. He reportedly wanted to be paid more than that, like a Chase, or Jefferson. Also, it is in fact unreasonable to just flat out deny that age matters when signing a 30 year old receiver to a long term contract. Why should we assume he is the exception to the rule and screw up our cap by paying him that way? No other team was going to pay Terry like that.

Regarding this year, we are obviously going to sign some defenders. But I don’t want them to treat the offense like a step child. Jayden’s weapons are the worst in the East and probably in the league, and he fell back to earth a little last year. The biggest determinant of our long term future is not going to be having a top 10 defense rather than a top 16 defense next year. Our future hinges on Jayden. We need to give him to tools to excel and improve. We have to sign an impact TE, an impact WR, WR depth and upgrade at running back. I want comparable weapons to the rest of the NFCE. Tonot provide that for Jayden would be a failure, and malpractice.

Seconded across the board, good post. This franchise rides as far as Jayden goes. We need to help him out by providing a good NFL-worthy defense at worst, an elite defense at best (I’ll believe it when I see it). But we also need to keep juicing the offense up with weapons. He’s got most of an OL, and an aging Terry, that’s really it. If our franchise thinks that’s enough, we’d be the only one in the league to think that way. Jayden is talented, but that only goes so far, and talent can be thrown off track if you screw up a talented guy’s developmental track. He needs help if we want this iteration of our franchise’s operation to go anywhere.

 

[Higskin]

Listening to Mitch Tischler on with Sheehan and he is doing an interesting analysis on the last 48 WR's to change teams and sign big contracts. Only 6 actually had 1000 yd seasons with their new team. His theory leans go hard in FA on defense and maybe look at a WR with that first pick.

 

[burgold]

Listening to Mitch Tischler on with Sheehan and he is doing an interesting analysis on the last 48 WR's to change teams and sign big contracts. Only 6 actually had 1000 yd seasons with their new team. His theory leans go hard in FA on defense and maybe look at a WR with that first pick.

How did the receivers do in their second year? Is the issue that it takes a year for them to learn the new system, get in rhythm with the QB, etc.?

 

[Higskin]

How did the receivers do in their second year? Is the issue that it takes a year for them to learn the new system, get in rhythm with the QB, etc.?

He didn't say so not sure. Maybe...

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

One of those was Christian Kirk (1,100 yards 8TDs) who then was on pace for it again his 2nd year but got hurt.

The narrative was that Kirk was an awful FA signing...yet he was pretty successful for the first 1.7 seasons until the injury.

Kirks first 1K+ season was after switching teams, same with Pierre Garcon. That's like the best outcomes for a FA WR. Anybody better than that and they aren't switching teams.

 

[method man]

Agreed, nice story but we could get better vet G that fits the scheme for the price of Paul (or try Coleman inside again)

We should also draft an IOL on day 3 for a backup at least while developing

Absolutely. If Biadasz stays, I definitely want to target a center to groom to replace him

 

[KDawg]

One of those was Christian Kirk (1,100 yards 8TDs) who then was on pace for it again his 2nd year but got hurt.

The narrative was that Kirk was an awful FA signing...yet he was pretty successful for the first 1.7 seasons until the injury.

Kirks first 1K+ season was after switching teams, same with Pierre Garcon. That's like the best outcomes for a FA WR. Anybody better than that and they aren't switching teams.

I mean… we have more than a few examples of this on just our team. Desean, Pierre, Santana.

Then there’s Tyreek, Randy, Pickens, Diggs with 3 teams, Devonta Adams.

Going to be honest, I think this guys study is shit.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I mean… we have more than a few examples of this on just our team. Desean, Pierre, Santana.

Then there’s Tyreek, Randy, Pickens, Diggs with 3 teams, Devonta Adams.

Going to be honest, I think this guys study is shit.

Oh, I misread it, I thought he meant guys to switch teams in FA excluding trade. Yeah with trades the hit rate is way higher.

 

[KDawg]

Oh, I misread it, I thought he meant guys to switch teams in FA excluding trade. Yeah with trades the hit rate is way higher.

Maybe he did but why differentiate? Switching teams is switching teams.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I think his argument is we most likely can't find WR2 in FA. If we wanted to acquire a WR2 for 2026 we'd have to draft one at #7 or say trade a 3rd rounder for one.

I'm guessing that's his reasoning?

 

[Riggo44]

There's a lot of context that needs to be addressed there too--for example how many of those receivers were signed by poor organizations (I.e., the Jets or Browns) and/or with poor QBs? It's not always on the receiver.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

If we run a lot of outside zone, Paul is a poor fit.

Eh, maybe. I get that he lacks some athletic ability, but a lot of the run action they used the last 2 years did get the OL moving side to side.

I think he's probably fine in either scheme.

I guess here's where I'm at: they have to find a starting TE, at least 2 more WRs, and probably another RB on offense. And half the defense.

The easy button is to re-sign Paul and keep the same group that was really good last year towards the end of the year.

The wildcard is Coleman. Maybe in year 3, he actually is a really good guard. Maybe the switch from tackle to guard didn't work last year, but maybe with another year of development, he can play well inside. If that's the case, then they could STILL re-sign Paul and then have a competition with Coleman.

One way or the other, they have a guard who can play. Who won't be expensive. So I'd sign him almost no matter what and then you can still add a guy or have him compete.