The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[SkinsNumberOne]

They’ve probably spoken to Linderbaum‘s agent and know they have a chance. But also realize they have Alligretti on hand as a reasonable fallback plan. So they were comfortable doing Biadasz a solid and letting him go early.

This would be my theory (although maybe not specifically Linderbaum), but I think if they don't end up improving at C - and this was the plan - it was a net loss. I would think they also consider being able to reallocate that money elsewhere as having value.

The question will be, did they get better? It's OK, they tried something, but we will easily be able to judge results here. It won't mean their idea was bad. But when you have bad results with "good" process many times over... eventually it does start some catastrophic pain.

This offseason is that offseason. They won't be able to easily rollback longer term contracts, which they signaled they would be putting out there.

 

[ES1974]

He's a great player. Logan Paulsen among others like to say, center is the easiest player to hide because they block often with the guard whether in run blocker or pass protection. They of course can't take over a game. I believe its the spot where players get paid the least and fall furthest in the draft.

But Linderbaum is special so I wouldn't hate it if they signed him. But I would hate it if that expenses leaves a glaring hole at a key spot.

If they sign him AND a good CB, edge and a WR and RB and TE, I'd be giddy. But I wonder how the math would work if so.

I think the math is fine, we’ve got the capacity to spend seriously big money. The questions are more around our desire/intent, and our ability to convince players to head our way.

 

[RedWolf]

I don't think we sign Linderbaum, maybe someone else? Too much $

 

[NickyJ]

I would be extremely disappointed if the most premier offensive signing was the center. The team NEEDS a receiver of some sort. A WR, a tight end, an RB that can double as a WR. Whatever one of those things, the team needs not only insurance for another freak McLauren injury but also because the team genuinely needs another receiver who can pull his weight at all. If it's a bargain bin WR, I'm going to flip my lid when it turns out he's a headcase, a fragile egg, or both. Noah Brown and Treylon Burks are fragile enough.

 

[method man]

I would be extremely disappointed if the most premier offensive signing was the center. The team NEEDS a receiver of some sort. A WR, a tight end, an RB that can double as a WR. Whatever one of those things, the team needs not only insurance for another freak McLauren injury but also because the team genuinely needs another receiver who can pull his weight at all. If it's a bargain bin WR, I'm going to flip my lid when it turns out he's a headcase, a fragile egg, or both. Noah Brown and Treylon Burks are fragile enough.

It seems these guys want it all. If it did turn out they sat out Pierce, Jennings, Doubs and Shaheed but did sign Okonkwo and Aiyuk, I’d be ok with that. Logan has me sold that Okonkwo could put up huge Pro Bowl numbers here as the F

 

[Kalu44]

Would a Cade Mays signing be an upgrade over Biadasz/Allegretti? I can see a Mays/Dowdle tandem signing.

 

[HoggLife]

It seems these guys want it all. If it did turn out they sat out Pierce, Jennings, Doubs and Shaheed but did sign Okonkwo and Aiyuk, I’d be ok with that. Logan has me sold that Okonkwo could put up huge Pro Bowl numbers here as the F

I agree with this BUT also only of they add Love or Tate in the draft.

 

[Dlts20]

It's seems like the Biadasz release has kinda put a damper on free agency and the off season until we are given a good explanation. No matter what we do it will probably feel a, little less exciting and the move just seemed completely unnecessary to some.

I will just have to lean on the fact that both DQ and AP truly feel like they have to do well thus off-season and are both doing their due diligence and being tedious more so then they have in their whole football career so this had to be something that was well thought out and they feel like they have a plan that is better for the future of the team even if it's hard to see now.

I hope that I'm not giving them too much credit though and the real answer is that they were idiots again.. .. Lol

 

[clskinsfan]

 

[Boone]

I will just have to lean on the fact that both DQ and AP truly feel like they have to do well thus off-season and are both doing their due diligence and being tedious more so then they have in their whole football career so this had to be something that was well thought out and they feel like they have a plan that is better for the future of the team even if it's hard to see now.

I think your run-on sentence says it all, lol... it's a head-scratcher. That's the short version.

 

[HTTR]

For 30 mil in salary I’d rather have Linderbaum + settle for Aiyuk than Pierce w/ alligretti starting

 

[Discobob]

re: Linderbaum

We saved 8M this year by cutting Biadasz... we can structure a Linderbaum contract to only count 8M this year. Obviously we'd eventually have to pay up, but teams like the Fecales have been doing this for years without ruining their team.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

A caution about all these tweets come out about "these teams are involved in this guy" or "price is this or that" or any variation of information coming out this morning until actual signings are being announced:

The only people who are talking to any media member at this point in the process are agents, and they have a clear agenda to drive up price, make it seem like their clients are wanted, and try and get teams into a bidding war, potentially with only themselves.

It would be absolutely shocking if any team official is telling any media member, national or local, anything. Unless they are using the media to try and screw with other teams, which can happen, but

You always have to keep in mind "who benefits from this information getting out?"

At this time of year, it's always the player/agent.

Which is not to say the information is not valid. It's just that it can evolve over time and needs to be taken with some degree of a sideways glance. There will be some super obvious signings which everybody "got right." Then there will be others which nobody reported any interest about. Not just for out team, league wide.

This isn't a shot at any reporter or any report. Just a PSA keep in mind as we go forward over the next day or two.

 

[ES1974]

re: Linderbaum

We saved 8M this year by cutting Biadasz... we can structure a Linderbaum contract to only count 8M this year. Obviously we'd eventually have to pay up, but teams like the Feagles have been doing this for years without ruining their team.

Agree, don’t see the caution really. Rams just threw a $124m deal on the table. NFL salary cap landscape is changing at a pace.

If Peters and Quinn shop at the tier 2 and 3 level again I’ll be disappointed, at best.

Time to show up.

 

[clskinsfan]

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

re: Linderbaum

We saved 8M this year by cutting Biadasz... we can structure a Linderbaum contract to only count 8M this year. Obviously we'd eventually have to pay up, but teams like the Fecales have been doing this for years without ruining their team.

Has it been fully reported this was a June 1st designation? I know there was a lot of speculation about it, but I didn't see anything specific, and a quick google search still said "is expected to be a June 1st designation."

NOTE: If he is a June 1st designation, that means that the $8m isn't actually available until June 1st. So it doesn't help RIGHT NOW.

However, it MIGHT help on June 2nd to give Tunsil an extension. That would be a really good use of the June 1st designation if true.

 

[Boone]

Also, double and triple check tweets to ensure it's a REAL account, not @AdamSccchefter

 

[SkinsFTW]

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Is it just me, or were there more deals to stay with teams finalized this year in the last couple days than there normally are? Feels like more guys are coming off the board later than normal.

That could be just a recency bias, not entirely sure.

 

[Discobob]

Has it been fully reported this was a June 1st designation? I know there was a lot of speculation about it, but I didn't see anything specific, and a quick google search still said "is expected to be a June 1st designation."

NOTE: If he is a June 1st designation, that means that the $8m isn't actually available until June 1st. So it doesn't help RIGHT NOW.

However, it MIGHT help on June 2nd to give Tunsil an extension. That would be a really good use of the June 1st designation if true.

Roger that - In my head, we are probably gonna sign Aiyuk post June 1st when he eventually gets cut, so we will have to leave a bit of room for that time period. But your point is valid