The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[KDawg]

We don’t have any average to slightly above average WRs though Bob - that’s the whole point.

We have Terry. And projects and scrubs.

Not even Jayden should be expected to elevate what we have to any significant degree.

Chig and White combined are going to have more receptions than our receivers combined last year.

Slight hyperbole. But I bet it’s not far off.

We do need receivers though. Missing on all of them so far isn’t great. But AP has done well this offseason… so I’m going to give him some time on this.

 

[Phantvm]

Chig and White combined are going to have more receptions than our receivers combined last year.

Slight hyperbole. But I bet it’s not far off.

We do need receivers though. Missing on all of them so far isn’t great. But AP has done well this offseason… so I’m going to give him some time on this.

What would you feel about a healthy Aiyuk and a rookie Lemon?

 

[BayouBrave86]

I can already picture the dump offs to White with Conerly and Tunsil getting downfield with Chig opening up the lanes 😍 we need another jersey grab TD like Portis’ vs the Cardinals

 

[Commander Wraith]

Agree. and it's kind of bizarre that we've signed about a quarter of a gameday roster's worth of new players in FA and none of them are WRs. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what Peters has done in FA so far, just one great signing after another, but it's just weird that after the completely botched 2025 offseason handling of the WR position it apparently wasn't a code red priority this year. I can only hope Peters is extremely confident his WR dominoes are lined up perfectly and that's why we haven't seen anything happen yet.

Well, they offered 31 mil to Pierce, Rice stayed in Seattle (didn’t see if we pursued him, but I’d imagine we did), went after Doubs, are in on Jennings, we can’t pursue Aiyuk yet. I’d be willing to bet they’ve inquired on some trades as well, but who knows. Seems like they’re turning over the stones, just no success yet.

 

[Commander Wraith]

If we sign Aiyuk, and he’s healthy and productive(a big if I know), drafting a recover at 7 means we will be in 11 A LOT. We will have to be in order to justify taking the receiver that high IMO.

That then takes both Sinnott and Bates off the field. Which negatively impacts the run game. Harder to disguise run vs pass being in 11 so much given the nature of our TE room.

That would be my only push back on taking receiver @7. Especially if Love, Styles, Downs, and to a lesser extent Delane are there. A first round receiver at 16 after a trade I’d feel wholly differently about.

It wouldn’t be just about this year though. Monetarily, it makes sense for us to move on from Terry next year. IF Aiyuk balls out, IF we go with wr at 7, and IF that wr plays well, perhaps we offer Aiyuk a longer term deal and we wind up with a good wr tandem going forward. If Aiyuk doesn’t work out, we have the rookie taking snaps, and if they produce, we’ll at least have one quality starter for ‘27 and beyond.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Chig and White combined are going to have more receptions than our receivers combined last year.

Slight hyperbole. But I bet it’s not far off.

We do need receivers though. Missing on all of them so far isn’t great. But AP has done well this offseason… so I’m going to give him some time on this.

Yeah I've digested a lot more of White in the last day. The more I digest the more he feels like a smaller-poor man's version of Larry Centers. And not that poor. I think he can put up monster receiving numbers. As a pure runner, he's just OK. But as a pass catcher and blocker, he's really good.

They definetly IMO need to add another back. If not Love, then maybe someone else in this draft.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Discobob]

View attachment 14359

IF there is anything to this explanation, it make more sense why it all went down the way it did. The part that would still puzzle me is why Aiyuk wouldn't have fought any of their contract voiding. He could have fought it and just negotiated his immediate release. That said, maybe he felt like it wasn't worth it went they will do it eventually 🤷‍♂️

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

DC Sports Media doesn't really have someone like Grant Cohn. So I get that we're believing him thinking he's Finlay/Standig/Keim etc. He's not though, he's a professional troll.

For example, he tried to goad players at training camp to punch him so he could then sue. He bragged about those actions.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

 

[Primus Porcus]

Chig and White combined are going to have more receptions than our receivers combined last year.

Slight hyperbole. But I bet it’s not far off.

We do need receivers though. Missing on all of them so far isn’t great. But AP has done well this offseason… so I’m going to give him some time on this.

When you look at it and Chig is same height, 25lbs heavier, and runs the same 40 as Juan Jennings, it's very VERY likely Chig is going to be split out a fair amount.

 

[Boone]

It’s good we have Chig.

We still have major needs at WR

 

[skinsinparadise]

DC Sports Media doesn't really have someone like Grant Cohn. So I get that we're believing him thinking he's Finlay/Standig/Keim etc. He's not though, he's a professional troll.

For example, he tried to goad players at training camp to punch him so he could then sue. He bragged about those actions.

OK. The only thing is speaking of the local media, they've had people who cover SF talk about Aiyuk, and the impression they give is Aiyuk not a bad guy, and a good guy in the locker room.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

When you look at it and Chig is same height, 25lbs heavier, and runs the same 40 as Juan Jennings, it's very VERY likely Chig is going to be split out a fair amount.

Yup. Blough showed Chig film of how Ben Johnson used Sam LaPorta in Detroit. Saying he'd be in similar situations. LaPorta was sometimes aligned out-wide with the WR's in the slot.

Chig is going to be everywhere.

 

[Boone]

Chig will be even more dangerous when they don’t know we are going to him every 3rd down because we have 2 or 3 dangerous WRs who are also options.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Also, I'd add SF is acting petty right now.

The one fault I give Peters is he didn't hide at the combine his interest in Aiyuk -- giving a thumbs up about his personality is as good as an endorsement as it gets considering the context around this.

And from SF i can see some maybe annoyance at Peters -- by endorsing him as a dude, it can look like he's taking his side, and I get why they don't love the idea of handing him to Washington.

 

[Neophyte]

We don’t have any average to slightly above average WRs though Bob - that’s the whole point.

We have Terry. And projects and scrubs.

Not even Jayden should be expected to elevate what we have to any significant degree.

I get it. (I feel like I'm saying that a lot).

I guess I look at these guys differently than most of the fans.

I'm tired of throwing guys out who don't appear to have gotten more than cursory chance. This team seems lousy about it and there is no substitute for game time.

It isn't like guys are dropping balls either. They are making the most of the chances they get.

McCaffery - 29 receptions on 39 targets for 371 with 3 TDs and exactly 1 drop in 26 games
Burks - 63 receptions on 114 targets for 829 with 2 TDs and 8 drops (0 drops for WSH) over 35 games

What jumps out at me here is the target rate. McCaffery has less than 2 a game and Burks less than 4 (and he had lousy quarterbacking for 3 years in TN)

I don't know. Maybe it's my frustration with what I see in pro soccer where clubs invest years and millions of $$ in academy players only to see them blossum somewhere else after selling them on because a manager who wanted only experienced players never gave them a chance. And I feel like Kliff is the pro-football version of that. Over the last 2 years, it has always felt to me like the experienced players (McLaurin, Ertz, Eckler, Samuel) were the 1st and 2nd reads on everything. Those are the reads that NFL QBs are going to go to more often than not so guys further down the list aren't going to get chances to do more than run a route.

Doesn't mean I don't want Jennings. Doesn't mean I'd be upset with taking Tate at #7.

Just means I'd like see guys who have shown they can reliably catch the damn ball to get more chances higher up Jayden's read list to...you know...catch the damn ball.

I'm probably weird but I take a great deal of pride in seeing our draft picks and our UDFAs succeed in the league.

But I'm a sentimental bastage too.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

OK. The only thing is speaking of the local media, they've had people who cover SF talk about Aiyuk, and the impression they give is Aiyuk not a bad guy, and a good guy in the locker room.

I don't know what to say. I've heard Aiyuk used to be that way, but shifted, and eventually lost his friends in the locker room.

I do think, based on toxic WR's in league history, they generally act well in a new environ for a year or two before things regress. So if we did get him, I would expect his behavior to not be an issue for that singular season. Expecting that behavior to continue after that season would be risky.

 

[Bulldog]

Also, I'd add SF is acting petty right now.

The one fault I give Peters is he didn't hide at the combine his interest in Aiyuk -- giving a thumbs up about his personality is as good as an endorsement as it gets considering the context around this.

And from SF i can see some maybe annoyance at Peters -- by endorsing him as a dude, it can look like he's taking his side, and I get why they don't love the idea of handing him to Washington.

After the Daniels-Aiyuk bromance on social media when Aiyuk was seeking a new deal and talking about how close they were AND factoring in what role Peters might have had in drafting Aiyuk in the first place, I don't think he gave anything away to SF that they could not have figured out on their own

 

[Due East]

Anybody else still want another TE? We have cap space and there are some TE's out there that are better weapons than the current batch of available receivers. Bring me Dallas G. or Jonnu Smith for a two or three TE set.