The 2026 Free Agency Thread

There are always a few guys who "get it" late in their careers. Why? I dunno. But it happens. Reeves is a good example. He was cut, what, 5 or 6 seasons in a row before he really "got it" and became a ST captain.

We don't see the work that the players are doing in the off-season. Quinn certainly knows more than we know. Maybe he just sees something in the pre-season work which leads him to believe he can take a step forward.

Or it's Shanahan betting his reputation on John Beck, which was a stupid lie and everybody knew it was a lie.

Time will tell.

From a FA perspective, I don't think we're adding any more TE's who will compete to make the roster. We might add guys for training camp and practice squad, but I think the TE room/competition is set:

Chig and Bates are on the team with defined roles.

Sinnott probably has to REALLY screw up not to be on the team.

Cager and Yankoff are competing for a spot.

We're almost certainly going to run a lot more 2 and 3 TE sets this year, so carrying 4 TE's is likely.
 
Re Diggs: No thank you for me. Mostly for this reason:

As of April 2026, NFL wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing felony charges of strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery in Massachusetts, stemming from an alleged Dec. 2025 incident with his private chef. Diggs has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations, which reportedly involved a dispute over money.
ESPN
Key Legal and Personal Details
  • Allegations: A female private chef alleged that Diggs "smacked her across the face" and "tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow" in his Dedham, MA home after a disagreement, reports.
  • Charges & Court Status:Diggs was arraigned on felony strangulation/suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges
    . He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance, with a, court order to have no contact with the victim. A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for April 1, 2026.
    • Defense Stance: Diggs’ legal team has called the allegations "unsubstantiated" and "unmotivated by a financial dispute".
    • Team Status: The New England Patriots announced they would be releasing Diggs in the 2026 offseason, a move that created significant salary cap space.
    • Additional Legal Issues: Reports also indicated a separate civil lawsuit in 2026 filed by a man claiming assault by associates of Diggs at a Miami club, according to.
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If ALL of that gets sorted out and he's cleared, then fine, maybe. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. And I'd want to figure out what the league would do with any suspension due to league personal conduct policy before even entertaining even a conversation.
 
bowhunter said:
We're definitely going to have to SOGOTP with a WR2, Between JJ and/or BA last year should have told us that waiting for a deal to come to us sometimes doesn't
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There is a lot to unpack in this post.

First of all, I didn't know SOGOTP was an acronym. Now I do.

Second, between JJ and/or BA. I'm assuming that's Juan Jennings and/or Brandon Aiyuk.

Third, Last year should have told us that wiating for a deal to come to us sometimes doesn't.

Well, last year they traded for Deebo and re-signed Noah Brown immediately and did little else. But they didn't really target anything additional to do.

This year they went hard after Pierce and Doubs, before deciding #3 on the list wasn't worth going hard after. Which probably makes sense because it wasn't a very deep FA WR class.

So, I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say.

Is it, if we sign JJ or BY, they are going to be in prove-it years? If so, sure.
Is it, we need to be more aggressive signing them because we don't have them yet? Is so, I disagree.

Also, there is a chance we don't get either because SF just fusses around long enough we don't get a chance, and JJ might go somewhere else after the draft if he's in demand.

And finally, we might get another WR in the draft which lines up outside.

What I've said for a while, the WR room is not settled yet.
 
No on Diggs for any reason. Violent behavior aside, he's on the downside of his career and is a locker room cancer. I couldn't think of the type of player I'd like less than that.
 
Well, Brown to New England may not materialize due to the Rossini/Vrabel situation and apparently the Eagles having them followed?

Brown probably isn’t an option for us, still, but that means the marry go round is going to continue with receivers waiting for new places to go.
 
I'm starting to wonder whether Diana has some daddy issues or something that this point.
 
Anselmheifer said:
Lawrence Cager. Yawn.

You know who I think might have a breakout season? Tyler Polombus.

Coach speak.
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Definitely come across as coach speak...makes me wonder if it's more about putting Sinnnot on notice that there's a random journeyman TE on the roster that the coaching staff likes, in hopes of lighting a fire in him.
 
Bottom line - we need to come out of the draft and secondary free agency with TWO receivers for the offense. We simply can't have a wide receiver room that is Terry McLaurin and a collection of veteran and middle/low round picks that are raga-muffins and solid special teamers or are guys that have legal or emotional issues which made their former clubs want to get rid of them as soon as possible.

We need high skill, high work ethic players that can elevate this team over the next couple of years.

McLaurin showed for the first time last season that once you reach 30 at the WR position injuries become a regular part of the program for most players.

When Terry went out last year this team had absolutely nothing to threaten teams with down the field.

Deebo was a great move tight end for the team with a 10.01 per catch average but he's not running away from anyone anymore at 30 either.

If we take a defender at #7 that's fine, but to me that means the team has to be creative and find a trade for a WR or be damn sure that the WR room is deep enough that a guy taken at #71 is going to be able to come in and at least stretch the field with speed, even if he is still a bit raw.

But we need a true NFL wide receiver prospect (or trade) not a guy that projects to be a solid special teamer or return man and a HOPE that perhaps he can at some point down the road make a contribution on offense.
 
Bulldog said:
If we take a defender at #7 that's fine, but to me that means the team has to be creative and find a trade for a WR or be damn sure that the WR room is deep enough that a guy taken at #71 is going to be able to come in and at least stretch the field with speed, even if he is still a bit raw.
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That describes LMC and Lane--they can certainly stretch the field and are certainly raw.

The remaining FA receivers, namely Jauan Jennings and Keenan Allen, are possession types. I am not sure who would be available in trade--Aiyuk had a 17.9 YPC in 2023, but God only knows when he's going to be available, if he's going to be available, and what state he's going to be in physically and mentally. That's a rickety basket to put any eggs in.
 
I think our receiver room has speed.

Lane has speed.
McCaffrey has speed.
McLaurin has speed.
Dyami has speed.

I think we need more route guys than speed guys. I think we need more good wide receivers.
 
KDawg said:
Well, Brown to New England may not materialize due to the Rossini/Vrabel situation and apparently the Eagles having them followed?

Brown probably isn’t an option for us, still, but that means the marry go round is going to continue with receivers waiting for new places to go.
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Wait.... what? Is that a real rumor, I haven't been paying close attention! That's crazy LMAO
 
burgold said:
I think our receiver room has speed.

Lane has speed.
McCaffrey has speed.
McLaurin has speed.
Dyami has speed.

I think we need more route guys than speed guys. I think we need more good wide receivers.
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I don't think most of those guys are as fast as you do and speed doesn't matter if you can't make plays. I don't trust any of those guys right now down the field to come away with the pass except McLaurin. I can only remember seeing Dyami and Luke making one deep coach and only kinda one for Lane but he was wide open. Luke and Lane have struggled badly when contested and Dyami is solid but is capable of dropping the ball
 
burgold said:
As scared as we are of McLaurin's age, I think Digg's age and wear and tear is worse.
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He slowed down a little late and in the playoffs but some of the playoffs was Maye being pretty mid at best. Overall he's still producing at a high level. Way more than a Deebo and others. If you have Terry and Aiyuk on the outside, I could see him eat all day in the slot compared to Luke
 
burgold said:
I think our receiver room has speed.

Lane has speed.
McCaffrey has speed.
McLaurin has speed.
Dyami has speed.

I think we need more route guys than speed guys. I think we need more good wide receivers.
Click to expand...

Luke and Dyami are 4.45 guys. Not super speed for a WR but not slow either.
 
HOF44 said:
Luke and Dyami are 4.45 guys. Not super speed for a WR but not slow either.
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Whats crazy is that Tate is 4.53 and people see him as a deep threat. It goes back to what I said about speed vs actually being able to make a play on the ball. Tate has way better deep ball skills than them
 
ES1974 said:
Erm…yep agreed.
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I disagree… but to be fair to Burgy… it’s a very semantics oriented disagree 😆

We need good pass catchers. I don’t care if it’s running backs, tight ends, receivers…

We need guys who can catch the rock, have high FBI (football intelligence) and got that dawg in them.

Preferably we get them at the wide receiver position. But a pass catcher is a pass catcher at this point for us.
 
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