The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[DWinzit]

On the Aiyuk thing, if AP folds, he is a mark

Yes he can't fold in the Aiyuk situation. He needs to stay strong like did with standing pat with the draft pick selections

I am sick of this whole thing. It's been a distraction since before the FA period began. The longer it goes, the more distraction.

It's infiltrated like half of the threads over the few weeks and more prevalent in the news. It's feeling like last year's Terry ordeal.

 

[Discobob]

Yes he can't fold in the Aiyuk situation. He needs to stay strong like did with standing pat with the draft pick selections

I am sick of this whole thing. It's been a distraction since before the FA period began. The longer it goes, the more distraction.

It's infiltrated like half of the threads over the few weeks and more prevalent in the news. It's feeling like last year's Terry ordeal.

The funny part is that they are holding out for maybe a 7th round pick and then they go and spend pick #33 on De'Zhaun Stribling.... I mean WTF

You just gave up way more value on that reach than anything you're gonna get from Aiyuk LOL

 

[Anselmheifer]

Who are some other outside WR’s that we might be able to target in a trade? I don’t think BTJ is available.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Riggo44]

Yeah, our front office definitely didn't consider whether they should bring him in or not. Good call, Grant.

We have such clowns on the radio.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Maybe the best thing is to bring Deebo back. He was our leading receiver. He seems like a good culture guy. So he gives you that reliable veteran production we’re missing.

Aiyuk or Diggs would be too much drama. Keenan Allen will mostly likely play in LA. Jennings isn’t worth the price. Hopkins and Hill look like they’re out of gas.

How bad is it to have a bunch of “slot” guys or “gadget” guys really? There must be things a clever coordinator could do with that.

 

[Dlts20]

They might run it down to the wire in case a receiver somewhere gets hurt in camp and the team panics and offers a pick/pick swap

No team still will do it. He is a highly rated player but no one has made a single trade offer because you will have to take on his contract. Teams are just waiting for him to be released so that they can sign him to a, much cheaper contract. He has made it clear though that he only wants to go to Washington

 

[KDawg]

The funny part is that they are holding out for maybe a 7th round pick and then they go and spend pick #33 on De'Zhaun Stribling.... I mean WTF

You just gave up way more value on that reach than anything you're gonna get from Aiyuk LOL

I do not agree that Stribling is a reach. I know consensus says that, but to me he was a top 10ish receiver. So maybe a slight reach, and this can’t be proven, but I bet he goes in the next 15-20 picks if they don’t take him there.

So maybe reach is the right word given the context of consensus, but I think he’s going to wind up worth that slot.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I do not agree that Stribling is a reach. I know consensus says that, but to me he was a top 10ish receiver. So maybe a slight reach, and this can’t be proven, but I bet he goes in the next 15-20 picks if they don’t take him there.

So maybe reach is the right word given the context of consensus, but I think he’s going to wind up worth that slot.

I liked Stribiling he made my guys list. I guess the reach thought was in mocks he was a late 2nd-early 3rd.

But as I said before the draft IMO -- YAC receiver with upside as a deep threat, I liked him over Hurst, Lance, etc. He has some boom-bust but less bust than some of the projects IMO.

 

[Anselmheifer]

Maybe the best thing is to bring Deebo back. He was our leading receiver. He seems like a good culture guy. So he gives you that reliable veteran production we’re missing.

Aiyuk or Diggs would be too much drama. Keenan Allen will mostly likely play in LA. Jennings isn’t worth the price. Hopkins and Hill look like they’re out of gas.

How bad is it to have a bunch of “slot” guys or “gadget” guys really? There must be things a clever coordinator could do with that.

Deebo can play outside and still run gadget/Yac plays. He caught 72 balls for 727 yards and 5 TD’s last year. Connected well with Jayden. Gives us another YAC guy, in addition to Chig. Another viable weapon when someone inevitably misses a couple of games. Doesn’t preclude you from bringing in Aiyuk, or somebody else.

This is our last year of rookie contract Jayden. Fucking go all in. Also, Jayden isn’t 23. We need to maximize every year.

There has certainly been some urgency this year. But not a Philadelphia Eagles level of aggression

 

[burgold]

The problem with Deebo is he's redundant.

What Deebo can do is what we want Antonio Williams to do. It's what we want Jaylin Lane to do. It may also be what we want Luke McCaffrey to do. All those players are probably guys you want underneath, catching quick slants, screens, and things in space to get YAC. Deebo may still be safer, even better, but like I said, he's redudant.

We need to diversify the receiving corp. We don't need Terry and four gadget/slot guys.

 

[HTTR]

Yeah, our front office definitely didn't consider whether they should bring him in or not. Good call, Grant.

We have such clowns on the radio.

good point. Maybe he means the fans more so than the team. But the question of whether we should is something that we all assumed Peters would be on top of considering how well he knows the player.

 

[heisenberg]

but to me he was a top 10ish receiver. So maybe a slight reach

Just out of curiosity, if you think he was a top 10ish receiver, why do you think he might have been a slight reach at 33?

Sounds like a steal.

And this is coming from somebody who knows absolutely nothing about him so I have no opinion either way.

 

[HTTR]

Maybe the best thing is to bring Deebo back. He was our leading receiver. He seems like a good culture guy. So he gives you that reliable veteran production we’re missing.

Aiyuk or Diggs would be too much drama. Keenan Allen will mostly likely play in LA. Jennings isn’t worth the price. Hopkins and Hill look like they’re out of gas.

How bad is it to have a bunch of “slot” guys or “gadget” guys really? There must be things a clever coordinator could do with that.

Agree with all of this, except for Jennings. Isn't passing on free-agent wide receivers because we think they’re “not worth the price“ partly how we got in this mess in the first place? I mean, how much do you think he’s worth? Because his price is surely coming down some at this point. And if he is the best option for the team, why worry about the price? We’re not talking about some $100 million contract. We can easily afford what he is likely asking for.

I would offer him two years 35 mil with 15 to 20 of it guaranteed.

 

[Anselmheifer]

The problem with Deebo is he's redundant.

What Deebo can do is what we want Antonio Williams to do. It's what we want Jaylin Lane to do. It may also be what we want Luke McCaffrey to do. All those players are probably guys you want underneath, catching quick slants, screens, and things in space to get YAC. Deebo may still be safer, even better, but like I said, he's redudant.

We need to diversify the receiving corp. We don't need Terry and four gadget/slot guys.

I don’t think he’s redundant at all, other than that he played 55% of his snaps out of the slot last year.

Williams is a smooth, very good route runner, great separator. He’s going to get open quick, and be a reliable target.

Deebo is a running back after he gets the ball. Explosive. Physical. Strong as an ox. Not the best route runner. Not a guy that’s going to route someone up and immediately separate.

They just aren’t similar at all.

And I wouldn’t even think of Lane when deciding whether to add a veteran WR. Land did show some promise in my eyes and I’m keeping him on the roster, even if it’s just for his punt return value. But I’m not building my roster to make sure Lane gets enough reps in the slot. He had t earned that.

Maybe Deebo is t the best match for a Blough offense? Maybe he would cost too much, or that bridge is burned? There are reasons I could see that they wouldn’t do it. But there is no WR on our team behind McLaurin and Williams that looks like they would be a more valuable weapon.

 

[Conn]

I think what people aren’t taking into account is the very real possibility that having whiffed on our main targets to fill the Z spot across from Terry (or an X to allow Terry to live at the Z), that’s going to be a sacrificial spot on the offense this year.

Idk how common that term is. It’s used mostly derisively in fantasy football to describe an outside receiver who is technically a starter, racks up starter snaps, and doesn’t really touch the ball. Blocking and opening up space underneath being the main role, never being a primary, secondary, or even tertiary read most plays.

This offense will obviously run through Terry, the RB’s, Chig, and now Williams. With some other targets sprinkled in. Our Z is a weakness but not one that has to be emphasized in the offense. It’s not ideal but it’s basically what the Lions did until Jameson Williams finally got fully healthy and started breaking out a couple years into his career. Now he’s an actual weapon downfield but before that they had a lot of sacrificial outside WR snaps. That’s where we’re currently at, having failed to fill that spot with a playmaker.

Some combination of Dyami/Burks/McCaffrey/Aiyuk will take those snaps, mostly block their ass off, with the occasional target. Most of the touches will be funneled elsewhere.

 

[Anselmheifer]

I hear you, and I think you may be right, but you shouldn’t be right.

We are going into Jayden’s last year on his rookie deal. We almost made the Super Bowl 2 years ago. ****ing fill the holes at WR, C, and CB. We have 50 million dollars of cap space and 100 million next year. We should not be less aggressive than our division rivals. We should not be counting on lotto tickets, like Aiyuk. Is there a world where Aiyuk and Terry both put up 1,000 yards and Williams and Chig both put up 700? Sure. Do I want to bet a year of Jayden’s career on that? Hell no. If I were Josh Harris, I would be pushing this hard.

I get it that leaning into value can be a good strategy. I think Peters hasn’t leaned into maximizing our opportunities enough. It’s not that I think that his drafting or signings haven’t been good. It’s that I don’t perceive nearly enough of a sense of urgency from him. You can be as shrewd as you want, but if a bunch of other teams look like they’ve just done an obviously better job supporting their QB, than we have done supporting what looks like could be our franchise savior, then we need more urgency.

 

[Faithful Fan]

We need to diversify the receiving corp. We don't need Terry and four gadget/slot guys.

That’s my question, why couldn’t that work? I’m not the expert, so there may be an answer to that, but I really don’t understand it.

Aren’t all these gadgety guys versatile? Deebo played most of last year as WR1. Luke has shown he can catch the deep ball. AP said they think Antonio can play outside. It seems there are things you could do mixing and matching them in different formations.

I get that would be a different offense than you would run if you had Randy Moss and Cris Carter, but could it work?

Edit: I think Conn explained what I’m getting at in the post above.

 

[method man]

He is trying his best to get cut and direct his way here. Why would he cooperate and help facilitate a trade?

 

[HTTR]

He is trying his best to get cut and direct his way here. Why would he cooperate and help facilitate a trade?

True. No point in taking a pay cut to help the Niners send him to a team that they choose. Better to not cooperate so they are forced to send him to the team he wants to play for (us) or eventually release him so he can be a free agent. If he really wants to come here, then helping the 49ers to trade him elsewhere makes no sense. Send those calls straight to voicemail!