The 2026 Free Agency Thread

Faithful Fan said:
Obviously, it would be nice to have a good pair of obvious starters, e.g., Chase and Higgins, Nacua and Adams, Pickens and Lamb, Jameson Williams and St. Brown, etc., but those are also the best duos in the league and relatively rare. I think the last time we had that was probably when Gruden had Garcon and Jackson over a decade ago. I’m just saying that this fortunate situation is not as common as people seem to think.

I would prefer to have a better option opposite Terry too, but we don’t. So our realistic options are:

1. A 33-year old with off the field issues.
2. A player with character questions who hasn’t played in two years.
3. Overpaying a middling player.
4. Developing one of our own draft picks.
5. Bringing back Deebo.

Of those options, I prefer 4 and 5.
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A few more options..

6. Trade - but that is highly unlikely
7. Wait for cutdowns - there is usually at least one surprise cut.

Not saying anything of the options moves the needle, but they are options nonetheless.
 
skinsinparadise said:
After going beyond the top 32. I looked at the next 28 receivers after that, taking it all the way down into roughly the 13th percentile—not just the bottom 20%. Is that far enough down the list?

And on my next pass, I went even deeper. It's not like our group suddenly starts looking good when compared against that even lower tiers either.

At some point, we have to decide what standard we're using. Are we trying to build a 9-8 team, or are we trying to win a Super Bowl? Are we debating whether this is merely a weak position group, or whether it's among the weakest in the league? Because if the goal is a championship, that's where this whole discussion loses me.

Now, if you're convinced that Burks, Dyami, or whoever else you have in mind is good enough to be a legitimate No. 2 receiver—or close enough to one—cool. I genuinely hope you're right. The fan base is lol clearly split on this. The local media is split. And judging by some of these posts, including my own, people clearly feel strongly about it.

For me, I can buy the argument that they can survive with a mediocre Z receiver. Just not for some of the reasons being thrown around. My reasoning is much simpler: I'm betting on Jayden and that is Jayden running.

If we're trying to recreate what worked in 2024, the formula wasn't complicated. The receiving corps wasn't special, but when nobody got open, Jayden created offense with his legs. "Run, Jayden, run" was a major part of the offense.

As long as he stays healthy, his mobility can cover up a lot of flaws. That's the path I see to overcoming an underwhelming WR room. But if the plan is to win a Super Bowl while counting on your quarterback to constantly bail out the passing game because the WR2 spot never got adequately addressed, I don't see a SB, we will have to wait to 2027 to make a big run in all likelihood

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Those numbers make us look even worse when Chi has THREE (3) of the top 18 #2s. So some teams have their WR3 and WR4 both beating out our #2.
 
bowhunter said:
Those numbers make us look even worse when Chi has THREE (3) of the top 18 #2s. So some teams have their WR3 and WR4 both beating out our #2.
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It will be interesting to see what these numbers look like at the end of this season. I would bet a couple of our own who everybody seems to dislike will finish in that range (assuming we don’t bring in somebody else who poaches their targets). Williams and LMC would be the favorites, but it could be Dyami, Lane, Burks, or Jefferson too.

That might be the main source of disagreement, I can imagine a future where one or two of these young guys break out, others won’t believe it until they see it.
 
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bowhunter said:
Those numbers make us look even worse when Chi has THREE (3) of the top 18 #2s. So some teams have their WR3 and WR4 both beating out our #2.
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That's sort of my point. And heck forget the Wrs, it extends to TE, too. We go on and on about Chig like he will be a superstar, and maybe he will, will see. But the Bears #2 TE, Kmet, has had seasons that Chig has never had. Their #1 TE, Loveland is a stud. Their #3 TE, is Roush, one of my favs in the draft. NE has a legit, #1, and #2 WR, and three guys vying for the #3 job all of whom would likely be the #2 with this team. NE has a really good TE and also drafted one of my fav TEs in the draft.

I just don't like the mindset of hey we don't need to do the same or its not as bad as it looks, there are others who are worse and or if this or that breaks out this WR will blossom into the #2 even though nothing in their career so far indicates it will happen. And my point isn't that it can't happen. I can't predict the future. Maybe Luke turns into his brother Christian. Lane turns into the next Desean Jackson, etc. But a late third round pick, late 4th round pick, free agents grabbed for peanuts are usually not the springboard for future stars -- it can happen, but the odds don't generally work in their favor.

So I just don't love taking chances when you are in a short rookie QB contract window, this isn't the time to fart around. But having said that as I mentioned before I doubt Peters is even feeling as good as some here do about the status quo -- that was evident in their FA pursuits and their supposed interest in Aiyuk.
 
skinsinparadise said:
That's sort of my point. And heck forget the Wrs, it extends to TE, too. We go on and on about Chig like he will be a superstar, and maybe he will, will see. But the Bears #2 TE, Kmet, has had seasons that Chig has never had. Their #1 TE, Loveland is a stud. Their #3 TE, is Roush, one of my favs in the draft. NE has a legit, #1, and #2 WR, and three guys vying for the #3 job all of whom would likely be the #2 with this team. NE has a really good TE and also drafted one of my fav TEs in the draft.

I just don't like the mindset of hey we don't need to do the same or its not as bad as it looks, there are others who are worse and or if this or that breaks out this WR will blossom into the #2 even though nothing in their career so far indicates it will happen. And my point isn't that it can't happen. I can't predict the future. Maybe Luke turns into his brother Christian. Lane turns into the next Desean Jackson, etc. But a late third round pick, late 4th round pick, free agents grabbed for peanuts are usually not the springboard for future stars -- it can happen, but the odds don't generally work in their favor.

So I just don't love taking chances when you are in a short rookie QB contract window, this isn't the time to fart around. But having said that as I mentioned before I doubt Peters is even feeling as good as some here do about the status quo -- that was evident in their FA pursuits and their supposed interest in Aiyuk.
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Every offseason, the local media gets overly excited about some players. Sometimes it is innocent based off a couple highlight reels at camp. Other times, it is to serve an agenda.

In this case, with Chig, it is a convenient crutch for a team employee like Logan to fall back on to defend this bottom of the barrel receiving room AP has built for the third year in a row.
 
I have lived through enough offseasons of OTA/Training Camp/Preseason hype to know by now to never trust what you are hearing about players until the actual season starts. I would even go as far as to say that off the top of my head the media observers are usually more correct about players looking bad/underwhelming/not as good as advertised than they are in their accuracy when hyping up players. This mostly pertains to draft picks, mind you. I can only get so excited about these "inside looks" without actually seeing what it means for real games that count.

Even when we were hearing all the positives stuff about JD5 in camp as a rookie, even from coaches, that sounded a little more positive and sincere that what you usually hear when coaches are throwing out the usual coach speak, I refused to allow myself to buy into the hype too soon because I have been burned so many times by the promise and/or potential coming out of the summer.

Now with that said this also goes both ways, there are always players that might come off looking pedestrian or more JAG level during the summer and when the real games start a switch clicks.
 
method man said:
Every offseason, the local media gets overly excited about some players. Sometimes it is innocent based off a couple highlight reels at camp. Other times, it is to serve an agenda.

In this case, with Chig, it is a convenient crutch for a team employee like Logan to fall back on to defend this bottom of the barrel receiving room AP has built for the third year in a row.
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I like Logan a lot. But i recall him in a similar way defending the O line in the 2023 camp when there was concerns and also defending the TE room saying people were sleeping on dudes like Curtis Hodges, Armani Rogers, Cole Turner, etc.

The point coupled with no need to take a TE in that TE rich draft because of the immense talent of that TE room. And the concerns about the O line is overblown, because it doesn't factor the development of some of their younger players, and the power of the scheme to help them transcend beyond how it looks on paper.

All this Wr talk, isn't some new fangled discussion. It's sort of the run of the mill discussion about believe in everything working out, stop being negative, and why can't the best case scenarios and dreams for these players-unit will come true.
 
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Stefon Diggs is still out there - he had 85 catches for 1,000 yards last season with the Patriots. He’d immediately be our #2 and a chain mover.

He had the off field issue and maybe there is more out there we don’t know about. But all things being equal we should be at least looking hard at him.
 
MartinC said:
Stefon Diggs is still out there
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And there hasn't been a whisper of anyone being interested, had him in for visit, or anything. I am almost 100% certain we don't sign Diggs--for better or worse--but the complete inactivity across the board is interesting.

Catching up on the thread, and I need to make sure I read this right. Did I really see Mack Hollins would be the #2 here? Did I read that right? I wasn't sure who posted it, but really?

Hollins: 8 years, 127 games, 208 rec. 2619 yards 17 TDs.
Van Jefferson: 6 years, 94 games, 166 rec. 2226 yards, 13 TDs.

In 2 more full seasons (33 games) Hollins 42 rec., 393 yards, 4 TDs--that's 21 rec. 196.5 yards, 2 TDs per season--more than someone we consider to be the bottom of our receiver room. This is what I push against repeatedly. This Anti-Ashburn Syndrome where because some receiver had a mediocre season last year; they're automatically better than anyone we have. Hollins is also going into his age 33 season.

I hope I really did read that wrong.
 
Riggo44 said:
And there hasn't been a whisper of anyone being interested, had him in for visit, or anything. I am almost 100% certain we don't sign Diggs--for better or worse--but the complete inactivity across the board is interesting.
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Yeah, I'm also surprised. I don't think I've heard of him connected to any team yet. I think a few have come out and said they're set already and aren't looking to add more pieces which is a polite 'no'.
 
Riggo44 said:
And there hasn't been a whisper of anyone being interested, had him in for visit, or anything. I am almost 100% certain we don't sign Diggs--for better or worse--but the complete inactivity across the board is interesting.
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Yeah, the lack of activity league wide suggests there is something the league knows that we don’t.
 
Riggo44 said:
And there hasn't been a whisper of anyone being interested, had him in for visit, or anything. I am almost 100% certain we don't sign Diggs--for better or worse--but the complete inactivity across the board is interesting.

Catching up on the thread, and I need to make sure I read this right. Did I really see Mack Hollins would be the #2 here? Did I read that right? I wasn't sure who posted it, but really?

Hollins: 8 years, 127 games, 208 rec. 2619 yards 17 TDs.
Van Jefferson: 6 years, 94 games, 166 rec. 2226 yards, 13 TDs.

In 2 more full seasons (33 games) Hollins 42 rec., 393 yards, 4 TDs--that's 21 rec. 196.5 yards, 2 TDs per season--more than someone we consider to be the bottom of our receiver room. This is what I push against repeatedly. This Anti-Ashburn Syndrome where because some receiver had a mediocre season last year; they're automatically better than anyone we have. Hollins is also going into his age 33 season.

I hope I really did read that wrong.
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If the WR group is truly fine, and this is just people nitpicking because they're looking for something to complain about or suffering from a little "Anti-Ashburn Syndrome," then I'd simply ignore it. If people aren't going to be satisfied with what they are doing at WR even though its clearly to you more than OK, to each their own but I'd just laugh at those who disagree.

I feel the same way but not with the WR spot but on defense. I do think they fixed the defense, and I mostly just blow off those that feel (mostly national media) otherwise. Ditto the national media, much of them which think this team will suck. I personally think they will be good.

As for the comparison, Hollins had 46 catches for 550 yards last season. Van Jefferson's career high was 50 catches, and that came six years ago. 29 catches were his best season otherwise. Outside of that one season, he hasn't matched the production Hollins put up last year in either receptions or yards. Jefferson has had an unusual career arc—one strong season early on, followed mostly by fairly modest production.
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Now, your point is that Hollins' season may have been a one-off. Look at his age, look at his prior production, and don't assume last year is the new normal. That's a fair argument. Maybe you're right. But it doesn't matter so if you think Van Jefferson is better than Hollins, cool, why let it bother you?
 
MartinC said:
Yeah, the lack of activity league wide suggests there is something the league knows that we don’t.
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Diggs made a comment recently that, to me, made it sound like he wasn't in any hurry to find a destination. I have no idea why that would be, but that's how it sounded.
 
I take this as they perhaps liked multiple Wrs at 71, interesting, I wonder if it wss Hurts next

 
I still think the best shot for WR group to surprise is Aiyuk. Yeah he comes off like a nutcase, yes he's a wildcard. But if I am betting on upside its not on Lane, McCaffrey, Burks, Dyami, etc. I mean its not impossible they have a breakthrough but I wouldn't bet on it. I'd bet higher on Aiyuk. Not that he's my ideal get. He's far from it. But I'd bet on him before name that other dude here at Z. And I still assume he's coming as long as he has the wherewithal to understand to show up to SF camp.

 
NoCalSkins said:
I have lived through enough offseasons of OTA/Training Camp/Preseason hype to know by now to never trust what you are hearing about players until the actual season starts. I would even go as far as to say that off the top of my head the media observers are usually more correct about players looking bad/underwhelming/not as good as advertised than they are in their accuracy when hyping up players. This mostly pertains to draft picks, mind you. I can only get so excited about these "inside looks" without actually seeing what it means for real games that count.

Even when we were hearing all the positives stuff about JD5 in camp as a rookie, even from coaches, that sounded a little more positive and sincere that what you usually hear when coaches are throwing out the usual coach speak, I refused to allow myself to buy into the hype too soon because I have been burned so many times by the promise and/or potential coming out of the summer.

Now with that said this also goes both ways, there are always players that might come off looking pedestrian or more JAG level during the summer and when the real games start a switch clicks.
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Yeah McLaurin was really the exception where you could tell the coaches were shocked with what they were seeing and he was instantly the best WR on the team and bubble-wrapped in preseason.

When I see that genuine reaction again, I’ll know it.
 
skinsinparadise said:
I still think the best shot for WR group to surprise is Aiyuk. Yeah he comes off like a nutcase, yes he's a wildcard. But if I am betting on upside its not on Lane, McCaffrey, Burks, Dyami, etc. I mean its not impossible they have a breakthrough but I wouldn't bet on it. I'd bet higher on Aiyuk. Not that he's my ideal get. He's far from it. But I'd bet on him before name that other dude here at Z. And I still assume he's coming as long as he has the wherewithal to understand to show up to SF camp.

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Do you think with all this offseason distraction/mess going on surrounding Aiyuk, that a one year prove it deal is what should be on the table? I am fine with bringing him in to see what he can do now that he is presumably healed up, but I am wondering how much his desire to play here with JD5 supersedes the scenario where each side are on different pages when it comes to the kind of contract we are looking at.
 
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