The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[Gooseneck]

 

[RedWolf]

Love it!!!

 

[MartinC]

 

[DWinzit]

I don't know about the rest of yall, but I'm actually enjoying this off-season. AP doing a tremendous job of addressing issues and depth. I fully expect him to do some horse trading during the draft, gather more picks, and add some talented youth to the equation.

Some of these 1 year deals will not make the final roster, which is to be expected. But regardless, he's continuing to set us up in the here and now (dare I say championship window) while also giving us flexibility in the future.

This is the most confident I've been in our front office since our glory days. A unified vision of what a championship team can be now with a bona-fide plan for the future.

HTTR!

It has been very interesting to see watch the roster being filled in. I like the strategies used so far.

It does make me frustrated however that we are forced to rely on so many one year contracts with older players. It just accentuates the past regime's ineptness. I hoped they would be flushed from our system by now but no, we are still paying for their stupidity.

Next year we are going to have more FAs than this year. Not the ideal way to build a roster. However AP is u to the challenge!

 

[Riggo44]

This is why it’s imperative to hit on draft picks—as much as I love Wagner and Ertz, we need someone to supplant them by year end. Sinnott needs to step up. Magee hopefully can show something. I hade drafting for specific positions, but we can almost bet on a DE with the first pick, whatever round it is.

 

[DWinzit]

This is why it’s imperative to hit on draft picks—as much as I love Wagner and Ertz, we need someone to supplant them by year end. Sinnott needs to step up. Magee hopefully can show something. I hade drafting for specific positions, but we can almost bet on a DE with the first pick, whatever round it is.

Yup, we are really at a point where we need all of last year and this years picks to hit even if the late picks are just legit backups.

 

[bowhunter]

This is why it’s imperative to hit on draft picks—as much as I love Wagner and Ertz, we need someone to supplant them by year end. Sinnott needs to step up. Magee hopefully can show something. I hade drafting for specific positions, but we can almost bet on a DE with the first pick, whatever round it is.

Yeah, I dunno the behind the scenes stuff with Fowler, but I do believe he vastly overinflated his worth and it appears that the entire league is showing minimal interest. I mean we just signed Martin and the dude has been on like 12 teams over the past 7 years.

 

[CommDownMan]

With little news/rumors on Becton, I have a feeling his asking price is above what teams are willing to pay. Similar to how it seems to be going with Fowler.

 

[Chris]

I don’t know anything about the Fowler situation, especially whether or not the team was interested in bringing him back. But I’d have to imagine that his decision to ‘comment’ publicly was not taken lightly, we haven’t seen any player from the new organization choose to do that.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Was listening Denton Day who is subbing for Sheehan today. He's done an odd left turn on the Tunsil deal after applauding it initially, maybe its just radio fodder. But his point brings home my take on him based on what the Texans reporters have said.

Day is alarmed that the Texans reporters are ALL telling him, that Tunsil really likes to get paid, and he couples that to be code that means he was a problem child in Houston. And he goes considering he likes to get paid as the premise. The conclusion is he's a problem considering he likes to be paid. And then adds that this team completed the trade and some other teams did not. In other words, we might be the dumb ones. For starters, this isn't Bruce Allen, Cerrato, or Rivera calling the shots -- so why are we assuming Peters is the dunce?

The thing is if you listen to all these Texans beat guys they are all remarkable consistent -- Day is right about that. And the idea that he likes to be paid -- Day is right about that, too. But IMO he is drawing the wrong conclusion considering the Texans reporters provide plenty of context around Tunsil.

A. Yes he likes to get paid. Heck so does Trent Williams. Who is killing Trent for the same thing? The get paid theme carried with Trent to SF, too. Great player but no he doesn't give any hometown discounts.

B. Great player. Not a single reporter disputes that.

C. Nice guy but not a leader who seems to drive the other guys on the O line. Actually Mark Bullock who does good film work disputes that some, he talked on Galdi the other day saying how helpful Tunsil is because he saw on tape how much he helps and directs the LG about stunts, etc.

The worst thing I've heard about Tunsil is from the only cranky among the Texans reporters who said Tunsil just cared about playing great but didn't care if his teammates played great. Another reporter though disputed that by saying he really really wants to be about a winning culture.

Yeah, managing someone like that is a headache (I am sure many of us were thinking of Trent too!), but it can be done. This is why I didn't care "that much" about extending him. This kind of person is going to hold out when they feel underpaid anyway, possibly. Maybe you can save 1M or something, but as soon as they feel underpaid, they go for the $$$.

It doesn't mean they lack a drive to win. Trent is really the perfect analog from what I have read from reporters but also direct quotes.

 

[DWinzit]

With little news/rumors on Becton, I have a feeling his asking price is above what teams are willing to pay. Similar to how it seems to be going with Fowler.

Yeah, Becton is looking for starting OT $. Last year should have proved to him that he is better off at G, especially if you can play with the best OL in the league lol.

I look forward to finding out what exactly prompted Fowlers tweets. I am kind of hoping it was him upset that he felt was a low ball offer from AP. Then him signing for a similar contract with another team, perhaps a lesser team too!

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Was listening to Mark Bullock do a tape review of Kinlaw today. He likes him a lot as a run stuffer but thinks he's inconsistent as a pass rusher. Which flies against the PFF scores which is the opposite. But his point watching him is he has violent hands but doesn't seem to have a plan with them and good O lineman can handle him for that reason when he pass rushes. But as a run stuffer, he's a mountain to deal with, can handle double teams which is somethiing this D line struggled with last year, etc. He can see him setting the edge against the run or playing 0-1 technique and clogging the middle.

If so they went a long way this week as to stopping the run.

Well, I think one of the really important notes here is that PHI O Line absolutely demands *SIZE* as a trait in your D Line.
You can be a great D Lineman, and if you lack in size, you may be due to get manhandled by that PHI O Line. So, I think they felt they absolutely needed certain physical traits.

Even with all of that, the signs to me didn't point to this contract for Kinlaw. Seemed like a weird and rare overpay. Still, this may be the most interesting move of the offseason.

 

[KDawg]

He must be expecting/asking for a top of market deal. He played well last season, but he’s not elite.

Agreed. His price will have to come down I'd guess.

But he is a significant upgrade to Allegretti and... is close enough to Cosmi. The issue we have is that Cosmi won't be healthy for awhile. So we need two guards.

However, one thing that I think is overlooked a little based on what I've read is:

LT: Tunsil
LG: ?
C: Biadasz
RG: Wylie
RT: Coleman

I am not the biggest Wylie fan, but I think he'd be more than adequate at guard. He moves better in confined spaces and has some power. His issue was mainly defeating two way gos from edges or keeping up with them. In a phone booth, he is actually not a bad option at all.

If we could slot Becton in on the left side that is a really good line.

Didn't he play on the right side last year, though? I wonder if he'd be comfortable enough on the left.

 

[CommDownMan]

Well, I think one of the really important notes here is that PHI O Line absolutely demands *SIZE* as a trait in your D Line.
You can be a great D Lineman, and if you lack in size, you may be due to get manhandled by that PHI O Line. So, I think they felt they absolutely needed certain physical traits.

Even with all of that, the signs to me didn't point to this contract for Kinlaw. Seemed like a weird and rare overpay. Still, this may be the most interesting move of the offseason.

Either the agent did a good job of suggesting other interest or they knew other teams that had interest.

Without that, I can see why there are several articles/ comments about over pay. It seems like 10ish APY makes a bit more sense.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Yeah, Becton is looking for starting OT $. Last year should have proved to him that he is better off at G, especially if you can play with the best OL in the league lol.

I look forward to finding out what exactly prompted Fowlers tweets. I am kind of hoping it was him upset that he felt was a low ball offer from AP. Then him signing for a similar contract with another team, perhaps a lesser team too!

Prior to FA, weeks prior, there were reports that the Comms knew that Fowler had a penchant for showing up in contract years.
The way it was being stated, it sounded like they were not going to reward him for his 10+ sack year, and he would walk. I think that is clearly what happened. I was pretty sure he would find a taker at a higher number and a significantly lesser team, but it looks like your prediction may come to pass if this continues longer.

It is the kind of decision that completely diverges them from the previous regime; it is also potentially a little note to Payne; it won't be enough to just show up this year. He would need to prove to the team he would come to play properly every year to get a contract, if he even cares at this point. Guys like Wagner can get a contract because the track record is strongly established. Guys need to play alongside someone they can TRUST to bring it in practice and on the field.

I also think this year will be a test of culture. There are small murmurings about Kinlaw and Tunsil having just little issues in how they affect locker rooms. Last year, that would have been a hard sell, maybe, for this FO. Now, I feel like they are more confident in what they have. Exciting season incoming!

 

[skinsinparadise]

Listening to Keim's podcast this morning.

A. they were in on Joey Bosa and D. Lawrence but had set price they weren't going to go beyond. Yet Lawrence went to the wire.

B. He knows they considered Azeez Ojulari in the past. Previous trade deadline? He doesn't know if they are in now.

C. They weren't in on D. Ward so they are confused as hell about his comments about it came down to Washington and the Lions

D. They thought they'd secure Zaccheus. But Zaccheus was put off about the Noah Brown signing and figured he'd get more opportunities with the Bears.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I got no idea if the team is into Becton, I'd be surprised though unless he's not expensive. Good run blocker. But just OK at best as a pass blocker.

 

[CommDownMan]

Ward or Reed?

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Listening to Keim's podcast this morning.

A. they were in on Joey Bosa and D. Lawrence but had set price they weren't going to go beyond. Yet Lawrence went to the wire.

B. He knows they considered Azeez Ojulari in the past. Previous trade deadline? He doesn't know if they are in now.

C. They weren't in on D. Ward so they are confused as hell about his comments about it came down to Washington and the Lions

D. They thought they'd secure Zaccheus. But Zaccheus was put off about the Noah Brown signing and figured he'd get more opportunities with the Bears.

Thanks for sharing. I love hearing these kinds of insights but don't generally have time for many pods.

A - VERY interesting. Those are some hard decisions. I am excited for some youth on this line to join with Newton. Anyway, they are set for BPA at this point, I don't see that "big hole" that needs to be absolutely filled in the draft. They have positions that can be improved in many areas but no hole that you say is a must, to me, at this stage. Sure, some positions worse than others, but I think they can fairly comfortably do BPA now. Pretty good spot to be in.

D - Zaccheus is pretty much what I thought. If Noah Brown is healthy, he is the preferred target above OZ, and Deebo replacing Dyami puts another target of preference clearly above OZ (can't say that about Dyami). For his own sake, I can understand his thinking.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Ward or Reed?

Sorry meant Reed