The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[Hailtoem]

Lane reminds me of a (potential) Santana Moss much more than of a Deebo.

I had hoped that Sinnott would develop into a Cooley-like TE. Maybe he still will.

I think Sinnott will be fine, when I look at that successful fake punt and pass to Sinnott against the Eagles in the biggest game of the season, it tells me that we at least have some level of trust in him, Ertz biggest strength is finding the seams and getting open for a split second, I think if Sinnott can at least do that he should be fine until he gets better at other phases of his game needed to become a good TE.

 

[Riggotoni]

I think the fake punt and pass went to the other TE.

 

[heisenberg]

I think the fake punt and pass went to the other TE.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Lane is Olamide Zaccheus but fast. Hopefully he's the very fast version of him. I don't think his tape showed DeSean Jackson type of game speed, but it's clear he adds some speed we didn't quite have for the guys who were taking endarounds, screens, etc.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I really wouldn’t mind franchising him in 2026. By the end of that 2 year stretch, he’s probably starting to decline and if he does want to stay it may be at a more reasonable asking price?

I haven’t heard this possibility raised before but it might be exactly what Peters has in mind. Certainly better than wildly overpaying for TM just to keep from disappointing fans.

The problem is Terry doesn’t want to play this year out and then get franchised.

I think the challenge is he probably wants top 5 money for 4 more years (give or take), and the team wants a shorter contract.

I might offer him a fully guaranteed 2 year extension at $30/year. That would run through the 2027 season. Then they can re-assess.

I might toss in a “no franchise tag and no trade clause” to help him get comfort with a shorter deal.

 

[Boone]

It’s only a ‘problem’ if you care what Terry thinks beyond the next 2 seasons.

If they aren’t willing to pay him what he is exoected to get on the next contract how he feels about it is immaterial.

 

[skinsfan4128]

Lane is Olamide Zaccheus but fast. Hopefully he's the very fast version of him. I don't think his tape showed DeSean Jackson type of game speed, but it's clear he adds some speed we didn't quite have for the guys who were taking endarounds, screens, etc.

I think you are selling Lane short with this take. I'm no pro scout but watching Lanes game tape showed me this kid has skills comparable to Santana Moss. His ability to utilize his head fakes, shifting his body to fake defenders, and his speed in and out of his breaks make him at this point much better than Zaccheus ( and so you know, I liked Zaccheus).

But to say Lane is Zaccheus without seeing Lane play a NFL game yet is premature at best. Let's see what the kid can do first before we make comparisons to what amounts to an NFL journeyman who the team decided was not worth bringing back.

HTTR!

 

[Die Hard]

I think you are selling Lane short with this take. I'm no pro scout but watching Lanes game tape showed me this kid has skills comparable to Santana Moss. His ability to utilize his head fakes, shifting his body to fake defenders, and his speed in and out of his breaks make him at this point much better than Zaccheus ( and so you know, I liked Zaccheus).

But to say Lane is Zaccheus without seeing Lane play a NFL game yet is premature at best. Let's see what the kid can do first before we make comparisons to what amounts to an NFL journeyman who the team decided was not worth bringing back.

HTTR!

I’m pretty sure that I read that the team did in fact want to bring back O.Z…. they offered him a contract in the same range as last year… but when the team traded for Deebo and resigned another WR… he saw his place on the depth chart drop and playing time opportunities reduced… so he left for the Bears?!? to get a better chance at more playing time.

 

[Simeon]

The problem is Terry doesn’t want to play this year out and then get franchised.

Uh.. wouldn’t that be good for the team though? That Terry is motivated to get this deal done rather than just that scenario?

I guess there is always the possibility for this to degenerate into one of those situations where the player and team have hard feelings for each other (Bengals and company) and the player either holds out into the season or becomes a team cancer. Can’t see Terry doing that but it’s at least possible.

I just still think he is waiting till the last possible moment to get the best possible deal.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

It’s only a ‘problem’ if you care what Terry thinks beyond the next 2 seasons.

If they aren’t willing to pay him what he is exoected to get on the next contract how he feels about it is immaterial.

Well, it’s a problem if he threatens to sit out because he doesn’t get a new deal. Or does sit out through training camp, or even into the season.

Negotiations can be like a game of chicken. Somebody’s got to blink.

He rightfully believes this team without him is nowhere near as good as with him, so he has that as leverage.

Conversely, the team has leverage in that he has a good contract and they have control.

I still think it gets done by training camp, so in the next 2 weeks. But I also think length of deal is probably the hang up. Terry won’t want to get to FA at 32. He’s going to push for a longer deal now.

The team won’t want to do that.

The question is, would he play on his current deal and then be ok being franchised in 2026? Or is that going to basically lead to a holdout and a trade demand.

I think both sides want to avoid all that which is why I think this will get done. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Bulldog]

At 30 Terry will never make up the dollars he would lose by sitting out the season.

In the end I think a lot of the chatter on SI, ESPN and others is strictly clickbait quality reporting.

The fact we don't have a contract signed means there is a difference of opinion on salary but beyond that we really don't know how far apart the sides are.

One thing I do know is when Terry signed his last contract 3 years ago, it was for more money than his stats alone would support and he enjoyed a nice premium, the fact the team is that much better now and he realizes this is his last big contract means there isn't going to be a hometown discount this time around either.

I don't know whether management thought this was going to be a big issue or one that just went on until the middle of camp/summer and then there would be some meeting of the minds.

We brought on Deebo, who is trying to re-establish his 2021-22 form after a couple of injury plagued years, but didn't trade for or draft anyone that could replace Terry or hold us over until a final deal is reached during the season.

So to me this has to get done by the preseason.

 

[NoCalSkins]

Terry sitting out actual games would be a whole lot worse for him than the team and not really make a ton of sense if he is trying to get another big contract.

If for whatever reason an extension doesn't get done and he has to play out his final year on the contract, if he continues being Terry from last season then he is either going to get franchised and get paid a ton of money in 2026 or he will hit the free agent market and get a big contract (or ultimately resign here anyway).

 

[burgold]

Yeah, Terry at 30 is more valuable than Terry at 31. He knows this. He takes good care of himself so he probably has about 3 high level years left and then maybe two more at an Amari Cooper mercenary kind of level. From what people are whispering he's already thinking about post=football business opportunities. If that's the case, then Harris, Railes, and Johnson might be the best mentors he could hope for.

 

[Bulldog]

Well, one thing is for sure - Terry doesn’t see Washington going out in free agency and spending megabucks so he knows the team can afford to pay him.

Personally, I would have liked to see the club sign Tunsil to a new deal when they made the trade but it appears this front office is very risk averse, even when the roster mostly consists of rookie contracts and shorter term veteran deals.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Well, one thing is for sure - Terry doesn’t see Washington going out in free agency and spending megabucks so he knows the team can afford to pay him.

Personally, I would have liked to see the club sign Tunsil to a new deal when they made the trade but it appears this front office is very risk averse, even when the roster mostly consists of rookie contracts and shorter term veteran deals.

Well risk flows both ways. You could say they are risk averse, but you could also say they prefer to take on the "risk a player stays healthy and then is too expensive" vs the "risk a player gets injured or doesn't consistently play to the level of a longer term contract"

When you put it in those terms, I can easily see their argument - personally. I think there is more likely chances of replacement level players who you can coach up rather than players living up to long term contracts and not leaving you in a lurch. Of course, over time, if you develop a rep of never paying your talent, eventually you will not be a "Destination" as much too?? <-- this thinking was proven somewhat inaccurate, probably mostly by the Patriots. They were pretty careful with money in their dynasty years, as I recall. If you have success as a team, you ARE a destination in spite of your penny pinching. The two things are often tied. Do you have the best jersey sales in the world for players X/Y/Z? Maybe not, because you end up with more rotation. However, having a consistent winner trumps that.

I'm not saying this is definitely what they are doing/thinking, but I kind of understand that line of thought - being hesitant to go to longer-term contracts.

 

[Bigwig]

The team gave Cosmi a long term deal, so I’m not worried about their willingness to spend on good players. But it’s appropriate for them to be careful about committing big money for a thirty-something, especially at receiver, because their QB is so good. There are plenty of other players in the pipeline that they need to plan for, long term. It’s a first world problem that we fans haven’t enjoyed for a long time.

In particular, similar to extensions of underpaid players on rookie deals, I wouldn’t expect the team to make up all of the difference between McClaurin’s contract for the coming year (<$20M, I think) and market value (~$30M?).

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I think you are selling Lane short with this take. I'm no pro scout but watching Lanes game tape showed me this kid has skills comparable to Santana Moss. His ability to utilize his head fakes, shifting his body to fake defenders, and his speed in and out of his breaks make him at this point much better than Zaccheus ( and so you know, I liked Zaccheus).

But to say Lane is Zaccheus without seeing Lane play a NFL game yet is premature at best. Let's see what the kid can do first before we make comparisons to what amounts to an NFL journeyman who the team decided was not worth bringing back.

HTTR!

Lane's usage in college is similar to how we used O.Z.

How we're going to use Lane is probably similar to how he was used in college and the role we had O.Z. fill last season. It's not a disservice to say Lane compares to O.Z., cause that's how he was and likely will be used.

 

[Bulldog]

If you are willing to give up that many picks for Tunsil then you need to be somewhat confident the player is basically sound physically and not dealing with any systematic injuries.

Lattimore is a bit of a different case based on his last pro bowl coming in 2022 and him arriving off the Saints injured list.

 

[NoCalSkins]

Also if contract negotiations break down enough to where Terry decides to just play out the final year of his contract and see where things go next offseason, he might have to deal with the fact that with a legitimate #2 behind him now, his numbers could fluctuate down some, even if only because the necessity of turning to him in 90% of the big situational downs is likely decreasing this season and that could effect whatever contract he feels he is worth when his then clocked over to being 30 and likely signing up to be a supplemental piece of whatever offense he goes to versus being the premier guy on the roster, unless it ends up being a straight up grab as big a bag as possible situation and he signs with a mediocre team in need of talent.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Also if contract negotiations break down enough to where Terry decides to just play out the final year of his contract and see where things go next offseason, he might have to deal with the fact that with a legitimate #2 behind him now, his numbers could fluctuate down some, even if only because the necessity of turning to him in 90% of the big situational downs is likely decreasing this season and that could effect whatever contract he feels he is worth when his then clocked over to being 30 and likely signing up to be a supplemental piece of whatever offense he goes to versus being the premier guy on the roster, unless it ends up being a straight up grab as big a bag as possible situation and he signs with a mediocre team in need of talent.

It is possible that this is exactly what he is worried about, in terms of getting his value now. Maybe his advisors are telling him this logic is why you need to extract peak value now or hold out indefinitely.