The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[burgold]

As a pure slot corner, DeJean is definitely the better player. Who knows if he can play outside though and if he brings the type of leadership Mikey brings? When looking at the trade with PHI, people never factor in the Seattle pick we got in the 3rd for some reason. That was real value we gave away. Matt Goncalves went one pick after that pick and guys like Zinter, Puni, Liufau, Tykee Smith, Jalen McMillan and Jalyx Hunt all went after that pick. All those guys are currently players who would go well ahead of Sinnott in a redraft

On a sidenote, AP should have probably taken the Fiske instead of Newton or gotten the haul the Panthers got from the Rams for that pick (including their 2nd this year)

I'm not sure we can know that. Part of the reason that Dejean succeeds is because the QB knows he's got two seconds before pressure reaches him and the front four are good enough that they can play in a shell that gives the corners a lot of support. Mike was on an island and playing out of position. If we put him on the Eagles, he would probably appear to be even better than he already does.

 

[method man]

I agree with this, mostly. We may do a Wagner type signing for Khalil Mack, because the fit is so good and he is still playing so well. I don't think we are going to spend a bunch of money on older or declining players elsewhere. Ideally we get guys that are in their prime, or can grow with Jayden. That's part of why I like Higgins. He is 26.

Also, I think it is pretty great that both Godwin and Higgins got to watch Daniels play super well while beating their current teams last year.

I think there is a misconception that guys in their 30s are making a bunch of money, probably from the contracts that Dan Snyder gave out 25 years ago. There are a lot of older veterans signing 1 year deals in the mid 7 figure range and providing great value to their teams and way more than a bunch of guys on second contracts. For us, Wagner, Ertz, Fowler and Ekeler provided way more value relative to their contracts than a bunch of their 20 something peers who got multiyear deals in FA.

Want to know who PFF's #1 ranked run defender on the DL was? 38 year old Calais Campbell who made $2M last year.

 

[method man]

I'm not sure we can know that. Part of the reason that Dejean succeeds is because the QB knows he's got two seconds before pressure reaches him and the front four are good enough that they can play in a shell that gives the corners a lot of support. Mike was on an island and playing out of position. If we put him on the Eagles, he would probably appear to be even better than he already does.

That argument is fair but we can only go by the numbers. Per PFF, Cooper was the #4 CB in the NFL last year and had the second highest run defense grade of all CBs

 

[clskinsfan]

I'm not sure we can know that. Part of the reason that Dejean succeeds is because the QB knows he's got two seconds before pressure reaches him and the front four are good enough that they can play in a shell that gives the corners a lot of support. Mike was on an island and playing out of position. If we put him on the Eagles, he would probably appear to be even better than he already does.

Right now Dejean is the far better player. He baited Mahomes into that pick 6.

 

[burgold]

Right now Dejean is the far better player. He baited Mahomes into that pick 6.

Maybe, but Mike baited Goff into several interceptions, too. And Sainristil has 4 interceptions to Dejean's one (if we're using turnovers as a metric)

 

[burgold]

Right now Dejean is the far better player. He baited Mahomes into that pick 6.

Maybe, but Mike baited Goff into several interceptions, too. And Sainristil has 4 interceptions to Dejean's one (if we're using turnovers as a metric)

 

[Anselmheifer]

Cooper is obviously better. And, it seems like the FA and draft thread now are just one big mashup.

Also, what’s the point of having $94 million in cap room, if we cut or trade Jon Allen, if we aren’t going spend relatively big? If we add a few depth pieces, but no big time players or contracts in FA, do people really think that’s going to help us catch the Eagles? We need more than depth. We need impact players. And we should grab them at whatever position is available.

 

[Chris]

Not as much cap space as people think. They have to extend Terry and they have the second fewest players in the league under contract. Cap space? Yes. Effective cap space? Not as much as is thought.

 

[heisenberg]

This may be a sacrilegious thought, but, do you think Cooper Dejean is better than Mikey Sainristil and Ben Sinnott?
I wonder. I really like Mikey, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure he is at Cooper's level, or that we didn't need that extra bit too, this year, more than we needed whatever we got out of Ben Sinnott + Mikey.

Hard to even write the above with how much I like Mikey, but I turn the emotions off for this kind of thinking.

Hard to tell, dejean did what he did on the number one defense in the league so loaded with talent they were able to crush the chiefs spirit without a single blitz.
Mikey was on a defense that started out historically bad in the secondary and then shored that up enough to be middle of the pack while also being almost historically bad against the run.

They were put in two very different situations and both shined while Cooper shined a little brighter possibly due to circumstance.

I wonder how Mikey would have looked playing slot for the eagles while Cooper was here trying to make up for st juste and a complete lack of conventional pressure from the edges.

 

[CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome]

I really don’t think you can compare the role Mikey played here with what Dejean was tasked with in Philly.

 

[DogofWar1]

It blows my mind the Eagles didn't blitz at all and yet chased down Mahomes all night.

Absolutely insane.

 

[RedWolf]

Does anybody know how to contact SkinsInParadise (SIP)? He always added so much to the free agency and draft threads, as well as other threads. He is missed

 

[bigdog24]

The other thing that makes me wary of some of these WR signings/trades is that we are a rising team. We want to build a long term winner. Do we really think the best way to do that is to acquire someone else's fading star? I just don't think we need guys who are running on fumes or who are little more than one year rentals. I want players Daniels grows with and builds chemistry with. In other words, do we really want a player another team is looking to shed because they don't think he's worth his contract anymore?

I don't think landing Deebo takes us out of drafting a receiver to grow with JD5. We have two guys unders contract at the position.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I really don’t think you can compare the role Mikey played here with what Dejean was tasked with in Philly.

No you absolutely cannot. Many are correctly saying this, but I quoted you for your succinct statement of that point.

The thing is, you can look at:
- the quality of coverage
- run defense help (this matters)
- the TANGIBLES
- sure, you can try to look at potential intangibles (which many are giving to Mikey; leadership)

I actually think in terms of coverage quality, this is where a lot of people may see it wrong for all of the reasons being pointed out by others here. Dejean is NOT asked to play out of position as much as Mikey is. That is not easy. That is very underrated as a problem. So, it is really hard to gauge Dejean vs. Sainristil on the coverage aspects. I think if Mikey plays in Dejean's position, I tend to think it is more of a wash than most people think; *however* I do think the extra height and weight (TANGIBLES) are a problem in this comparison. I don't think it's a small enough difference to ignore especially when matching up to big/strong WRs in the NFL. It matters, and I think we did see some instances where a big WR is able to fight off a reasonably well-positioned Sainristil; I am not sure the same thing happens with Dejean. However, I think coverage quality may be close.

The run defense, I think statistically it is supposed to go to Dejean, but again, I think the height/weight issue factors in, because I don't want to split it up with PFF grades necessarily, since I don't know if they will be able to fully split off the effects of the teams around them.

Maybe it is not fair to have this "TANGIBLES" section separate since height and weight have been mentioned so much above.

I think you need the extra height+weight that Dejean brings and some of what it appears to me is some extra physicality. It's tough; I am not sure, it may be a coaching thing (our secondary coach vs theirs). It may also be a scheme thing because of our D-line issues; it just seems that if you need a #2 locked down, Dejean may be more reliable than Mikey on the same team. *I want to emphasize here, I am not sure about this. Mikey has been awesome, and many are absolutely right about the difficulty of this comparison.* In terms of speed, given some of his Iowa tape, his punt-returning skills, it's tough because there are major contributions on ST that Mikey doesn't bring.

In terms of need/fit, too - the biggest problem I have here, honestly, is I feel like WAS doesn't have enough size and quality combined (which matters) at DB. Dejean has a measurable advantage here, and I think it shows at times.

Then we get to the last quality. I think this is where DQ *really wanted Mikey* and where DQ and AP thought they have an amazing opportunity to get dudes they wanted in a great place.

My problem here is Ben Sinnott just didn't provide enough in this transaction. This is an easy win for WAS if Ben's utilization was higher. When you factor in the other picks traded - it obviously makes things look a bit worse too.

Just as a general rule, anytime the NFL trades with Howie, I would exercise extreme caution - but intra-division? I am not sure I would ever make a trade unless I was 100% rock solid sure about everything going down there. I would know HE is happy and that would be disconcerting to me, just knowing the planning and analytics they bring. Not saying we don't, but I think there should be a pause there.

 

[NoCalSkins]

JD5 is the type of QB that is going to have this team contending most of the seasons he plays. For the last 25ish years we have seen what it meant for other tams to have a franchise QB hovering around the Top 5 category. It means that getting into the playoffs becomes a baseline expectation. The hard part is figuring out what pieces take from a playoff contender to a championship contender. The Eagles were already a playoff contender before their defense made this huge turnaround, however having a defense that could manhandle the Chief's like that is what made the difference and helped them build a lead instead of letting the game become a back & forth shoot out.

 

[philibusters]

Current Cap 78
Just a spit balling exercise, I generally like to make up an example of how much we could do in an offseason. I generally hate to use up all the cap space, but with Daniels rookie contract, I went a bit extra this year.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-free-agent-rankings (I used this for contract guesses), along with some Sportrac (like a 2mil/yr bump from Bosa to do the Garrett projection).

This exercise left me with 8.5 mill in cap space for 2025 season with about 53.4 for the 2026 season. The draft picks wouldn't impact cap basically at all with the 2025 and 2026 first rounders going to Cleveland. Trading picks isn't high on my list generally, but it wasn't as hard with a later pick.

Myles Garrett (2 firsts – 5 / 185, 37 mill cap), so here to make the cap work I'm trading Jon Allen cap 22.5mill (16.5 savings) for a 2025 and 2026 4th rounder – assuming Garrett gets 2 voids, I'm calling year 1 difference 2.5mill cap (hits of 19, 24, 33, 37, 37 and 2 voids 15, 15)
Patrick Mekari (3/23), minus Andrew Wylie 10.4 (7.75 savings) - Mekari has experience all over the line, so he and Coleman can work out RG/RT. Cosmi return in 2026 moves one to LG most likely.
Ronnie Stanley (3/54) - year 1 cap hit 13.5 (single void year, 13.5, 15.5, 18.5, 6.5)
DeAndre Hopkins (2/28) - year 1-12 mil, I think Tee Higgins is too much with the above signings. So for me a short deal with an older guy makes sense.
Dre Greenlaw (2/16) / Baun (3/24), Wagner (1/7) - Saying 1 here, no order, but price ~7-8mill. If we could get Garett, I feel like he can cover some of the leadership intangibles while we get younger with Greenlaw/Baum. I'm not sure the fit with Baum, but the added bonus of taking from the Eagles makes me consider.
Charvarius Ward (1/8) - with play this year, I'm assuming he'll want a bounce back / prove it deal. Not really sure how to gauge the contract here.
Terry Marshall Jr. - minimum (no cap change for rule of 51). Really this is just to keep my dueling Scary Terry dream alive.

I like the thought you put into this. Move by move:

1. Myles Garrett Trade: I view the Garrett trade as a high floor (barring injury), medium ceiling move. Basically by making that trade we are passing on three players. The two first rounders and one fairly high profile free agent signing (like a Chris Godwin). Its a high floor move because while Garrett probably just starting the downswing of his career, the odds are he'll be a top 5 edge for the next 3 or 4 seasons. Will the next four seasons match his last 4 seasons? Unlikely, but he'll still be very good. However the ceiling is limited because he is only one player. What is more valuable? Montez Sweat, Sam Cosmi, and Chris Godwin or Garrett, Shaddiq Charles, and OZ. I use Sweat and Cosmi in the example of first round hits that were not homeruns but still hits. To me, you probably getting more value out of Sweat, Cosmi, and Godwin. But the floor is high as you could go Jamin Davis, Emmanuel Forbes, and William Jackson III.

2. Ronnnie Stanley and Patrick Mekari: Its hard to upgrade Tackle in free agency because it is a premium position which means good players don't make it to free agency often there. Other than QB it is probably the hardest position to get premium players at in free agency. Knowing that I am looking to upgrade that position through the draft, rather than free agency. So I would pass on Stanley. Stanley was a good player from 2016 to 2019. In the 4 seasons from 2020-2023 he only played a total of a season and a half of snaps (1885), under 40% of the teams offensive snaps. In 2024 he played over 1200 snaps and was goodish (Charles Leno level), but not at the level he was from 2016 to 2019. He is also 31 years old. You are buying high on him, last year was by far his best year since 2019. Mekari as an expensive depth piece does interest me because he can play so many positions. He would raise the floor of the O-Line.

3. DeAndre Hopkins: I don't have any interest in him at those numbers. He is on the decline and he is not an elite receiver anymore. Would he upgrade our number 2 receiver position. Probably slightly , but the upgrade is not worth it at that price (2 years 28 million). At this point in his career he is a big possession receiver that can get some contested catches. He is not a seperater against man coverage. I think we really need a speed guy or a guy who can get separation against man coverage and Hopkins really isn't either. He is a slightly better version of Noah Brown.

4. At the prices listed for the LB's I would take Zach Baun without hesitation. You are wondering about Baun's fit--he'd be fantastic. He can cover in space well and runs sideline to sideline against the run. His run fits are not as good as Bobby Wagner's run fit, but there are still good and likely only to improve as he gets more experience at the position. That said I think he'll go for almost twice the amount listed. He is hard to project because he is elite (which would put him in the 20 million per season range), but has a small sample size (which is why PFF initially put that number low). I think probably 14 or 15 million apy is realistic for him. Ruling out Baun, at teh prices listed, I would be willing to sign both Greenlaw and Wagner. Its overkill but givens you tremendous depth and options when playing 12 and 13 personnel.

5. Chavarius Ward: Like the Zach Baun thing, I would sign Ward at that number without hesitation. That said I think even despite a down season he is going to get like 2 years 28 million or something like that. Corner is not as premium of a position as Tackle and you can get quality starters there in free agency, but its still hard enough that to get quality starters there is free agency that somebody with Ward's track record of being a number 1 type corner 3 out of the past 4 seasons is going to get borderline #1 corner money. Am I still linterest in Ward at 2 years 28 million dollars, I think I am.

In terms of contract, I think Baun gets way more. I think Ward and Hopkins probably swap what you have them listed at. Hopkins might be gettable at 1 year 8 million and that would be a lot more tempting than at 2 years 28 million.

 

[burgold]

In the Post today, LaCanforma makes six offseason predictions. None of them include Washington. He has Myles going to the Eagles and sites other "league sources" who agree with him. Thinks Burrow will be disappointed and get to keep at most two of the players he's been advocating for. He thinks the Rams are willing to trade Kupp and swallow as much as 5m/year off his salary to do it. He also thinks the Cousins is out at Atlanta, but that Kirk holds all the cards because of no trade clauses and guaranteed money.

I don't want to see Myles in Philly. I'd be okay with us overpaying to get him and prevent the Eagles from getting him. I was sour on Kupp earlier. I'm even more sour on trading for a player a team is welling to absorb a cap penalty to get rid of. Kirk Cousins' agent or Kirk Cousins himself deserves HOF consideration for how he's worked the NFL in contracts. Man, he's run circles around a lot of GMs.

 

[philibusters]

I'd be okay with Garrett to the Eagles. Essentially it would be a three for one type situation, just like it is for us. The Eagles would be walking away from two first rounders and passing on retaining a player like Zach Baun that they might otherwise have kept. I think it probably makes the Eagles a little better in 2025 and a little worse thereafter. I think we are probably still two years off from having a top 10 roster, so I am willing for the Eagles to be a little better next year in exchange for them being a bit weaker in 2026 and 2027.

 

[burgold]

Yeah, but adding Garrett to that D LIne? Even if it's only for a season or two, that would be ridiculous.

 

[heisenberg]

In the Post today, LaCanforma makes six offseason predictions. None of them include Washington. He has Myles going to the Eagles and sites other "league sources" who agree with him. Thinks Burrow will be disappointed and get to keep at most two of the players he's been advocating for. He thinks the Rams are willing to trade Kupp and swallow as much as 5m/year off his salary to do it. He also thinks the Cousins is out at Atlanta, but that Kirk holds all the cards because of no trade clauses and guaranteed money.

I don't want to see Myles in Philly. I'd be okay with us overpaying to get him and prevent the Eagles from getting him. I was sour on Kupp earlier. I'm even more sour on trading for a player a team is welling to absorb a cap penalty to get rid of. Kirk Cousins' agent or Kirk Cousins himself deserves HOF consideration for how he's worked the NFL in contracts. Man, he's run circles around a lot of GMs.

Myles to the eagles would suck so bad.
They destroyed the chiefs rushing 4 all night and now they get better.
Like seriously talk about the rich getting richer.