The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[SkinsFTW]

There is no chance he gets Justin Jefferson money at 30 years old and already never producing at anything close to Justin Jefferson. Doofus Dan ran off to Europe.

He's a 1000 yard 80 catch guy when the QB has nobody else worth throwing to on the team. There will be no 1500+ yard 110 catch seasons from McLaurin.

We all love the guy but he is what he is. He's a top 15-20 receiver who is about to get old quick.

It's not disrespectful to acknowledge reality.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Keim came up with this gem in his most recent pod- “…you have McLaurin who has a firm belief in his value and I always tell my kids, nobody can…you’re the one who places the value on yourself…so you’ve got to…thats where your value comes from, nobody’s gonna do that for you, you’ve got to do it.”

That may be a solid message to one’s children, but it’s pretty simplistic for the real world where there are a myriad of complications involved.

To add to that. Logan in his podcast doubled down that he heard that Terry's agent is very difficult. And its an agent's job to keep the player grounded in the negotiation, citing some of his examples.

He didn't say that he knows that's the dynamic here. But as he tends to do, he nicely hinted that this could be a dynamic in this negotiation.

Craig and Logan cited in their podcast that Terry came off especially fired up on defending his age and that dynamic. That's cool. But like I've said its not a Terry centric age argument about WRs -- its what on the aggregate tends to happen. Terry can say he's different because of the screen he took to the house against the Lions. But that's a silly argument IMO. Just saying it will be different with me, just because. And hey that screen against the Lions is all the proof you need -- is a bit comical. But again I put this on the agent.

 

[Bigwig]

After meeting the salary cap floor (89% over rolling four-year periods, if I understand correctly), teams can transfer unused cap space into the following year. So a smaller extension for McClaurin could help the team better afford Daniels down the road.

 

[tomwvr]

The franchise tag is almost 25 and prob 27 next year so why not offer 35 year one when we can afford it and bring it back down the next 2-3 seasons for him. We have the cap money

And he is a true “redskins”

 

[SkinsFTW]

The franchise tag is almost 25 and prob 27 next year so why not offer 35 year one when we can afford it and bring it back down the next 2-3 seasons for him. We have the cap money

And he is a true “redskins”

Why would you offer 10M more than the franchise tag when you could just use the franchise tag? I'm totally confused.

 

[tomwvr]

Why would you offer 10M more than the franchise tag when you could just use the franchise tag? I'm totally confused.

He is currently under contract this season for 8 mill below franchise tag. How about raising his salary this season to 27 and going 35-30 and then a team option for 25 the last year

 

[tomwvr]

And yes sometimes you pay a little extra for intangibles. Terry is the fan favorite, great teammate, non Prima donna, reliable player .

 

[clskinsfan]

He is currently under contract this season for 8 mill below franchise tag. How about raising his salary this season to 27 and going 35-30 and then a team option for 25 the last year

Why would you do that when you control his rights for at least 2 years right now? I would much rather tag him next year. Then bite the bullet and tag him again in 2028 if he still performing at a high level.

 

[tomwvr]

Because right now with the structure of the team you can afford to do it. And it shows the rest of the team that if you do it right you get rewarded

 

[DCSkinz2023]

I don't know if I believe it's as contentious as it may seem. Terry is still young; he has no clue about contract negotiations, it's business, and sometimes business is not pretty. I've heard stories about his agent, that maybe he isn't as sharp as others, and I hope he isn't fueling the fire by getting Terry's blood pressure too high. The player shouldn't be involved at all; too much is said in a negotiation.

But I still think this all ends by the end of the 1st week of camp.

 

[Conn]

All of those same, “pay the guy” people, would be the same people throwing Peters under the bus, when we are paying a 34 year old receiver $33 million for 700 yards and can’t afford to make the moves that would put us over the top.

Also, I agree with your first two paragraphs.

The reality is that Terry just doesn’t have a lot of leverage. He’s under contract and will be under paid. He can be franchised next year. He’s too old to hold out, miss a season, and ever make that back.

He should take a shorter deal with a ton of guarantees. It’s his logical best path to the most money.

I hate to say it but this is the downstream effect of a late age breakout and being willing to be a role player on a stacked college team rather than trying to star elsewhere earlier. He came out more mature and physically ready for the league, which probably helped him a ton—so he probably wouldn’t change a thing. But he’s 2-3 years behind the majority of his draft class peers in hitting these contract years. By the time you get to your 3rd contract, those extra “lost” earning years as a young athlete add up. The ideal universe version of McLaurin who could’ve maximized his earnings would have been a 21-22 year old rookie (but that guy probably wouldn’t have been as polished and developed). That didn’t happen for him for various reasons, and that’s fine. Still a great player. But you came into the league almost 3 years older than many elite prospects typically do, and stayed in college a year or two longer—you can’t expect to have the same career earnings. He did five damn years in college instead of three. He’ll still have generational wealth but it didn’t work out “perfectly” for him, it is what it is.

Doesn’t always work out perfectly for the young guys either. Juju came out at 20 years old but his body didn’t hold up and his skills deteriorated (and he wasn’t explosive to begin with) and he’s been stuck with short role player contracts ever since. It’s a tough league.

But he needs to be realistic at 30 this year. This is why college performance and draft pedigree do ultimately matter even years after a guy has proven himself as a professional—he was a damn 24 year old rookie, from the moment we drafted him we were locked into a shorter future career for him no matter how good he turned out to be. He’s feeling that now. It’s part of his reality that his agent is ignoring.

 

[tomwvr]

So will you say the same when daniels goes into his 3rd contract?

 

[Conn]

So will you say the same when daniels goes into his 3rd contract?

Not if he’s an elite passer, which I expect him to be. QB’s age much better than WR’s do, when they’re elite. He’ll probably get a record-breaking half a billion dollar contract extension when he’s Terry’s current age, if he stays healthy. Apples to oranges. Terry is a great WR. Daniels plays a position that could help make this franchise worth over $12B dollars in the next half decade, double what Harris & Co paid for it. The contract arithmetic is a bit different.

 

[skinsinparadise]

So will you say the same when daniels goes into his 3rd contract?

I don't think anyone here would. Since its beyond apples and oranges.

A. QB most valuable position in sports.

B. While 31 is typically the start of a decline for a WR, its conversely where most QB's are reaching their prime years.

 

[SkinsLife]

I wonder what the terms are for VonMIller.. i am thinking around 10mil? One thing you can say about Peters.. the guy is all in!
I called that the team would make a big signing at DE.. i would guess he'll be used sparingly through the season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. I like the signing.. not sure he has much left in the tank, but our young pass rushers being mentored by a hall of famer DE... could pay dividends.

Hey Jason!.. if you need a cap contract guy... I am available

As far as Mclaurin ... all this hand ringing is comical. This is all just posturing... every player has their own way & style of putting pressure on the team. Some players wine and bitch and ask for trades, other just complain.
Reality is:
1. Terry has little leverage outside of fandome, so his agents strategy is to appeal to the fans through media claiming disrespect.
2. He is not getting anywhere close to 32mil a year even, being 30 and about to start his decline. Decline for a player like Terry will be more significant than most other WRs since he does not possess elite speed or size to make up for athleticism decline. (like others said, he is a 1000yd receiver with no other competition)
3. Peters has been doing this for a while and is known as a tough negotiator. He is going to wait Terry out. Worst case, if they dont agree they will bump Terries salary this year to keep him quiet and reassess next year.
4. Terry does not want to leave, everyone knows this (including the team) He finally has a QB and team with a shot to win it all. Any team willing to trade for him is not going to be close.

I expect the deal to get done at some point somewhere in the 27-29/y average

 

[tomwvr]

Now would you all give him a bump up in pay for the current year and then do a 3 year extension at 27-29 say if we include the extra 5 added to this year its 30 mill?

 

[skinsinparadise]

I saw on twitter someone posting that Fowler thinks they are way off the 30 plus million that Terry is asking for.

I'll start with I doubt they are a mile off of 30 plus. Terry is already at 23 million a year with his current contract. So at a minimum it will be a bump from that.

I am sticking with my guess that they (the team) wants to end up at 30 and in turn are offering something less than that -- so it can be negotiated up. So lets say 27-28.

Rapopport reported that Terry wants north of 30. So lets say its 34. So lets say 27 to 34 is a big gap. But the compromise is at 30.

Who knows maybe i'll end up dead wrong but that's my best guess reading some tea leaves.

 

[Conn]

Now would you all give him a bump up in pay for the current year and then do a 3 year extension at 27-29 say if we include the extra 5 added to this year its 30 mill?

He doesn’t need a “bump” this year bc he’ll get the entire signing bonus, which will be bigger than his previous contract in total most likely.

But yes, I think most of us would do that. Sounds like he and his agent wouldn’t, though.

 

[Conn]

I saw on twitter someone posting that Fowler thinks they are way off the 30 plus million that Terry is asking for.

I'll start with I doubt they are a mile off of 30 plus. Terry is already at 23 million a year with his current contract. So at a minimum it will be a bump from that.

I am sticking with my guess that they (the team) wants to end up at 30 and in turn are offering something less than that -- so it can be negotiated up. So lets say 27-28.

Rapopport reported that Terry wants north of 30. So lets say its 34. So lets say 27 to 34 is a big gap. But the compromise is at 30.

Who knows maybe i'll end up dead wrong but that's my best guess reading some tea leaves.

I think it’s likely that Fowler doesn’t have a source on this but like many fans has a certain notion about Terry “the man” (rather than Terry “the business man” or his agent) and can’t imagine him saying the things he’s saying unless we’re actually insulting him. So that’s the guess. But like you, I’d be surprised if that was actually the case.

 

[Bigwig]

How is McClaurin at $23 M? 0verthecap.com says $19,650,000 outlay (with a $25,500,000 cap charge). Am I missing something?