The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Discobob]

I doubt the team bases roster decisions on 'we need a tall receiver - whose tallest?' kind of criteria. They are looking at the entire package - who can be most productive.

Height is definitely in the Mix when considering a WR

 

[bowhunter]

Height is definitely in the Mix when considering a WR

I see what you did there.

 

[HTTR]

For me, it’s an easy call. Van Jefferson is the one who should go. The rest of them are younger players and have at least some upside. Van Jefferson is a JAG at best and that’s all he’s going to be. He’s had some big opportunities in a Sean McVay offense and done very little with them. I always assumed they just signed him for depth in case they struck out on all other options. But now that Diggs is here it’s time to say goodbye.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Sure - I agree with that idea. But 'all things being equal'? All things are never equal. I guarantee you they have a very specific ranking of all of the WRs on this roster and they will keep the 6 or 7 best WRs based on their overall assessment of each of their skills and traits. I'm just saying I don't think they look at it and say 'we need a tall receiver, so let's keep Burks...' There are lots of factors, including whether we drafted someone, what their ceiling is, etc..

To add to this, with the evolution of the pass catching TE... the 'need' for height in a WR is diminishing, if they're levels behind other WRs in other areas. Pass catching TEs can be played in many roles that previously the tall WR would be used for, and it opens up that roster spot to not have to carry a tall WR for the sake of being Tall.

 

[HTTR]

To add to this, with the evolution of the pass catching TE... the 'need' for height in a WR is diminishing, if they're levels behind other WRs in other areas. Pass catching TEs can be played in many roles that previously the tall WR would be used for, and it opens up that roster spot to not have to carry a tall WR for the sake of being Tall.

Not sure the idea of a pass catching tight end is any kind of evolution, but I agree with your sentiment. Being tall is nice, but it’s one of many traits in receivers… Speed, quickness, hands, etc. they all have their strengths and weaknesses and if you’re lucky, you can find a unicorn that’s good at all of them. But the idea of going after highly flawed receivers just because they are tall seems ridiculous to me. When I hear it, I think about Malcolm Kelly and throw up in my mouth a little bit.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Not sure the idea of a pass catching tight end is any kind of evolution, but I agree with your sentiment. Being tall is nice, but it’s one of many traits in receivers… Speed, quickness, hands, etc. they all have their strengths and weaknesses and if you’re lucky, you can find a unicorn that’s good at all of them. But the idea of going after highly flawed receivers just because they are tall seems ridiculous to me. When I hear it, I think about Malcolm Kelly and throw up in my mouth a little bit.

I just meant that the pass catching TEs are now running 4.5 in the 40, have a competitive vert, and hands like a WR. 30 years ago, the TE was a big, laboring, freight train behind pads. Now they're basically big bodied WRs, so you can use them that way.

 

[HTTR]

I just meant that the pass catching TEs are now running 4.5 in the 40, have a competitive vert, and hands like a WR. 30 years ago, the TE was a big, laboring, freight train behind pads. Now they're basically big bodied WRs, so you can use them that way.

OK gotcha. Yep I agree. We’ve had tight ends like that in the past, but they were few and far between and now they are everywhere.

 

[Boone]

For me, it’s an easy call. Van Jefferson is the one who should go. The rest of them are younger players and have at least some upside. Van Jefferson is a JAG at best and that’s all he’s going to be. He’s had some big opportunities in a Sean McVay offense and done very little with them. I always assumed they just signed him for depth in case they struck out on all other options. But now that Diggs is here it’s time to say goodbye.

We have several JAGs (Treylon Burks being another). Both he and Jefferson have a paltry 1.8 receptions per game over their careers. I suspect you are right and that age comes into play.

 

[Conn]

For me, it’s an easy call. Van Jefferson is the one who should go. The rest of them are younger players and have at least some upside. Van Jefferson is a JAG at best and that’s all he’s going to be. He’s had some big opportunities in a Sean McVay offense and done very little with them. I always assumed they just signed him for depth in case they struck out on all other options. But now that Diggs is here it’s time to say goodbye.

I also think he can just sit on the PS as a reliable vet who knows what he’s doing if needed, now that the rules have changed. I doubt he’ll be signed when we cut him.

 

[skinsinparadise]

What's interesting is Mitch thinks Diyami is a lock and the battle is between Van Jefferson and Burks. Though he is an admitted Diyami homer. But part of his reasoning is Diyami and Daniels seem to just have a really natural connection.

I have no idea why, but for some reason, and maybe it's the way Quinn talks about him, I feel Van Jefferson is a lock, and Burks/Diyami are competing. Though I'm fully cognizant maybe I'm having my chain pulled.

What's clear is one of those 3 is going to get cut. They're not going to cut a 4th round second year guy who's an extremely dangerous punt returner. Nor should they.

Boone Offer one to the Texans for a Center?

Wouldn't it be wild if after all the teeth mashing about WR, we end up trading a guy to another team?

In a recent podcast, Mitch didn't think Dyami was a lock and thinks its between Van Jefferson and Dyami for that last spot.

I'll give him credit for that, that is, he doesn't think his opinion of camp, his evaluations are gospel and extend to the team.

The idea that Dyami is about to explode on the scene for now is a Mitch centric point, not shared across the board and he realizes that.

 

[skinsinparadise]

As much as I bemoaned the WR situation, I'm good with it now. They needed a legit #2 WR who threatens a defense. Simple as that. Who ends up as the #3? I'm not losing sleep over it. IMO, you just couldn't go into the season with JAGs at both WR2 and WR3, especially with Terry at an age where WRs tend to decline and/or become more injury-prone. That looked like a potential disaster to me.

Even some of the more skeptical beat guys who previously sold the company line that the status quo at WR was fine have been wowed by the impact Diggs has already made in camp and how much he's changed the outlook of the offense.

And I'm not taking a victory lap on this. I was just one of many here stating what seemed obvious. IMO You had to be pretty deep in I am buying in to whatever these guys think because I trust them, or stuck in the old "being competitive is good enough" mindset, to push back that hard on the point. It wasn't some complicated argument. Just watch the NFL, look at the better rosters around the league, and compare.

So now, as for WR3, combining my own take with what I've digested from camp:

A. Burks — Seems to have the lead at Z. He's sort of a similar concept to Noah Brown: younger, with more upside, but also injury-prone. Good run blocker, good contested-catch guy, not a great separator. In theory, he should be useful in the red zone. High-character guy.

B. Antonio Williams — One of my favorites from the draft. My sense is he's had a good, but not great, camp and still needs some development time. Logan has hinted at that, too. More of a natural slot than a Z. Looks like he'll begin as a backup.

C. Van Jefferson — Sneakily, he's actually faster than Dyami based on their 40 times and has a better career YPC. Better hands, too. The downside is obvious: he's older and has less upside.

D. Dyami Brown — Dropped his share of balls here and had a bad drop rate in Jacksonville. He's apparently having a good camp, though I'm not sure everyone is raving about him to the extent Mitch Tischler is. In theory, he's a deep-ball guy, but historically he's been just OK at it. Good blocker and physical with the ball on screens/YAC opportunities.

E. Luke McCaffrey — Good camp. Didn't have a catch last night, but he's more of a natural slot than a Z, although he can play both. Good blocker and good returner.

The "WR by committee" idea Quinn talked about? I hated it when the idea was to use that approach to cover two WR spots. For one spot, I'm perfectly fine with it. You can get away with a JAG at WR3 when you've got legitimate threats at WR1 and WR2.

That's where I disagreed with some people all offseason. I don't think you can get away with JAGs or total wild cards at two WR spots, particularly when your WR1 is 31 years old. That's just asking for trouble.

Now they don't have that problem. And if I were a betting man, I'd say Burks wins the WR3 job.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Difficult to judge some of the WR when Hartman was in. He missed quite a few guys who were open. Including on the Interception, I think McCaffrey was wide open (although haven't rewatched it to confirm

 

[NoCalSkins]

You always want good depth at every position but I'll be honest once Diggs was signed and solidified the WR2 spot, I am more comfortable with the room at 3-6/7. I think Williams initially might have been forced to into a role he wasn't ready for and/or something outside of his skill set but as a WR3 I think he has a chance to excel. It kind of reminds me of Crowder early in his career who showed a ton of promise, but unfortunately he didn't really seem to develop into anything beyond what he showed early. I sort of expect Williams to play that Crowder kind of role early but hope he becomes more in a season or two.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Multiple tryouts today centered around D-line and RB.



doesn't bode well for McNichols.

Could to be very good news for our 2 rookie drat picks. Wonder if these RBs are looked at to be bodies in the pre-season because they've seen all they need to with Kaytron Allen and Robert Henry Jr that they're putting a plan in place. I could see them wanting to minimize exposure for Henry and slide him on the practice squad. Granted they had him back on KR / PR... wonder if they're looking to make a roster spot for him there, which wouldn't be good news for Lane.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

You always want good depth at every position but I'll be honest once Diggs was signed and solidified the WR2 spot, I am more comfortable with the room at 3-6/7. I think Williams initially might have been forced to into a role he wasn't ready for and/or something outside of his skill set but as a WR3 I think he has a chance to excel. It kind of reminds me of Crowder early in his career who showed a ton of promise, but unfortunately he didn't really seem to develop into anything beyond what he showed early. I sort of expect Williams to play that Crowder kind of role early but hope he becomes more in a season or two.

Williams should be fine, but I like the fact he now has more time.

I wouldn't be surprised if:
- In 11 personnel, they use McLaurin, Diggs, Williams
- In 12 personnel, they use McLaurin, Diggs/Burks/McCaffery
- In 13 personnel, they use McLaurin

I think before Diggs signed, the idea was Williams would slide outside with McLaurin in 12 personnel. That seems less likely now.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Williams should be fine, but I like the fact he now has more time.

I wouldn't be surprised if:
- In 11 personnel, they use McLaurin, Diggs, Williams
- In 12 personnel, they use McLaurin, Diggs/Burks/McCaffery
- In 13 personnel, they use McLaurin

I think before Diggs signed, the idea was Williams would slide outside with McLaurin in 12 personnel. That seems less likely now.

We’ll see. I was a big Antonio guy before the draft, and I’d love to see him start, but I get the sense he’s not quite as far along as they hoped. In his defense, expecting a third-round rookie WR to immediately be the guy who complements Terry always felt like more of a reflection of how low the bar has been in this WR room the last three years pre-Diggs than something most teams would typically count on.

At this point, I get the vibe Burks will get more reps at Z than anyone else and, by extension, be the guy in 11 personnel.

 

[burgold]

I was thinking the same. In fact, on Friday while watching the game I began to wonder if the part of the reason they signed Diggs was because they decided Williams was unable to carry the load.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I’ve heard Antonio has had a good camp, but not a great one. But expecting a guy who was arguably Clemson’s third-best WR to come here and immediately be a legit #2 was always asking a lot. The typical team drafting a WR in the third round or later isn’t expecting that player to be its #2 target from Day 1.

I like Peters on the aggregate, not as much as some here clearly do, but I like him enough, but like any GM growing into the job, I think he has some flaws. If I had to pick one, I’d say 2024 might have skewed how he evaluated the WR position. The Zaccheaus signing was a really good one, but I wonder if that success went to his head a little. Noah, too. Neither were killer. But if you want to make the case of how to get by at #2, and #3 WR, it was the perfect storm in a good way. Keim mentioned several times that they were surprised last year when they missed on K.J. Osborn, Chris Moore and Michael Gallup. To me, that suggests Peters may have thought, We found Zaccheaus for cheap; we can always find another one. No biggie.

It felt like he learned his lesson heading into this offseason. They aimed higher in free agency but swung and missed. After that, I think they tried to convince themselves that maybe Van Jefferson, Dyami, Antonio, etc., could collectively fill the gap. But to their credit, they clearly weren’t completely sold on that idea. And yeah, I get the impression that whatever hope they had that Antonio would immediately look like a star didn’t materialize early enough in camp, so they went out and got Diggs.

And now you keep hearing how good Diggs has looked almost immediately and how obvious the difference is on the field. Like I mentioned before, even some of the more stubborn beat guys who defended the status quo at WR have been wowed by what Diggs has brought. Some are basically admitting, OK, maybe we were wrong, because now they’re seeing firsthand what having another legit dude opposite Terry can do for the offense.

If Peters had any lingering belief that they didn’t need to shoot that high at WR because they have Jayden, I’d assume that thought is gone now. And to his credit, maybe it was already gone at the beginning of the offseason. He emphasized adding weapons in his press conference and then took some legitimate swings in free agency. My lingering concern was that after missing on those targets, his old habit at WR resurfaced: We’ll figure it out with cheaper guys. As Warren Sharp was mocking this team for doing less for Jayden than other teams including the thought that they didn't even have a WR outside of Terry who were making 2 million or above.

That’s why I think Diggs could have a dual impact on this team. Short term, if he’s as much of a game-changer as the beat guys watching camp believe, they should simply be a better offense and a better team.

Long term, if this works out the way it looks like it could, maybe it finally inducts Adam Peters into the club of “big-boy” teams that understand the value of having two WRs who can absolutely stress the hell out of a defense versus depending on just one guy and hoping a street FA or midround WR hits lightening in a bottle.

 

[skinsinparadise]

NFL Future Power Rankings: 2027-29 projections for 32 teams​

• Aaron Schatz
  ,
• Ben Solak
  ,
• Louis Riddick
  ,
• Seth Walder

20. Washington Commanders (Overall score: 76.5)​

Category	Score	NFL rank
Overall Roster excluding QB	71.25	28
Quarterback	86.5	11
Coaching	75	26
Front Office	76.25	17

Reason for hope: A healthy Jayden Daniels season would go a long way to elevating the Commanders' standing here -- doubly so if it comes with a strong showing from first-time playcaller David Blough. Perhaps more than any other team in the bottom half, the Commanders have a chance to vault into the top five with a reminder of Daniels' near-MVP-level ability from 2024. Tons of new defensive infusions -- via free agency and in the coaching ranks -- should give that unit a shot in the arm, too. -- Solak

Reason for concern: Everything that surrounds Daniels concerns me -- the offensive line, makeup of the receivers room, big-play ability of the running backs room and early competency of Blough. Daniels is a superstar. Make no mistake about that. I'm just afraid we won't get to see the best of him if general manager Adam Peters doesn't support him better. -- Riddick

Nugget to know: Washington was the oldest team last season by snap-weighted age, ranking No. 1 on defense and special teams, and No. 4 on offense. -- Schatz

Bold prediction for 2027-29: The Commanders will trade OL Brandon Coleman for a nice return ahead of the 2027 season. Coleman will step in at left tackle while Laremy Tunsil recovers from triceps surgery. Coleman has had a strong 90.7% pass block win rate at tackle over his career, including a 92.3% last season (albeit with a lot more double-team help than Tunsil had). A big season from Coleman could garner the interest of another team. -- Walder

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49582613/2026-nfl-future-power-rankings-projections-32-teams-roster-coaching-quarterback

 

[skinsinparadise]

I'd agree with Riddick's point above if it centered on 2024-2025 and 2026 pre Diggs. But post Diggs while the supporting cast isn't anything special, its elevated to average at least. But lol interesting Riddick calls out Peters specfically.