The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Darrell Green Fan]

The problem is we dont have a single elite player on this team. I am watching Niners play and see elite players and coaching consistently carrying their team. We have no elite coaching, and I fault Peters and Quinn as well as the shit show of coaches prior for no elite players. You can very rarely trade for elite players... you have to draft them.. and Peters drafts so far leave a lot to be desired. Until he starts drafting better... we are in for world of disappointment.

I agree they need a great player with this top pick. I don't care what position it is, I don't care to trade back, just find a great player.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

He's a scrub, even I can get 30 yards per return with the elite blockers of this team.

Who the heck is Iffy?

I got Iggy mixed up with Iffy, the safety who sold #26 to Clinton Portis and then had to go to court to get him to pay. I'll never forgive Portis for that.

According to my ESPN link Iggy averaged over 27 yards per return, Luke averaged 29.

 

[skinsinparadise]

When do we start the discussion of, if the Rams don't re-sign him, bringing back Kam Curl?

I do think safety is a sneaky need.

In retrospect, if I recall both Peters and Quinn or maybe it was just Quinn who talked up their safety room this summer. Boy were they wrong.

 

[philibusters]

The problem with the safety room is we don't have any good players. Quan is serviceable starter. Will Harris is serviceable starter.. Jeremy Reeves is good depth (he played slightly better this year in a larger role than I expected to be honest). Percy Butler is hurt, but he is good depth when healthy. Tyler Owens has potential. The depth is good enough, but we lack a good starter. I think we were hoping that Quan Martin would take that step from serviceable starter to good player, but it didn't happen. I think the league thinks of safety as a position where you can get away with two serviceable starters at safety if the rest of the defensive starters are solid, but we don't have that either.​

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I do think safety is a sneaky need.

In retrospect, if I recall both Peters and Quinn or maybe it was just Quinn who talked up their safety room this summer. Boy were they wrong.

Yeah that was weird, a radio guy thinks Martin had confidence issues and Quinn was trying to get him confidence. Harris is a JAG and I'm done with Martin. They need impact players on the back end desperately.

 

[Conn]

skinzplay That’s an issue I have with Downs. Not his fault but a bad DC can completely waste a player like him. In many situations, I think back 7 is most susceptible to quality of DC.

This is a valid concern, in many ways it feels impossible to ruin and hold down an elite EDGE (unless he’s developmental and you screw up the development—but assuming a fairly finished product) and we’ve seen many elite EDGE guys have good seasons on bad D’s. Garrett is a HOF talent obviously but he’s done it tons of times. It feels like a position that can stand alone and elevate itself, while having a big trickle down impact on the rest of the D.

Meanwhile it feels like special safety, LB, and tweener prospects can be ruined or wasted or overshadowed by a poor defense and poor play calling. Used incorrectly, or just having terrible teammates that are targeted instead rendering their impact fairly invisible even if they’re technically doing their jobs at an elite level. They require more surrounding talent and proper defensive playcalling to fully reach their potential in a scheme. Feels more like a finishing touch on an elite D, ideally—but definitely nice to have for anyone if you’re willing to improve the rest of the D roster as well.

In that way, if the prospects are similar, EDGE feels “safer” than an elite Safety. Which tracks with positional values of course, most agree on this. The issue comes when they aren’t similar prospects. Is a blue chip generational safety safer than a top EDGE prospect who isn’t special? Gets messy

 

[HOF44]

I think it’s gotta be a Sean Taylor, Ronnie Lott, Woodson caliber safety to be more valuable than an edge.

 

[Conn]

I think it’s gotta be a Sean Taylor, Ronnie Lott, Woodson caliber safety to be more valuable than an edge.

Yeah, I think the puzzler is like…what level of EDGE prospect is more valuable than like a Kyle Hamilton. That’s the tier I see Downs in, not a generational freak but elite.

So where is the tier break of EDGE that’s worth less than that? Tier 2? Blue chip all-rounder but not a Garrett-level superfreak? Is a solid but not game changing guy like a Montez Sweat still worth more than an elite safety? I don’t think so

 

[skinsinparadise]

Coming from a dude who whined non stop about the depth at WR before the season. I am feeling better about the depth now. But I do want to add a legit backup X.

As Keim likes to say the team is higher on Luke McCaffrey than some fans are. They like him on special teams. They like him as a blocker. And is developing as a WR, played only a season in college at WR.

Not that am blown away by him but i'd be shocked if he is a cut casulty unless they really load up on WR this season.

To me he was coming on, the play against the Chargers in particular was one of my favs of the year. He played half a season, 200 yards, 3 TDs, not hot but not bad for a backup. And people could discount his kick return ability, but he still had the most yards among the returners -- and PFF which is supposed to factor context grade him as one of the top returners in the league with a grade much higher than any other returner on this team.

Will McCaffrey evolve as a starter? Probably not. But any WR who is a very good returner, good blocker, hard worker who is still young and developing, is at least OK at WR, and can play slot and Z -- I am not dumping him. I don't argue that some fans might enjoy McCaffrey being cut -- its lol sort of an in your face Peters, you suck, sort of venting-cathartic move. But I'll take Keim at his word that the team is higher on him than some of our fans.

As for Jaylin Lane, almost every point I've made about McCaffrey applies to him. He's a very good punt returner. Young and developing. I am fine with him as a backup at slot.

Treylon Burks to me is looking like a legit backup at Z. Maybe X?

My issue with Peters is don't count on these guys as the starters. They are IMO backups.

 

[DogofWar1]

The problem with the safety room is we don't have any good players. Quan is serviceable starter. Will Harris is serviceable starter.. Jeremy Reeves is good depth (he played slightly better this year in a larger role than I expected to be honest). Percy Butler is hurt, but he is good depth when healthy. Tyler Owens has potential. The depth is good enough, but we lack a good starter. I think we were hoping that Quan Martin would take that step from serviceable starter to good player, but it didn't happen. I think the league thinks of safety as a position where you can get away with two serviceable starters at safety if the rest of the defensive starters are solid, but we don't have that either.​

Coulda just stopped after the first sentence, haha.

But if I was making a list of frustrations with with Peters/Quinn, how they've addressed safety is definitely near the top of the list. And I'm not frustrated with them not spending high picks there, indeed, each pick by itself is solidly defensible. But like, they didn't bring back Kam Curl, even though he wasn't all that expensive, and sure, maybe he didn't fit the vision, okay, and they liked Chinn more, but then they didn't re-sign Chinn! And they only threw 4M AAV at Harris, when they still had and have, a lot of cap space.

It's part of why I would be surprised if they drafted Downs. Like nothing they've done so far at safety has suggested they think of safety as anything other than an afterthought, where you rummage around the bargain bin trying to find something maybe B tier and then don't really worry about it. Not only is it not a priority, which imo is fine, or even a secondary concern, or even a tertiary concern (that is, an afterthought) it's like a 2nd tier afterthought (quaternary? concern).

They really need to bring it from quaternary concern to at least a tertiary concern. Be willing to spend 10-12M on a good player, they won't bite.

 

[Bulldog]

Trading draft picks instead of using available cash under the cap in Daniels first 2 or 3 years was a mistake.

An overspend in 2024 or 2025 at non-mega level would be flushed out of cap by time Daniels contract is up.

Now we are supposed to do what with his Year 3 coming up?

Spend big and end up with a tight cap down the road?

Not great we only have 6 draft picks.

Peters would be smart to trade to pick up additional selections.

We should have been hoarding picks all along if we were going to leave MILLIONS under cap go unspent.

For what?

After 3-14 and having $80M plus to spend all we heard about was how expensive Free Agent X or Y was during the offseason.

Somehow the Bills or Packers with already winning clubs and some dedicated salaries were able to sign these players.

 

[DogofWar1]

I used to understand how the NFL cap and contracts worked a lot better than I do now, and it's probably a combination of things I've forgotten along with more tricks to keep the cap under control.

But basically, my understanding is you pay a ton of money up front and then use lots of void years on the back end. You also have to draft well (*roblox "oof" sound*), but that seems to be how the Eagles seemingly are able to pay anyone they want and not end up in complete cap hell.

One thing you need for that though is an owner with a LOT of liquid cash. Hopefully they can start doing some of that stuff. We've still got 2 years of Jayden not costing much (extension after this coming year probably but the hit will be another 2-3 years down the road) so can dump a bit more into '26 and '27.

 

[method man]

Regarding the Rams, I bet Kam Curl does hit FA not because of questions about his game but because they have a budding do everything star DB in Quentin Lake they have to hand a big money deal to.

Kam is no playmaker but he is a guy who does the core job well, generally stays healthy (leads the league among safeties this year in snap count) and is still 26.

 

[burgold]

I used to understand how the NFL cap and contracts worked a lot better than I do now, and it's probably a combination of things I've forgotten along with more tricks to keep the cap under control.

But basically, my understanding is you pay a ton of money up front and then use lots of void years on the back end. You also have to draft well (*roblox "oof" sound*), but that seems to be how the Eagles seemingly are able to pay anyone they want and not end up in complete cap hell.

One thing you need for that though is an owner with a LOT of liquid cash. Hopefully they can start doing some of that stuff. We've still got 2 years of Jayden not costing much (extension after this coming year probably but the hit will be another 2-3 years down the road) so can dump a bit more into '26 and '27.

I do wonder about liquidity. In the short term, Harris and company's outlay for this team has been outrageous. Obviously, the teams are profitable, but how many years does it take even a billionaire to recover from that sort of expenditure? It wasn't just the cost of the team, but improvements to the stadium, practice fields, facility, etc.

I'm sure they have a plan and can cover it, but I do wonder if there's a short term squeeze going on as they get their feet under them?

 

[RedWolf]

I do wonder about liquidity. In the short term, Harris and company's outlay for this team has been outrageous. Obviously, the teams are profitable, but how many years does it take even a billionaire to recover from that sort of expenditure? It wasn't just the cost of the team, but improvements to the stadium, practice fields, facility, etc.

I'm sure they have a plan and can cover it, but I do wonder if there's a short term squeeze going on as they get their feet under them?

They knew what they were getting into. It's a long investment strategy

 

[HOF44]

They knew what they were getting into. It's a long investment strategy

I hope you’re correct. Last year felt restrained. I’m not sure if that was Peters or Harris. If it happens again this year I’m gonna start to tilt that Peters is being put on a tight budget.

 

[RedWolf]

I hope you’re correct. Last year felt restrained. I’m not sure if that was Peters or Harris. If it happens again this year I’m gonna start to tilt that Peters is being put on a tight budget.

I don't think that's going to happen they want to turn this franchise around. That's the only way they're going to realize the returns on their investment. It's very much about their investments , but for some of the senior leadership its also personal, being life long Redskins fans

 

[Anselmheifer]

The problem is we dont have a single elite player on this team. I am watching Niners play and see elite players and coaching consistently carrying their team. We have no elite coaching, and I fault Peters and Quinn as well as the shit show of coaches prior for no elite players. You can very rarely trade for elite players... you have to draft them.. and Peters drafts so far leave a lot to be desired. Until he starts drafting better... we are in for world of disappointment.

Jayden and Tunsil.

 

[DWinzit]

^ You can add our three time pro bowl punter to that list.
We have a bunch of ancient players that would have been on the list years ago - Wagner, Miller, Ekeler, Ertz, maybe Deebo.
We have a few that can become an elite player by putting other decent healthy players next to them like Cosmi, maybe Amos or Mikey or even Burks. It's tough when the team has so many injuries when you already have a weak roster

We do need a very successful FA and Draft in 2026 to sprinkler more talent to the lineup, and not 36 year olds. Younger players that stay on more than one year to keep consistency

 

[burgold]

One other thing to think about in terms of "elite players" is 1991.

That was perhaps the best team in NFL history yet something Matt Millen said about stood out to me. He joined the team as a gray beard mercenary free agent and noted he had never been around a team with so many "B" players. I always took that to mean that in his eyes that Redskins team was loaded with good but almost no great players. Personally, I might disagree with that assessment and Millen turned out to be a lousy GM, but both Millen and the HOF voters agreed that this team and the ones that won two other Super Bowls were almost completely devoid of elite talent.

Now in my eyes, in 1991 Art Monk, Darrell Green, Gary Clark, Russ Grimm, and Jim Lachey at minimum were elite while Joe Jacoby and some of the other graybeards on the team had been elite and were still damn good, but the point is that "elite" is subjective and not the end all be all. I think 2024 echoed this point too. In 2024, we had even fewer "elite" players than we did in 2025 and no one would remotely argue that 2024 was an inferior team.