The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Chris]

I’ve seen a lot of people say that they think Sinnott will benefit from the scheme change. However, when asked about Sinnott, Blough said that Sinnott has, “a long way to go”. I could easily see Sinnott as a camp cut.

I really think we need 2 TE’s. Let’s say we sign Likely, who is going on if Likely is hurt. We will have zero otherTE’s that can run a route at that point.

I think Luke was starting to look pretty solid before his clavicle fracture, but he’s essentially a big slot.

We are kind of in the same position at Z receiver. Although I guess Burks could be a backup on the outside.

The key word to me in my post is ‘competing’. Nearly every player that has been disappointing is somehow expected to improve with a scheme change. Talented players generally don’t require one.

 

[Chris]

I know its somewhat of a bs twitter handle but I’d love to be in the mix for Etienne

Plus they can’t spell Jaguars. 🤣

 

[Conn]

Based on his two seasons, Peters doesn't like to spend in free agency. His preference is to patch. He doesn't mind spending big bucks on players he's traded for (accepting large contracts) and I think he wants to spend on the draft. Unfortunately, the trades have eaten away his ability to draft which has hampered his patch strategy. So which bin does he look in this year when it comes to free agency? Given that year three is generally thought of as an important year, you'd hope he exits the thrift shop and starts going to places where he can buy the new, top of the line stuff a bit more often.

But I really won't be surprised if he mostly returns to rummaging through the bargain bins for those one-year, cheap reclamation projects or the "I think I can get one more good year of wear out of this thing" discard piles.

Then he won’t have a job sooner than later, and we’ll be on to finding hope with the next GM hire and the next regime. For AP I really think it’s that simple. He hasn’t drafted well enough to remain a miser in open FA. If that’s his preferred strategy, then he needs to draft better as he grows into his job here. Or he won’t get much more time to grow.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Then he won’t have a job sooner than later, and we’ll be on to finding hope with the next GM hire and the next regime. For AP I really think it’s that simple. He hasn’t drafted well enough to remain a miser in open FA. If that’s his preferred strategy, then he needs to draft better as he grows into his job here. Or he won’t get much more time to grow.

I do think he did fairly well with the FA's he brought in in 2024. At least, most of the contributed in a very positive way:

Dorance Armstrong - EDGE: Was good last year, and our best DE until he got hurt this year.
Frankie Luvu - LB: Contributed massively in 2024, was played out of position in 2025.
Tyler Biadasz - C: Really good center.
Nick Allegretti - G/C: 2024 fill-in starter and played well enough, top-end 2025 backup.
Austin Ekeler - RB: Biggest issue was he couldn't stay healthy. But good when he was healthy.
Zach Ertz - TE: Provided a lot more than you would have thought given age and injury history.
Jeremy Reaves - S: Re-signed really good ST player.
Bobby Wagner - LB: Brought stability to a position that had none, and was a leader.
Marcus Mariota - QB: Really good backup QB.
Jeremy Chinn - S: Played at above replacement level and contributed on a bad defense.
Clelin Ferrell - ED: One year transitional deal.
Brandon McManus - K: This was a debacle.
Dante Fowler Jr. - ED: Led the team in sacks
Michael Davis - CB: Depth CB who played because he had to but probably shouldn't have had to.
Cornelius Lucas - LT/T: Re-signed one of the best backup swing tackles in the league.
Michael Deiter - G: He was terrible.
Jamison Crowder - WR: Brought stability to punt returns until he got hurt.
Noah Igbinoghene - CB: Was at times the best CB on the team, which is really unfortunate, but says more about the other CBs on the team.
James Pierre - CB: I don't remember this player.
Olamide Zaccheaus - WR: Filled in as part of the rotation at WR and contributed when needed.
Efe Obada - EDGE: Played well enough.
Noah Brown - WR: Picked up after roster cuts and played well until his insides were exploded.

I mean, it's really not bad. He brought in a lot of players who really contributed to a team that went to the NFC Championship Game. He could have taken a few bigger swings. He didn't really swing at all for WR, and he probably should have. They kidnof did WR by committee for the WR2 spot with NBrown, DBrown, OZ, and I think a few others. Probably should have been more aggressive there.

However, when you're replacing more than half the roster, I think he did fairly well. And the results indicate he did fairly well as well.

2025, I think 2 things:

1. I think they were expecting more improvement from the 2024 draft picks than they got, so they didn't need to invest in the positions they drafted players in the top 100 in. That didn't come true at all.
2. They thought they could be judicious and not go hog wild in FA, and keep the chemistry of the team given how close they were to the SB.

And of course, they didn't expect that 3/4 of the team would end up in traction by week 6.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I’ve seen a lot of people say that they think Sinnott will benefit from the scheme change. However, when asked about Sinnott, Blough said that Sinnott has, “a long way to go”. I could easily see Sinnott as a camp cut.

I might have been one of those folks, though I phrased it differently, I said Sinnott might not have been a scheme fit for Kliff. That also leaves open he just isn't good. Both are possibilities.

I really think we need 2 TE’s. Let’s say we sign Likely, who is going on if Likely is hurt. We will have zero otherTE’s that can run a route at that point.

We have one solid TE on the roster in Bates who can block like a beast.

After that's it's literally nothing. There is the chance Sinnott can improve, but Peter's would be CRAZY to bank on that. And I don't think he's crazy.

So, they need at least 2 TEs. I predict they're going to draft one somewhere after their first pick.

I think Luke was starting to look pretty solid before his clavicle fracture, but he’s essentially a big slot.

Luke was really having a nice season on Kick Returns. Which is great but you want more out of a 3rd round pick.

I think they need to feature him heavily in the preseason and get him a lot of reps, regardless of who else they bring in. If he can't be a rotational starter, they wiffed on that pick.

We are kind of in the same position at Z receiver. Although I guess Burks could be a backup on the outside.

We have 1 WR and then a whole lotta nada. They need to entirely rebuild the room. How? I'm not sure. But you'd think there would be at least 1 or 2 FAs and at least 1 draft pick.

 

[KDawg]

I do think he did fairly well with the FA's he brought in in 2024. At least, most of the contributed in a very positive way:

Dorance Armstrong - EDGE: Was good last year, and our best DE until he got hurt this year.
Frankie Luvu - LB: Contributed massively in 2024, was played out of position in 2025.
Tyler Biadasz - C: Really good center.
Nick Allegretti - G/C: 2024 fill-in starter and played well enough, top-end 2025 backup.
Austin Ekeler - RB: Biggest issue was he couldn't stay healthy. But good when he was healthy.
Zach Ertz - TE: Provided a lot more than you would have thought given age and injury history.
Jeremy Reaves - S: Re-signed really good ST player.
Bobby Wagner - LB: Brought stability to a position that had none, and was a leader.
Marcus Mariota - QB: Really good backup QB.
Jeremy Chinn - S: Played at above replacement level and contributed on a bad defense.
Clelin Ferrell - ED: One year transitional deal.
Brandon McManus - K: This was a debacle.
Dante Fowler Jr. - ED: Led the team in sacks
Michael Davis - CB: Depth CB who played because he had to but probably shouldn't have had to.
Cornelius Lucas - LT/T: Re-signed one of the best backup swing tackles in the league.
Michael Deiter - G: He was terrible.
Jamison Crowder - WR: Brought stability to punt returns until he got hurt.
Noah Igbinoghene - CB: Was at times the best CB on the team, which is really unfortunate, but says more about the other CBs on the team.
James Pierre - CB: I don't remember this player.
Olamide Zaccheaus - WR: Filled in as part of the rotation at WR and contributed when needed.
Efe Obada - EDGE: Played well enough.
Noah Brown - WR: Picked up after roster cuts and played well until his insides were exploded.

I mean, it's really not bad. He brought in a lot of players who really contributed to a team that went to the NFC Championship Game. He could have taken a few bigger swings. He didn't really swing at all for WR, and he probably should have. They kidnof did WR by committee for the WR2 spot with NBrown, DBrown, OZ, and I think a few others. Probably should have been more aggressive there.

However, when you're replacing more than half the roster, I think he did fairly well. And the results indicate he did fairly well as well.

2025, I think 2 things:

1. I think they were expecting more improvement from the 2024 draft picks than they got, so they didn't need to invest in the positions they drafted players in the top 100 in. That didn't come true at all.
2. They thought they could be judicious and not go hog wild in FA, and keep the chemistry of the team given how close they were to the SB.

And of course, they didn't expect that 3/4 of the team would end up in traction by week 6.

That listing in year one was a solid start.

Now, let's look at it from a 2025 perspective:

Dorance Armstrong - EDGE: Got injured - can't say much. Looked good though.
Frankie Luvu - LB: Square peg, round hole in '25.
Tyler Biadasz - C: Really good center.
Nick Allegretti - G/C: Okay.
Austin Ekeler - RB: Injury concerns in '24, didn't last long in '25.
Zach Ertz - TE: Overall excellent addition until the unfortunate injury.
Jeremy Reaves - S: ST ace.
Bobby Wagner - LB: Okay this year, coverage was an issue.
Marcus Mariota - QB: Okay back up QB. Could do much worse.
Jeremy Chinn - S: We let him go... He was the MVP of the defense with Luvu and Fowler and we let him go...
Clelin Ferrell - ED: Gone, not really replaced
Brandon McManus - K: Kicker somehow continues to get worse.
Dante Fowler Jr. - ED: Led the team in sacks, let him go.
Michael Davis - CB: Absolutely horrendous last season and not on the roster
Cornelius Lucas - LT/T: Re-signed one of the best backup swing tackles in the league. Not back with us this season.
Michael Deiter - G: He was terrible. Agreed.
Jamison Crowder - WR: Brought stability to punt returns until he got hurt. And then we let him go and didn't really replace him.
Noah Igbinoghene - CB: Was at times the best CB on the team, which is really unfortunate, but says more about the other CBs on the team. Did okay this year.
Olamide Zaccheaus - WR: Filled in as part of the rotation at WR and contributed when needed. We let him go...
Efe Obada - EDGE: Eh.
Noah Brown - WR: Injury prone.

Most notable: Letting Crowder, OZ, Fowler, Chinn go.

Relying on Ekeler and Noah Brown.

Changing Luvu's position.

Just baffling.

 

[RedWolf]

I don't want to litter the board with too many threads, but since DQ has a dedicated thread should we start a new thread just for AP?

 

[Boone]

There already is one

https://www.bgobsession.com/threads/the-front-office-adam-peters-and-roster-construction.192387/

 

[skinsinparadise]

To weigh in on some recent posts.

Peters first draft OK. Not bad. Not Good. So so. Not bad like some purport IMO. 2024 FA -- very good. 2025 draft -- good. 2025 FA -- good as to the actual signings -- atrocious IMO as to the lack of ambition of it.

Overall I'd give him a B minus as to actual player transactions. I'd give him an F in the context of maximizing Jayden's contract. I'll give him this off season to see what's next. The good thing is he has the framework -- O line and QB to build this team back up fast. Will see.

I think almost zero chance Sinnott is released. He's a good blocker on the move. Dissapointing pick but not a worthless player IMO.

As to the RB versus WR discussion. I love the meat of KDawg's argument -- I love that type of football conversation. I agree with the style of how he's thinking. That is, look at it all from a macro basis and how one thing impacts the next, etc. It's how I try to do it, too.

But I somewhat have the opposite conclusions even though I love the thinking behind it on his end.

Coming from the dude who touted Love months ago, great player. And I'd still love it if they took him. I do think if you look at WR and RB together, you can see it in a different way. Or lol at least I do.

A. You got Terry on basically a one year contract. Yes Daron Payne style they can survive a longer run with Terry by grossly overpaying him because you got no one else.

B. In FA you pay a premium for WRs. Much more so than you do for RBs. Guys like Juan Jennings likely get 20 million plus even though they aren't 20 million dollar players

C. The pickings look slim at WR. If Pierce goes back to Indy as some suspect then who do you got at outside WR, Doubs, Shaheed, an aging Mike Evans? And the competition for Wr's tend to be stiff

D. The pickings look really good at RB. Hall, Etienne, maybe Walker, Dowdle. Even that next tier, Gainwell and R. White look interesting. The competition and cost likely won't be as fierce.

Easier to land a top RB at a better price than WR. And I don't think its even close. And everything being equal taking a high end RB in FA and a top WR both sets you up in my view in theory both for better success in the short and long term.

Now to the idea that none of these WRs are worth #7. That's not a slam dunk type of point where the answer is obvious either way. I get the spirit of the point. There isn't a Nabers type of prospect in this mix, a dude that screams elite. The top of this WR group are more in the very good range. And you can perhaps argue these guys should be in the 8-12 range and 7 is just a hair early. I get that idea, too. But a hair is the operative word. It's the cusp IMO of where these WR group belongs. These guys aren't in that Garrett Wilson, Nabers, Julio Jones, etc range. They feel like in that next tier -- the Olave, Drake London, Devonte Smith range.

Would I take a WR st 7? Maybe. I am undecided. But from a pure macro standpoint it makes all the sense in the world to me.

If you overpay for example a Jennings in FA. Can you really afford him and Terry at 34 million in 2027? probably not so you are stuck with Jennings as your number 1 WR, even though he isn't a #1. And unless you strike gold later in the draft this year, you come at 2027 really screwed at WR -- considering you likely don't have a good young cheap WR and can't afford to pay top dollar for one in FA let alone your WRs are older post 30 or pushing 30. Now if lets say you draft Tate this year and he shines, you got no issues. You can even afford to overpay Terry and keep him in 2027.

 

[burgold]

The other thing I think about is Bill was pretty damn good at the beginning of the season when we had some receivers. When Terry, Deebo, and Burks made a group that the defense had to at least somewhat respect that's when we saw Bill get good again. So, I wonder how much of Bill's vision and other issues really have to do with such a pathetic receiving corp that D's were just able to jam the box in a way that no running back would succeed. I'm thinking a little of the most recent Superbowl and the Superbowl MVP running back got a lot more one yard and two yard carries than four yard carries.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The other thing I think about is Bill was pretty damn good at the beginning of the season when we had some receivers. When Terry, Deebo, and Burks made a group that the defense had to at least somewhat respect that's when we saw Bill get good again. So, I wonder how much of Bill's vision and other issues really have to do with such a pathetic receiving corp that D's were just able to jam the box in a way that no running back would succeed. I'm thinking a little of the most recent Superbowl and the Superbowl MVP running back got a lot more one yard and two yard carries than four yard carries.

Teams crowded the box to your point after seeing that the WRs posed no threat. And no coincidence Bill played better towards the end of the season with the return of some of the Wrs.

I don't think though Croskey-Merritt and Rodriguez are anything special. Can they go a season with them starting and be good if they load up elsewhere? I think yes. But to me the key twist is this FA is unusually stacked at RB. We can easily upgrade RB in FA.

I would be more then cool taking Love, I've made the same point months ago and haven't waivered on it. But I think its a tough call. And at a minimum if I can land a Breece Hall its a no brainer to go that route versus Love because you can use that spot to upgrade another position.

But if you can land Etienne, or Walker (unlikely) or Dowdle. Some really good backs who aren't quite Hall but are signficant upgrades IMO for this RB room.

We've talked about R. White but Gainwell is sneaky interesting, almost 75 catches, 4.7 YPC

 

[Bulldog]

The mistake that Peters made was to bypass free agency and use trades for draft picks to bring in vets at key spots.

Signing a guy like Lattimore would have hurt the team a lot less if we only lost money on the contract but to lose the picks set us back in building younger depth.

There were outside WRs we could have signed that could have supported the passing game down the field when Terry got hurt but unlike McVay with guys like Davante Adams we gave up a draft pick to get Deebo on basically a one year deal.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The mistake that Peters made was to bypass free agency and use trades for draft picks to bring in vets at key spots.

Signing a guy like Lattimore would have hurt the team a lot less if we only lost money on the contract but to lose the picks set us back in building younger depth.

There were outside WRs we could have signed that could have supported the passing game down the field when Terry got hurt but unlike McVay with guys like Davante Adams we gave up a draft pick to get Deebo on basically a one year deal.

The Lattimore deal was bad. But I got the idea at the time, they were making a run. But he didn't have to double down on the deal by bringing Lattimore back. Deebo for a 5th I thought was fine. The Tunsil trade IMO was a good one.

The only thing that worked for Peters on these trades is it gave the vibe to some he was all in and going for it. But I don't think so., It was a half ass effort as to going for it. I am not the only one who thinks that -- that is Peters hasn't been aggressivbe as to maximizing Jayden's contract, he's been really conservative if anything. And that needs to change IMO.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Primus Porcus]

So this is interesting

 

[SkinsGuru]

So this is interesting

He had a bit of a comeback season last year with 8.5 sacks after going IR in 2024. Seems he is a good edge setter in the run game too. I'd take a flyer for the right price for sure.

 

[Anselmheifer]

So this is interesting

PFF scores aren’t as good as the raw stats. And he’s been injury prone. I haven’t really watched him and I’m not sure what to think about him as a potential signing

 

[0rder 0f 0ut]

I think Mafe would be a good fit in a Deronte style defense.