The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[SkinsFTW]

Unless they truly are going with Allegretti, the money argument makes zero sense - because you are not going to find an upgrade at center for less money.

I'd guess they are going hard for one of the top 2 FA Centers.

I'd rather not contemplate the alternative.

 

[NickyJ]

Why didn't they trade him?

 

[Boone]

The other question is - how much does a change in center really move the needle for the offense?

Is it enough to discard a competent guy and have to spend free agency cash to replace him when you desperately need every $$ available at other maybe more important positions?

I have questions.

 

[SkinsGuy99]

One thing I'm sure of is they have a plan for center.

I don't think they are going to have a sudden revelation at training camp and say "OMG! We don't have a center on this team! What do we do? What do we do?"

I don't know what the plan is. Whether it's to promote from within, or to get someone in free agency.

However, I'm sure the plan isn't to close their eyes, cross their fingers, and hope against hope that the OL will face a bunch of weak DTs this upcoming season.

Or that Daniels will somehow hike the ball to himself. 😀

 

[SkinsFTW]

Yeah, we all have questions. That is why I am going to assume they are going hard for one of the top Centers in FA.

 

[HeelsSkinsBraves]

Unless they truly are going with Allegretti, the money argument makes zero sense - because you are not going to find an upgrade at center for less money.

It does if that 8 million gets poor run blocking results, which is what has been said. On top of the reports that we want to run the ball more. I’d rather pay more than that to get good results versus paying 8 million for piss poor results. You would rather just eat the 8 million for a player the coaches clearly have zero faith in to do his job, or pay a little more for someone that can do much better job? Pay him the 8 million and it’s a sunk cost because you aren’t getting even replacements level results, you are getting much less.

 

[HeelsSkinsBraves]

The other question is - how much does a change in center really move the needle for the offense?

Is it enough to discard a competent guy and have to spend free agency cash to replace him when you desperately need every $$ available at other maybe more important positions?

I have questions.

They clearly don’t think he was competent.

 

[Conn]

It does if that 8 million gets poor run blocking results, which is what has been said. On top of the reports that we want to run the ball more. I’d rather pay more than that to get good results versus paying 8 million for piss poor results. You would rather just eat the 8 million for a player the coaches clearly have zero faith in to do his job, or pay a little more for someone that can do much better job? Pay him the 8 million and it’s a sunk cost because you aren’t getting even replacements level results, you are getting much less.

Most people are just hoping they actually spend more for an upgrade in that case, which makes it fine.

That plan falling through and leaving us stuck with a competition between Allegretti and some C-tier FA, with no Biadasz backup plan in the building so that they could save $8M in cash, is the fear.

There was no reason to throw a viable backup plan out the window without a parachute over an $8M chunk of cash they won’t need before their plans A, B, and C have the chance to either come to fruition or fail. Which makes it feel like penny-pinching or being overly accommodating at the cost of competitiveness

 

[Boone]

They started him for 2 seasons!

I am not condemning the decision, but I do think it raises a lot of questions because it created a glaring hole where one did not exist previously when we already have lots of glaring holes.

 

[SkinsFTW]

They started him for 2 seasons!

Was he a problem all along and they just let him hang around for a second year?

 

[Conn]

They started him for 2 seasons!

I am not condemning the decision, but I do think it raises a lot of questions because it created a glaring hole where one did not exist previously when we already have lots of glaring holes.

Not only that. It would’ve been one thing if in-house they thought Biadasz was quietly a hole, a lesser fit in the new imagined scheme. That’s what self-evaluation is for.

Cutting him before FA to save some cash makes it a GLARING hole rather than a quietly acknowledged in-house one, which is a competitive disadvantage in terms of leverage with outside FA’s and their agents. Now we very visibly NEED a starting Center. There’s no pretending we have a fallback plan with lots of experience that we will only cut if we can get an upgrade, etc.

It’s just not optimal, even IF they think they have upgrades lined up once the tampering period opens. Now we’re outwardly desperate for a Center solution, in comparison to our previous state, even if all along they didn’t think much of him going forward for whatever reason.

 

[method man]

My opinion has been that I want Likely (or Chig), but that I also want a lesser more well-rounded guy, like a Colby Parkinson or Trautman. In that scenario, Likely doubles as a jumbo slot as well as a top-2 TE. Bates remains the blocking specialist but isn’t the #2 guy threatening no one down the seam unless he’s forgotten, and Sinnott learns to speak Special Teams fluently unless he beats someone better out (and gets some FB looks)

Logan has me sold, that given how deep this TE class is, we may potentially be able to find a future starting Y TE in the 5th

 

[SkinsFTW]

Did they owe Biadasz money on March 1st or something? Otherwise, that was a dumb decision. I don't know if they did, but it certainly looks bad, even with resigning Alargeti who they may have now overpaid.

 

[Conn]

Logan has me sold, that given how deep this TE class is, we may potentially be able to find a future starting Y TE in the 5th

I think that’s possible. Pretty annoying to be considering since we spent a 2nd on a TE recently, but definitely possible. Would be nice to see us lean into the strength of a draft class for once instead of taking random ass ST’s prospects in the mid rounds that people projected 50+ slots later.

Last year taking JCM in the 7th, in a strong RB draft class where nearly every other team with a RB need already took one, is a good example of actually identifying and exploiting a deep positional class. I remember especially under Rivera never doing this. Deep LB class? Reach for a toolsy projection in the 1st. Deep CB class? Ignored, go elsewhere, maybe sign an UDFA. Deep TE Class? Nope, we have other needs in the mid rounds.

There’s an art to exploiting these things to increase hit rate after the premium picks are off the board. It feels rare that we’ve actually attempted to take advantage of it.

 

[HeelsSkinsBraves]

Y’all are still missing the point that they don’t feel that he is anywhere near competent enough to fit into the new offense. So, because someone started for a year or 2 means they shouldn’t be cut/released ever, especially with an apparent different outlook for the offensive philosophy? So because he’s decent at pass blocking, let’s keep him as a starter for a more heavy run offense, when he isn’t a good run blocker? I suppose we shouldn’t have cut Forbes or any other player that’s ever started for a year or two. That’s asinine. I agree there needs to be an upgrade added to the roster at center, but they must believe that Allegretti is at least as good or better already.

 

[SkinsFTW]

Y’all are still missing the point that they don’t feel that he is anywhere near competent enough to fit into the new offense. So, because someone started for a year or 2 means they shouldn’t be cut/released ever, especially with an apparent different outlook for the offensive philosophy? So because he’s decent at pass blocking, let’s keep him as a starter for a more heavy run offense, when he isn’t a good run blocker? I suppose we shouldn’t have cut Forbes or any other player that’s ever started for a year or two. That’s asinine. I agree there needs to be an upgrade added to the roster at center, but they must believe that Allegretti is at least as good or better already.

Then why didn't they resign Allergeti before cutting Biadiasz? Did they pay more?

 

[KDawg]

I don’t know why people keep saying that it’s obvious the team didn’t want Biadasz. That is evident given the fact that he is no longer on the team.

That’s not the conversation on this message board that is used to discuss opinions.

I have not gone back and watched every game, but I’m not sure I believe that Biadasz was problematic. I believe there is a percentage of players that can be an upgrade. I believe his run and pass pro could both improve. I believe he was the best center on the roster. And I believe he was a lot better than people here give him credit for as a run blocker.

Can anyone explain why we didn’t attempt to get draft compensation for him or wait until we had another center under contract before we released the competent center?

So far, I haven’t seen that explanation.

 

[Dlts20]

It may be that they found something on him medically and instead of hurting his chances with other teams, they will leave it up to their medical staff to find out. They probably will be honest if a team calls about him but otherwise, do him a solid and let them find out on their own

 

[Primus Porcus]

I don’t know why people keep saying that it’s obvious the team didn’t want Biadasz. That is evident given the fact that he is no longer on the team.

That’s not the conversation on this message board that is used to discuss opinions.

I have not gone back and watched every game, but I’m not sure I believe that Biadasz was problematic. I believe there is a percentage of players that can be an upgrade. I believe his run and pass pro could both improve. I believe he was the best center on the roster. And I believe he was a lot better than people here give him credit for as a run blocker.

Can anyone explain why we didn’t attempt to get draft compensation for him or wait until we had another center under contract before we released the competent center?

So far, I haven’t seen that explanation.

And we likely won’t. This front office doesn’t air its laundry like others in the past who would be out leaking stuff in the media to justify their decisions.

They choose to move on from guys and let sleeping dogs lie… when they’re proven right… like Jamin Davis or Benjamin St Juste, they tend to just fade away.

 

[Anselmheifer]

I don’t know why people keep saying that it’s obvious the team didn’t want Biadasz. That is evident given the fact that he is no longer on the team.

That’s not the conversation on this message board that is used to discuss opinions.

I have not gone back and watched every game, but I’m not sure I believe that Biadasz was problematic. I believe there is a percentage of players that can be an upgrade. I believe his run and pass pro could both improve. I believe he was the best center on the roster. And I believe he was a lot better than people here give him credit for as a run blocker.

Can anyone explain why we didn’t attempt to get draft compensation for him or wait until we had another center under contract before we released the competent center?

So far, I haven’t seen that explanation.

I feel like I want to defend the team, in the same way that I wanted to believe in Forbes or Jamin Davis.