The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Bulldog]

ln 1979 the Redskins had only 5 picks and none before the 4th round.

And yet Beathard was able to come with 3 players that would start in Super Bowl XVII 3 years later - Don Warren, Rich Milot and Monte Coleman.

Peters had NINE picks in 2024 and we came out of it as it stands with TWO guys in Daniels and Sainristil that have consistently been on the field for the team.

NOT ACCEPTABLE.

 

[Conn]

I realize that the stockpile is low this year. That all said, we have 13 draftees rostered from the past two Peters drafts that we are going to have roles for. I will still stand by the notion that 2024 was the best and simultaneously worst thing that could have happened to this fanbase. We had the worst roster in the NFL prior to the Daniels draft and I still remember everyone accepting that we would need five years to see the fruits of labour start materializing into something sustainable. Here we are…

And eventually an appropriate portion of those players need to develop into good starters. That hasn’t happened yet going into year 3, I think that’s what most people are waiting for. There would be a lot less angst about FA and cap space and everything else if many of these picks were obviously hitting. It’s not happening at a high or even medium clip so far

This offseason is another chance, the sample size will grow and we’ll learn more about our FO.

 

[burgold]

ln 1979 the Redskins had only 5 picks and none before the 4th round.

And yet Beathard was able to come with 3 players that would start in Super Bowl XVII 3 years later - Don Warren, Rich Milot and Monte Coleman.

Peters had NINE picks in 2024 and we came out of it as it stands with TWO guys in Daniels and Sainristil that have consistently been on the field for the team.

NOT ACCEPTABLE.

If we're generous 3 (Coleman).

Still not acceptable.

By now, you'd like to see Magee, McCaffrey, and Sinnott inserting themselves as starters.

 

[Bulldog]

Definitely. We had geezers at linebacker and tight end and spent a lot of time watching them wind down their HOF careers which was great for them but it didn't leave us with any great legacy, they grew up and won titles with other teams.

In the end Wagner and Ertz will probably both retire as Seahawks/Eagles on one day contracts.

Remember Snyder keeping Bruce Smith around until he broke the then sack record? They minted coins of it.

Anyone have one of those coins? Anyone value them?

No because Bruce Smith is identified by almost all football fans as a Buffalo Bill not a Washington Redskin.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The silver lining to missing out on most of the big signings in terms of weapons is that AP might actually be ok upping an offer to Okonkwo… (I’m guessing waiting on Doubs is part of why we didn’t up our offer to Likely?).

I am hoping the same thing, this should hopefully change the I won't overpay for him narrative

 

[Dlts20]

There were 4-5 good starting WR’s in FA that may have fit us. For some Jennings was #2, for some #4. He was always a top option for us and yet we swung and missed on Pierce and Doubs first. It’s clearly not because he’s a 49er. Sometimes facts are just facts and don’t have any deeper meaning. I’m sure he does know AP and that’s cool, but he wasn’t unjustly our top target over better options just because of that connection. Which is what people imply when they say we’re chasing too many 49ers. We tried other options first.

I've never disputed any of this. Remember my reply said umm, I think that it's both. I would be more than fine with Jennings and Ayuik as they are more than qualified but my point is that you acted like the 49ers connection had nothing to do with it which to me is being naive. It's clearly part of it which isn't necessarily a bad thing or a good thing

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Bulldog]

Wow, the craggy owner of the Saints is actually spending money now, eh?

These guys used to let their free agents go and focus on the draft. Guess this leopard has changed its spots.

 

[Canuck]

Kunt

 

[RWJ]

Somehow if AP can sign WR Jennings and CB Woolen it makes things look a lot brighter.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[MartinC]

Every year in free agency my main takeaway is how important the draft is …

 

[Bulldog]

If we don't get Jennings and we hear the Commanders are resigning Jamison Crowder to a 1 year, $5M deal............

 

[philibusters]

Wow, the craggy owner of the Saints is actually spending money now, eh?

These guys used to let their free agents go and focus on the draft. Guess this leopard has changed its spots.

I think it was more they had serious cap issues for 10 years. For like a number of years they were in cap h*ll.

 

[Dah-Dee]

I don't know how reliable this entity/site is but...

Charles Robinson actually followed up on that:

 

[Bulldog]

In the end getting the business taken care of and winning games is what people judge you on.

Belichick was a ******** as a human being but he outfoxed GMs and coaches around the league for years on personnel.

 

[DogofWar1]

Yeah my concern on the draft and develop talk is the development is.......iffy.

Like how down the stretch last year, Sinnott, Magee, and Newton all seemed to get less reps than would suggest they were trusted. Guys can't develop fully without snaps and they just weren't seeing them. Maybe they spring forth this year fully formed but I'd feel a lot better if Sinnott had 18 receptions for 225 yards and 3 TDs on 24 targets in the final 3 games. Instead...13 targets all season with a high water mark of 4.

Then with Coleman, he went into 25 offseason as the presumptive left tackle, raw but interesting, got demoted to RT by the Tunsil trade, and then demoted to LG/swing tackle by the Conerly pick. He seemingly was bad at LG, and has sort of made a niche as swing tackle.

Luke is unfortunafe because he was flashing some real talent before the injury. Hopefully he picks up where he left off.

And they definitely had no idea wtf to do with Sainristil. I'm optimistic they figured out he's better outside and Amik will be the slot corner, but seeing is believing.

Overall I'm still optimistic, it's only year 3 for these guys and lots of guys don't figure it out until year 3/4, but certainly, so far, the development part has not manifested.

 

[Kalu44]

Browns sign C Elgton Jenkins 2yr/24M.
I guess its Allegretti and a late draft pick.

 

[Bulldog]

Signing Jenkins is a crap shoot. He suffered a severe leg injury in Green Bay that he evidently did not come back to 100% after and was set to count $19M against their cap.

He's not someone I wanted to see Washington bring in to this team.

We had enough of these kinds of vets in 2024 and 2025.

A lot of teams find centers in Day 2 and 3 of the draft.

Not saying this front office is going to do it, but New England found a pro bowl center as a UDFA.

If you have a good front office you can make it work.

 

[moondog]

I understand setting a certain value to players x/y/z/etc and sticking to it. It's good business practice.

But in this league and in this year there are only so many good players available. You hold your ground over $1-2-3M/yr and miss out on some real talent that helps move the needle, it's not like there are other options of equal value out there. You get left holding a $40M bag while you save a few bucks and get players of lesser quality that don't move the needle. FA is the definition of having to overpay. If you needed to toss a few more $M/year to real in Doubs/Pierce/Linderbaum or now Chig/Jennings/Chenal/etc you do it. I'm not too disappointed about Pierce/Linderbaum but for some of these next tier pieces that we've missed on or seemingly still haggling with, just get it done.

There is a large drop off when you go from guys like Doubs/Jennings to Calvin Austin. Mooney wouldn't be a terrible grab but I don't think he's the same quality as Doubs/Jennings. Corner still has some names out there but same can be said about the dropoff from Chig to older guys like Njoku/Goedert/etc.

It'll look a lot better if we start reeling in a few guys but at this point it seems like they're shooting about 30% on the guys they legitimately have interest in and the options for real talent are dwindling as opposed to depth pieces that leave things in the hands of Jaden having to put on cape again for us to be successful. There needs to be a certain point where we say screw it we need to go above and beyond to get this done with at least some of these pieces to give DQ and his staff a competitive roster this year.