The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Dah-Dee]

As far as I can tell from Spotrac, that number doesn't include the bigger contracts we've done so far, like Oweh, so I don't know what to believe about how much cap room AP really still has to work with.

 

[MartinC]

Austin Ekeler is not coming back to Washington IMO.

I see some posts where they have added him to Merritt and another acquisition as part of a 3 headed attack.

Ekeler is 31 years old and rehabbing from an ACL.

If the team didn't bring back some HEALTHY geezers so far they are not bringing back a 31 year old injured running back.

Age 31 for a running back is like age 39 or 40 for a quarterback. Not too many of those around.

Ekeler needs to retire for his own long term health. Less the ACL more the concussions.

 

[Bulldog]

If we could decide to either cut Payne or if they like him extend him and lower his cap hit that could be a lot more money to go out and get other players.

 

[Emir of Schmo]

 

[Primus Porcus]

If we could decide to either cut Payne or if they like him extend him and lower his cap hit that could be a lot more money to go out and get other players.

But then he wont try hard. He's a different player in a contract year

 

[Bulldog]

But then he wont try hard. He's a different player in a contract year

I love this game!

Where else do you go and find guys like this?

 

[Primus Porcus]

I love this game!

Where else do you go and find guys like this?

its been a clear fact that he plays at a different level before, and after he gets paid. There's absolutely a conversation to be had about whether or not to retain him, but I would be a little curious about an extension at this point.

 

[MartinC]

Well he disagrees with your doctor. Just saying:

“My recovery is going good, bruh. Like I said earlier in the stream, I gotta have one more surgery, you know what I’m saying? I have more updates on that on my Instagram, you know what I’m saying? So if you guys follow me, well, have been following me throughout this journey, man, it’s been, it hasn’t been as rough as people try to make it seem"

Tyreek Hill Announces Major Injury Recovery Update Moments After DolphinsRelease

The Miami Dolphins have officially entered a new era after making the difficult decision to part ways with star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Following a devastating knee injury that ended his 2025 season after just four weeks, the team released the eight-time Pro Bowler this week to manage their...

sports.yahoo.com

Assuming he is looking to get a contract somewhere he was hardly likely to answer the question “How are you progressing” with “Shit show man, I still need yet another surgery and who knows if I will ever get back on a field let alone have the speed that I relied on to be the player I was. Just not a good situation …’

 

[Bulldog]

its been a clear fact that he plays at a different level before, and after he gets paid. There's absolutely a conversation to be had about whether or not to retain him, but I would be a little curious about an extension at this point.

I know I just have to laugh. I grew up traveling due to my father's business and I was an NHL fan at age 7 and I to this day rarely find hockey players that don't work hard unless they are up for a contract, there are a few but by and large they are who they are in their careers.

 

[ES1974]

$30M was already an overpay... more than that would have been too much of a risk.

There's another factor here.. We offered more and he chose to stay there... it's VERY possible that Pierce's camp flat out told Peters that $30 wasn't enough to get him away from Indy, to which Peters responded "Is there a reasonable number that IS enough" and they said no... so he stopped.

At some point, you have to draw a line.

I think when you are in that unusual position of having so much cap space, with a clear need, sometimes you just have to pay the price and not dwell on it.

Very average receiver money is heading toward $20m per year.

Colts basically invested $200m in Jones and Pierce, largely through need.

Just the way it is.

 

[Primus Porcus]

I know I just have to laugh. I grew up traveling due to my father's business and I was an NHL fan at age 7 and I to this day rarely find players that don't work hard unless they are up for a contract, there are a few but by and large they are who they are in their careers.

Yes, contract circumstances tend to stimulate the juices, but it's not as stark of a contrast with most players as it is with him. They also don't tend to publicly 'show me the money' gestures, trying to be a top 5 paid at their position, while grading out much closer to average once the ink hits paper.

Wanna guess which year he was up for contract?

 

[ES1974]

Having second thoughts on this one. I was surprised and disappointed we didn't get him at first, but when you look back a guy that comes in as the #2 and is a player based on speed down the field - that player can at times be underwhelming when asked to do a bit more and Pierce has never caught 60 balls in his career so he's not a chain mover or a guy that could move into that role if Terry goes down.

$60m fully guaranteed money was ‘all’ he got. Just blow that figure out the water on a front loaded deal.

 

[Primus Porcus]

I think when you are in that unusual position of having so much cap space, with a clear need, sometimes you just have to pay the price and not dwell on it.

Very average receiver money is heading toward $20m per year.

Colts basically invested $200m in Jones and Pierce, largely through need.

Just the way it is.

I argue the opposite. You can't let 'need' force you to grossly over-pay, the ripple effect is very problematic. That's how you find yourself regretting contracts because you act out of desperation. Whether it be the draft, free agency, or even your own home grown talent... overpaying can seriously bite you in the ass.

I'll also repeat that despite my opinion, Peters may have been willing to go higher and Pierce told him it was a waste of time, that Indy was the place and our offer was always just a way to get their number up.

 

[Chris]

Ekeler needs to retire for his own long term health. Less the ACL more the concussions.

Again, Ekeler had a non-contact achilles tear not an ACL which is worse for his type of player.

 

[Dlts20]

Well he disagrees with your doctor. Just saying:

“My recovery is going good, bruh. Like I said earlier in the stream, I gotta have one more surgery, you know what I’m saying? I have more updates on that on my Instagram, you know what I’m saying? So if you guys follow me, well, have been following me throughout this journey, man, it’s been, it hasn’t been as rough as people try to make it seem"

Tyreek Hill Announces Major Injury Recovery Update Moments After DolphinsRelease

The Miami Dolphins have officially entered a new era after making the difficult decision to part ways with star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Following a devastating knee injury that ended his 2025 season after just four weeks, the team released the eight-time Pro Bowler this week to manage their...

sports.yahoo.com

Honestly, that doesn't prove much to me. After his injury, a doctor who didn't work on him said that he thinks that Hill will miss all of this season and career is over. Now while I don't necessarily agree with a doctor giving pretty instant reaction and not even examining him, I think that Hill is being the opposite extreme.

He really didn't say much in this article and he said that he still needs another surgery. Right before you posted this, I read an article on him a week before this article where he was at an EA party. Again he was chipper and said that he's going to play this season but he also said that he just started walking without a brace a week earlier.

All of this was basically a month or a month and a half ago that he's just been walking without a brace. I was skeptical about his health then and that was before I read your article about another surgery which he said nothing about in my article so it makes me feel like he is still a ways away or him walking without a brace didn't go well and now they decided for more surgery.

Training camp is still a ways away but still not too far. It doesn't sound like he is anywhere near a football field right now so I don't envision him as someone you can count on and even when healthy, it seems like he's going to be a health risk all year.

 

[Boone]

Considering all this talk about WR, here is our roster:

1. Terry, reliable WR1 when healthy.
2. Burks, former first rounder who has battled injuries, but made some impressive catches for us last year.
3. Luke, good pedigree, gadget player and special teams ace, started to flash last year.
4. Lane, raw speedster entering year two, has yet to show much.

That trio of Burks, Luke, and Lane has a lot of unrealized potential. We could also add another young gun through the draft. Sometimes you have to develop your own homegrown talent.

What we really need is a reliable vet. I would bring back Deebo and/or add a guy like Keenan Allen. Jennings would work too but I don’t think we are so desperate that we need to overpay.

Add Aiyuk to the mix and you’ll be talking about who to cut in preseason.

I get the need for a proven quality WR2, but I don’t see why everybody is pushing the panic button.

The trio of Burks/Luke/Lane combined for 37 total catches in 2025 guys. That’s less than Zaccheus who some here like to call a scrub accomplished on his own. We cannot cross our fingers and hope one of these guys is going to suddenly quadruple their production. We just can’t. If one of them emerges, that’s great. I’m not saying it’s impossible. But that can’t be the plan. The primary goal here is production, not ‘development’.

Losing teams bank on ‘development’. Winning teams assemble proven talent.

 

[ES1974]

I argue the opposite. You can't let 'need' force you to grossly over-pay, the ripple effect is very problematic. That's how you find yourself regretting contracts because you act out of desperation. Whether it be the draft, free agency, or even your own home grown talent... overpaying can seriously bite you in the ass.

I'll also repeat that despite my opinion, Peters may have been willing to go higher and Pierce told him it was a waste of time, that Indy was the place and our offer was always just a way to get their number up.

Yeah perhaps.

Peters may also be slightly stubborn to the point he chops his nose off to spite his face, so to speak. We don’t have that kind of insight.

However, to be sat with a boat load of cap space and basically next to nothing on offense isn’t the best look, in my opinion.

However, there’s still time….

 

[DWinzit]

The trio of Burks/Luke/Lane combined for 37 total catches in 2025 guys. That’s less than Zaccheus who some here like to call a scrub accomplished on his own. We cannot cross our fingers and hope one of these guys is going to suddenly quadruple their production. We just can’t. If one of them emerges, that’s great. I’m not saying it’s impossible. But that can’t be the plan. The primary goal here is production, not ‘development’.

Losing teams bank on ‘development’. Winning teams assemble proven talent.

Amen, we did that last year and it blew up on us.

 

[Skinfanjon]

Well he disagrees with your doctor. Just saying:

“My recovery is going good, bruh. Like I said earlier in the stream, I gotta have one more surgery, you know what I’m saying? I have more updates on that on my Instagram, you know what I’m saying? So if you guys follow me, well, have been following me throughout this journey, man, it’s been, it hasn’t been as rough as people try to make it seem"

Tyreek Hill Announces Major Injury Recovery Update Moments After DolphinsRelease

The Miami Dolphins have officially entered a new era after making the difficult decision to part ways with star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Following a devastating knee injury that ended his 2025 season after just four weeks, the team released the eight-time Pro Bowler this week to manage their...

sports.yahoo.com

I mean, what’s he gonna say? I’m an aging receiver who depends on elite speed and last time you saw me, my knee was glued on sideways so it’s gonna be sec? Was a catastrophic knee injury, not the garden variety type.

 

[Bulldog]

The trio of Burks/Luke/Lane combined for 37 total catches in 2025 guys. That’s less than Zaccheus who some here like to call a scrub accomplished on his own. We cannot cross our fingers and hope one of these guys is going to suddenly quadruple their production. We just can’t. If one of them emerges, that’s great. I’m not saying it’s impossible. But that can’t be the plan. The primary goal here is production, not ‘development’.

Losing teams bank on ‘development’. Winning teams assemble proven talent.

To be fair though how many games did Burks play in? He was on the inactive list for several weeks after being acquired and was active and getting acquainted with the offense when he suffered a hamstring.

Burks may turn out to be nothing here, but he has the size and athletic ability to potentially be a lot more.

Zaccheus meanwhile will be on his fourth team in the last 4 years.

Do you see why that is?

Zaccheus is the typical #4 or #5 receiver who can come in and make some catches but he's never going to be a guy you look at and project him into being a a guy that can be a potential starter or contributor at a very high level.