The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Discobob]

Dont really get excited over the prospect of Jennings coming here. His career numbers are pretty abysmal if we are being honest. He isnt a separator. Which is what I think we need.

I'm right there with you. I know some people are off the Peters bandwagon, but he was there with SF when they drafted him.

If he doesn't feel like...

a) he's worth the price
b) isn't a good fit for us, or
c) isn't a big upgrade over our bag of leftover WRs (sans Terry)...

then I don't see why we are upset 🤷

 

[burgold]

Every time Peters looks at Jennings, he may be asking himself, "Do I really want a starting receiver who's slower than all my linebackers?"

 

[Dah-Dee]

Every time Peters looks at Jennings, he may be asking himself, "Do I really want a starting receiver who's slower than all my linebackers?"

You're cheating, Wags is still a FA.

 

[Conn]

Every time Peters looks at Jennings, he may be asking himself, "Do I really want a starting receiver who's slower than all my linebackers?"

Doesn’t seem to be stopping people here from wanting Keenan Allen (though I don’t think he’s on the team’s radar at all to be fair)

 

[Conn]

Funny how Grant uses particular language to obsfucate the issue here in a condescending way. As if anyone who disagrees couldn’t just do the same by flipping it.

“He’d got a $32M man on one side and a top-75 pick on the other”

Is so cavalierly biased despite being true, obviously meant to push a particular narrative. It could easily be reframed as:

“He’s got a 31-year old veteran on one side who spent most of last season injured, who likely won’t be here in 2027. And on the other side, a new 3rd round slot WR that Peters hopes makes his previous 3rd and 4th round slot WR picks obsolete”

Both equally true. Both purposely angled in a way to strongly push a particular narrative but not actually encompassing the whole of the situation. It’s the writing equivalent of cherry-picking box score stats. Just total radio jockey schlock. I believe the kids are calling it “slop” these days. Brain rot slop.

 

[Dlts20]

So, if they're right and Williams can be an effective Z/slot then we probably have 5/6 weapon positions settled. That's not so bad.

WR 1 McLaurin
WR 2 Williams. Burks. Dyami
WR 3 Williams, McCaffrey. Lane.
TE Chig. Sinnott, Bates,
RB Bill. Fat Man. White. Ford.

The scary thing is, they have to be right and they're putting a lot of weight on a third round rookie. The other question really is, if they do put Williams at the Z can they trust one of McCaffrey, Lane, or Burks as a mostly full time slot. Mind you, I think what we're really describing is "positionless" wide receivers where any of the guys other than McLaurin may wind up setting in any position. Now, if they're wrong and Williams takes a year to get up to speed or just isn't who they think he is then we really have McLaurin and a bunch of JAGS.

I still think they feel like Aiyuk is coming and will be the 2 but I also think in the meantime or if it doesn't work out, they are prepared to go with Williams and the guys here over the old free agents in Diggs, Allen, Hopkins, and Deebo. They are going to give Williams and Ayuik every opportunity until they prove that they aren't worthy. I also think for better or worse, they trust Dyami with Jayden.

I feel like Williams is the starting Z, moves to the slot on 3 wide Dyami at the Z but it's open after Williams. Imo it's fair. Every guy in that group has been around for years besides Lane. Williams deserves this shot because those guys couldn't become starters in those years. He was a first round pick coming into last year. I'm ready to see what him and Ayuik have. We've seen the others for years now.

 

[Dlts20]

Also remember that in this offense, every receiver will have to know the route for every wr position. That's what they have said. So they may be going a little interchangeable for everyone

 

[Faithful Fan]

They say the best used car is usually the one you already own. Maybe the same thing is true of veteran receivers, and Deebo is our best option in free agency. He knows us and we know him, and the price should be right.

 

[Dlts20]

 

[skinsinparadise]

Funny how Grant uses particular language to obsfucate the issue here in a condescending way. As if anyone who disagrees couldn’t just do the same by flipping it.

“He’d got a $32M man on one side and a top-75 pick on the other”

Is so cavalierly biased despite being true, obviously meant to push a particular narrative. It could easily be reframed as:

“He’s got a 31-year old veteran on one side who spent most of last season injured, who likely won’t be here in 2027. And on the other side, a new 3rd round slot WR that Peters hopes makes his previous 3rd and 4th round slot WR picks obsolete”

Both equally true. Both purposely angled in a way to strongly push a particular narrative but not actually encompassing the whole of the situation. It’s the writing equivalent of cherry-picking box score stats. Just total radio jockey schlock. I believe the kids are calling it “slop” these days. Brain rot slop.

To me the whole narrative is ridiculous.

The room looked ridiculous to me last summer and I got some pushback here about it when I made the point, and even some pushback even after the season unfolded.

So I gather some fans will have their back on this no matter what. And to each their own. But I've been a part of a zillion debates over the years -- the oddest ones for me are those defeded Bruce, Dan, Cerrato, not many did but it was a small loud vocal group. But the oddest thing for me about football, is this one. We got a potential franchise QB, and its not that big of a deal what we give him to work with and we can justify whatever he's got as enough or hey they tried, that's enough for me.

For me, jealously watching so many young QBs over the years on other teams and watching them being developed -- its part of the soup to load them up. Heck part of it is fear -- I'll give this dude so many weapons that it will be difficult to fail and in turn lol almost force him to be good -- because how can you be bad with all of this?

All the QBs from that 2024 draft, all of them are being spoiled like that. Washington is the one who doesn't. But heck that's fine because they drafted Sonnny Styles or whatever. And heck they don't sign a single premium WR FA -- zero in three years with all the cap room in the world. Most of the FA signings are street 3rd-4th tier types. The highest WR drafted is in the third round. The dude who is supposed to carry the receiver coorp is a 31 year old guy -- who is coming off a tough negoitiation because this team rightfully felt like 30 plus year old WRs decline and are more injury prone.

Using one of Grant Paulsen's favorite lines, make it make sense?

 

[skinsinparadise]

Is the point Chris Hilton, Dyami, Van Jefferson? I watched some Hilton. Saying he's a project is an understatement. Watching Brian Kelly yell at him for mistiming his jumps, I watched a video with some of those mistimed jumps, its weird, almost no production at LSU.

I'll give them this, they accomplished something at WR. Dyami and Van Jefferson aren't good. they aren't legit starters. And right now one of them I gather is slated to start unless they sign Aiyuk at some point. But they aren't pathetically bad like Chris Moore, Choosn, Osborn, etc.

So they raised the floor some, the celing is arguably a little lower.

The only thing keeping me from full blasting them is I love Antonio Williams, but even with him, I could be wrong, he's an unproven rookie, and as some here pointed out the bust rate is huge at WR in the third.

I just watched Finlay's segment about the WR room is deep. So a key point from him was Van Jefferson has averaged 24 catches a season, 2 seasons in a row, so he's a real professional WR. Is that the world we live in at that spot?

 

[Dlts20]

Is the point Chris Hilton, Dyami, Van Jefferson? I watched some Hilton. Saying he's a project is an understatement. Watching Brian Kelly yell at him for mistiming his jumps, I watched a video with some of those mistimed jumps, its weird, almost no production at LSU.

I'll give them this, they accomplished something at WR. Dyami and Van Jefferson aren't good. they aren't legit starters. And right now one of them I gather is slated to start unless they sign Aiyuk at some point. But they aren't pathetically bad like Chris Moore, Choosn, Osborn, etc.

So they raised the floor some, the celing is arguably a little lower.

The only thing keeping me from full blasting them is I love Antonio Williams, but even with him, I could be wrong, he's an unproven rookie, and as some here pointed out the bust rate is huge at WR in the third.

Nah, it was just about getting guys who Jayden is close to. I personally think that Williams is the guy they want starring right now, even on the outside, until Ayuik is available, and then we'll see

 

[skinsinparadise]

Nah, it was just about getting guys who Jayden is close to. I personally think that Williams is the guy they want starring right now, even on the outside, until Ayuik is available

I knew nothing about Hilton, but watched yesterday a video of all his weird mistimed jumps yesterday, lol I didn't know a WR could have that hard of a time consistently mistiming the trajectory of the ball?

As for Aiyuk, he might not be released until Sept 1st. so in that case we got a guy coming off major surgery who hasn't played in over a season, and at least in his videos looks out of shape -- hard for me to see even if this all happens, he's ready or makes an impact until close to midseason.

We saw how sharp Michael Gallup looked after missing a season.

 

[Dlts20]

I knew nothing about Hilton, but watched yesterday a video of all his weird mistimed jumps yesterday, lol I didn't know a WR could have that hard of a time consistently mistiming the trajectory of the ball?

As for Aiyuk, he might not be released until Sept 1st. so in that case we got a guy coming off major surgery who hasn't played in over a season, and at least in his videos looks out of shape -- hard for me to see even if this all happens, he's ready or makes an impact until close to midseason.

We saw how sharp Michael Gallup looked after missing a season.

I just don't believe that they will keep him that long. He's going to show up to all of the mandatory camps and it's going to be a distraction. I think that he will be released from anywhere between the 1st until the 15th

 

[DWinzit]

It does seem like Hilton was brought in because Jayden knows him. I don't want this roster built on guys that know him or guys he likes that don't contribute...see Hartman.

 

[Boone]

I'm with you SiP - I have been the most annoying staff member bitching about the WR situation for the past several years in particular. The thing people don't realize is, it's not just about surrounding Jayden with a high quality cast in order for him to produce. When you have a young star QB and don't surround him with high quality weapons, you are putting his health at risk - especially a very competitive, athletic QB with elite rushing skills like Jayden. If he doesn't trust the WRs he has, he will hold onto the ball. If his WRs take longer or struggle to get open, he will hold onto the ball. If targets are not open, he will give up on the pass play and take off. All of these things put him at risk. And we saw the worst case scenario unfold just last season where he missed more games than he played in with some serious injuries.

 

[Dlts20]

Has him rated ahead of Boston and believes he can be an outside guy as I think that Washington also does and he's our starter right now

 

[burgold]

I think if Aiyuk doesn’t show up and make life hard for SF that’s another strike against him.

I do wonder about his hunger to play. I mean I can see how the idea of playing with your friend is tempting, but Aiyuk got that mega contract with a signing bonus large enough that any of us here could retire happy.

So, maybe he got content? Maybe killing himself in rehab and in training lost its urgency. One of the questions to ask is how much does he really want it because he doesn’t need it

 

[Boone]

Aiyuk will hardly be the lone example of NFL players doing things and making stubborn or impulsive decisions that are self-sabotaging and detrimental to their career. Terrell Owens was this way. Antonio Brown is another. There have been a lot of those kinds of guys over the years.

I think San Fran is one of the more 'rule-oriented' franchises with a Front Office and head coach who are known to be 'my way or the highway' types. I'm not saying that's wrong or even a bad thing, but if a player is going to struggle with adhering to a franchise's expectations, being a 49er is going to be problematic.

Some of these players are just *different*. They may put great stock in certain things others find trivial. They may feel 'disrespected' by things that most of us look at and ask 'Are you insane - just do what your employer is asking you to do?!'. I don't know that I would lump every player with these personality quirks into the same category. Aiyuk did have a speeding incident where he posted a video of himself on You Tube doing 100+ mph in a 40 mph zone near the stadium. But he's not got a criminal history. He seems to be more of a 'knucklehead' than a bad guy. I think Peters and company will be able to determine whether they can get him back to a more stable off-the-field pattern so he can be successful on it or not.

 

[DWinzit]

Aiyuk will hardly be the lone example of NFL players doing things and making stubborn or impulsive decisions that are self-sabotaging and detrimental to their career. Terrell Owens was this way. Antonio Brown is another. There have been a lot of those kinds of guys over the years.

Isn't it strange how often these oddly primadonnaish players WR's?