The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[skinsinparadise]

They also vastly improve the RB group and extend Tunsil but overall I see it the same as you. Their belief is the C position was improved by releasing Biadasz , we will see.

Defensively on paper we should be able to attack the QB which is what they wanted. There is still much skepticism that more is needed in the backfield and it's not too late upgrade

The other big concern is the brand new coordinators, especially on the offense who comes creating his first playbook.

This coming from one of the bigger Chig fans pre Free Agency and easily the biggest Antonio Williams fan here before the draft.

Chig being this explosive killer TE is projection. We don't know he will be. His numbers are very similar to Ertz. Ertz the better TD guy typically. Chig the better YAC guy. but to just assume its some massive upgrade is just that an assumption.

Antonio Williams, 3rd round Wr, I expect good things from. But to assume right out from the gate he will be better that Deebo, is one heck of an assumption.

And that's really the gist of what they did on offense.

Some think Allegretti will be a downgrade over Biadaz, some don't. And then yeah Dyami is a better backup than Moore.

Is Rachaad White, 3.9 career YPC, an upgrade over Chris Rodriguez? You got me. He's a better pass catcher. Rodriguez the better runner. Rodriguez if I recall got more than double what White got on the market.

As far as moving the needle on offense, its not hard at all to make the argument that they treaded water and just as easy to say they got a little worse than it is that they got a little better.

The main thing they accomplished on offense is they are younger. That's good. And while Dyami isn't a good WR, he's a better backup than Chris Moore for sure. But back to my point, there would be no way, going back to the start of FA that moves like this on the aggregate would be felt good about on this thread.

 

[burgold]

The more I think about it, I don't think deep down this debate is truly about people are really happy with what they did at WR-weapons. It's about enjoying the off season and wanting to feel great about Peters and what's going to happen next season. And people giving their concerns, just annoys them and they argue back. It's sort of a mini homerism take. And I recognize it because I used to do it, too.

It's partly Peters fault. When he says he wants all the questions answered before the draft so he has the freedom to always pick the best player available then on a literal level some of us look at the roster and worry if it doesn't appear to be set to our satisfaction. And right now, there do appear to be several real holes. There are legit questions about wide receiver, center, and our at depth corner and maybe safety.

This unease magnifies for some when we see a guy like Jennings sign elsewhere for cheap. I didn't expect Jennings to be the answer at starter, but he is a "safer" answer than some of our current players. So, that's unsettling because sometimes the fans are correct. Last year, many of us worried about how we were going to generate pass rush pressure despite team assurances that they had a plan. Then, we all saw how after Armstrong went down we were right. The team could not generate a pass rush. Turn the calendar to this year and our worries centered around pass rushers, wide receiver and center. Pass rusher has been checked off. Linebacker has been checked off. Wide receiver and center have been addressed, but not in a way that makes us confident.

One outside semi-related thought, on Kiem's podcast this morning, he noted that during drills when the offense went nickel the defense stayed in base. It that really is the plan, and if it works, that makes me feel better about the DB group. We actually do have linebackers who can move as well as a safties and some are as fast as corners. So while I still think we are too thin depthwise at corner and safety maybe it's not as bad as I think.

 

[Conn]

The more I think about it, I don't think deep down this debate is truly about people are really happy with what they did at WR-weapons. It's about enjoying the off season and wanting to feel great about Peters and what's going to happen next season. And people giving their concerns, just annoys them and they argue back. It's sort of a mini homerism take. And I recognize it because I used to do it, too.

I want to be giddy about the season and feel like they nailed everything in the off season. I understand that feeling and that vibe. But lol, I am just over that as I've gotten older. And I am not saying the homers are wrong. It's perfectly possible that every break that needs to go right (see 2024) goes right. But for me I hate that concept of relying on breaks and wild card happenstance.

If I go back to the beginning of this off season. There was zero clamoring for the status quo on offense. I don't recall any of it. All they really did basically is dump their most productive Wr and TE for younger replacements. And improved the backup Z. And made the center spot more uncertain.

If I went months ago, this would be the off season.

A. We dump Biadaz. And go in house for his replacement
B. We dump Ertz for Chig
C. We dump deebo for a 3rd round rookie WR

That's really it.

And for backups we dump Chris Moore for Dyami.

I'd hazard a bet, that there would have been months ago, no one saying, that's awesome, I love that or even hey that's plenty good enough. I bet there would be zero sentiment like that. But considering Peters did a nice job on defense aside from CB. Why not celebrate the whole roster? I get the sentiment. But IMO that's what it is emotion. Because from a logic standpoint, I recall the posts on this thread before the off season, and I don't recall anyone embracing this non aggresstive approach on offense.

This is spot on. A viewpoint very cleverly hidden behind such persuasive arguments as “wow you just love to be miserable” when counter-arguments run short. It’s a deeply-rooted desire to believe and enjoy the offseason, especially after a really tough 2025 regular season where we HAD to be critical after the feel-good 2024 experience.

It also goes deeper and ties into peoples’ reluctance to criticize Adam Peters, because they’re still in Snyder-era survival mode where the top football mind in the building HAS to be a savior for us to have a chance in an irregular power structure. Which I’ve talked about here many times, people are damaged. They forget that as a regular degular franchise now, with a regular power structure, if Peters fails, we can just hire the next attempt at Adam Peters. It’s not Peters or bust, right back to the Vinny/Bruce Allen pipeline. It’s okay (and in fact more hopeful!) to let yourself live in a world where there’s a successful future even IF we don’t do it under AP.

 

[Chris]

No one here knows what will happen and you really can’t convince either side to see the other. Both will regularly stick to their guns at any and all costs. That doesn’t make either side correct. Only time will tell who, or if even either, was right.

 

[Dlts20]

The more I think about it, I don't think deep down this debate is truly about people are really happy with what they did at WR-weapons. It's about enjoying the off season and wanting to feel great about Peters and what's going to happen next season. And people giving their concerns, just annoys them and they argue back. It's sort of a mini homerism take. And I recognize it because I used to do it, too.

I want to be giddy about the season and feel like they nailed everything in the off season. I understand that feeling and that vibe. But lol, I am just over that as I've gotten older. And I am not saying the homers are wrong. It's perfectly possible that every break that needs to go right (see 2024) goes right. But for me I hate that concept of relying on breaks and wild card happenstance.

If I go back to the beginning of this off season. There was zero clamoring for the status quo on offense. I don't recall any of it. All they really did basically is dump their most productive Wr and TE for younger replacements. And improved the backup Z. And made the center spot more uncertain.

If I went months ago, this would be the off season.

A. We dump Biadaz. And go in house for his replacement
B. We dump Ertz for Chig
C. We dump deebo for a 3rd round rookie WR

That's really it.

And for backups we dump Chris Moore for Dyami.

I'd hazard a bet, that there would have been months ago, no one saying, that's awesome, I love that or even hey that's plenty good enough. I bet there would be zero sentiment like that. But considering Peters did a nice job on defense aside from CB. Why not celebrate the whole roster? I get the sentiment. But IMO that's what it is emotion. Because from a logic standpoint, I recall the posts on this thread before the off season, and I don't recall anyone embracing this non aggresstive approach on offense.

The thing is we had the worst defense in the NFL and got massively better. We are deep at every position in the front 7. Even last season, if we had a top 15 defense, we win a few more games. Offensively, the group was top 5, two years ago so we can't just dismiss that.

I look at White as strictly the 3rd down back, not C-Rods replacement. That's Allen and even before him, I had Ford as the C-Rod replacement. We ran a lot straight up the gut last year and got crushed. I believe some of that was due to Biadaz.

When the off-season hit, AP and DQ said they wanted to do 3 things. Get younger, get faster, and get a homerun threat. They clearly have done the first 2 and they feel like they did the 3rd with Williams. Calling him a 3rd is a fact but I haven't seen one scout who didn't have a 2nd round grade on him, and all of them had him much higher coming into last season. Many of them had first round, top 3 receiver grades going into last season.

Most of all is this. I don't think that anyone is satisfied as is. Everyone is choosing to overlook Aiyuk. They and us believe that he is a guarantee. He changes the whole offensive off-season iif so. His value has way more upside than Diggs and anyone else we thought of. Infact st his best, he blows away Pierce and Doubs. You can't just not incorporate him in your post when AP and us are waiting on him

 

[Faithful Fan]

Heck, I'm not sure it would need to be an either/or siuation with Aiyuk and Diggs. Rotating receivers should keep them fresh and provide a safeguard should one become injured, and when we use a 3 receiver set, there would be three viable options.

If it isn’t an either/or situation, then you’re looking at cutting guys with upside like Dyami, LMC, or Lane. I’m not sure replacing younger guys you drafted with aging vets is a good long term strategy.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think we should add a vet like Diggs or Aiyuk, but we really don’t need both of them.

 

[Faithful Fan]

The more I think about it, I don't think deep down this debate is truly about people are really happy with what they did at WR-weapons. It's about enjoying the off season and wanting to feel great about Peters and what's going to happen next season. And people giving their concerns, just annoys them and they argue back. It's sort of a mini homerism take. And I recognize it because I used to do it, too.

I want to be giddy about the season and feel like they nailed everything in the off season. I understand that feeling and that vibe. But lol, I am just over that as I've gotten older. And I am not saying the homers are wrong. It's perfectly possible that every break that needs to go right (see 2024) goes right. But for me I hate that concept of relying on breaks and wild card happenstance.

If I go back to the beginning of this off season. There was zero clamoring for the status quo on offense. I don't recall any of it. All they really did basically is dump their most productive Wr and TE for younger replacements. And improved the backup Z. And made the center spot more uncertain.

If I went months ago, this would be the off season.

A. We dump Biadaz. And go in house for his replacement
B. We dump Ertz for Chig
C. We dump deebo for a 3rd round rookie WR

That's really it.

And for backups we dump Chris Moore for Dyami.

I'd hazard a bet, that there would have been months ago, no one saying, that's awesome, I love that or even hey that's plenty good enough. I bet there would be zero sentiment like that. But considering Peters did a nice job on defense aside from CB. Why not celebrate the whole roster? I get the sentiment. But IMO that's what it is emotion. Because from a logic standpoint, I recall the posts on this thread before the off season, and I don't recall anyone embracing this non aggresstive approach on offense.

I get worrying about the loss of our most productive WR and TE, but I think there is some recency bias in the belief our offense is so bad. 2025 was a struggle for sure, but consider why. Our star QB, 3 of our top 4 wideouts (Terry, Noah, LMC), our receiving RB (Ekeler), and our starting TE (Ertz) were all hurt for long stretches of the season. So the problem was largely injuries and an aging roster.

This year, we’ve addressed that by going younger and hopefully healthier: Chig over Ertz, Williams over Deebo, Dyami Brown over Noah Brown, White over Ekeler, etc.

A lot fans want to “fix” our offense by bringing in more old players with injury history and off the field problems. Thinking that is a bad idea is not necessarily homerism.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The thing is we had the worst defense in the NFL and got massively better. We are deep at every position in the front 7. Even last season, if we had a top 15 defense, we win a few more games. Offensively, the group was top 5, two years ago so we can't just dismiss that.

I look at White as strictly the 3rd down back, not C-Rods replacement. That's Allen and even before him, I had Ford as the C-Rod replacement. We ran a lot straight up the gut last year and got crushed. I believe some of that was due to Biadaz.

When the off-season hit, AP and DQ said they wanted to do 3 things. Get younger, get faster, and get a homerun threat. They clearly have done the first 2 and they feel like they did the 3rd with Williams. Calling him a 3rd is a fact but I haven't seen one scout who didn't have a 2nd round grade on him, and all of them had him much higher coming into last season. Many of them had first round, top 3 receiver grades going into last season.

Most of all is this. I don't think that anyone is satisfied as is. Everyone is choosing to overlook Aiyuk. They and us believe that he is a guarantee. He changes the whole offensive off-season iif so. His value has way more upside than Diggs and anyone else we thought of. Infact st his best, he blows away Pierce and Doubs. You can't just not incorporate him in your post when AP and us are waiting on him

There have been a lot of posts on the draft thread leading up to the draft, unless i am forgetting one, the only person who posted about Antonio Williams and I did it a zillion times in the context of why if they skip a WR in the first, IMO there were only two options Bernard and Willians. Sarratt, the runner up to those two. And I explained in detail why.

So i am very well versed in Antonio Williams, and no he isn't much of a deep threat. He's OK on that front, I agree that he has potential. But that's not his game. He has one of the lowest YPC numbers and TD numbers in this group, near the bottom.

What they accomplished with Antonio, isn't IMO getting that home run threat, what they accomplished to me is equally important. That is, they aren't banking on Lane and McCaffrey as their slot options. I know Antonio can play some Z, too. But he majors in quick seperation in short space. His niche is the slot. And his HC has said the same. He can minor in Z. And granted the Z options suck so by default he should get some reps there but IMO it's not his bread and butter.

He's a faster Jamison Crowder, not a Desean Jackson.

It's not like people are overlooking Aiyuk. It's that he is the biggest wildcard and mystery perhaps in the whole NFL let alone for this team. Among other things, we are banking on him showing up to SF camp. If he doesn't from what I've gathered his season is over. He's a wildcard. Wildcards IMO are gravy -- the cherry on top of the sundae, a bonus. It's not what you depend on.

I didn't say White was C-Rod's replacement. The exchange was about who was gained and lost on each unit. If it feels better I'll say he's replacing Ekeler. And my point is I don't think we can say the RB room is slam dunk better than what they started with in 2025.

 

[Conn]

The thing is we had the worst defense in the NFL and got massively better. We are deep at every position in the front 7. Even last season, if we had a top 15 defense, we win a few more games. Offensively, the group was top 5, two years ago so we can't just dismiss that.

I look at White as strictly the 3rd down back, not C-Rods replacement. That's Allen and even before him, I had Ford as the C-Rod replacement. We ran a lot straight up the gut last year and got crushed. I believe some of that was due to Biadaz.

When the off-season hit, AP and DQ said they wanted to do 3 things. Get younger, get faster, and get a homerun threat. They clearly have done the first 2 and they feel like they did the 3rd with Williams. Calling him a 3rd is a fact but I haven't seen one scout who didn't have a 2nd round grade on him, and all of them had him much higher coming into last season. Many of them had first round, top 3 receiver grades going into last season.

Most of all is this. I don't think that anyone is satisfied as is. Everyone is choosing to overlook Aiyuk. They and us believe that he is a guarantee. He changes the whole offensive off-season iif so. His value has way more upside than Diggs and anyone else we thought of. Infact st his best, he blows away Pierce and Doubs. You can't just not incorporate him in your post when AP and us are waiting on him

Nobody is overlooking Aiyuk, it’s all anyone is talking about. The argument is over whether relying on him is a good plan or not. Most people coming into the offseason knew Aiyuk was on the menu but wanted him to be a garnish on the meal, not the main FA addition at the position. Anyone pretending otherwise is retconning, Antonio Williams falling to us in the 3rd seems to have been a good get, but that was NOBODY’s plan A, even in the 3rd round alone, except for skinsinparadise lol. People love the pick now but even when it happened a lot of people were like “a slot guy?” and this was mere weeks ago. History is already being rewritten as if the plan was obvious.

Pretending now that a 3rd round WR + eventual (?) Aiyuk acquisition was a totally reasonable outcome to everyone two months ago is just pure unfiltered cope. It’s bullshit, nobody wanted that outcome. Now we have to hope that it works out, but you keep posting like this is some master plan from our FO that people are forgetting to believe in. It wasn’t their plan A or B either. Plan C, from what we know, could technically be true but is being generous.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Nobody is overlooking Aiyuk, it’s all anyone is talking about. The argument is over whether relying on him is a good plan or not. Most people coming the offseason knew Aiyuk was on the menu but wanted him to be a garnish on the meal, not the main FA addition at the position. Anyone pretending otherwise is retconning, Antonio Williams falling to us in the 3rd seems to have been a good get, but that was NOBODY’s plan A, even in the 3rd round alone, except for skinsinparadise lol.

Pretending now that a 3rd round WR + eventual (?) Aiyuk acquisition was a totally reasonable outcome to everyone two months ago is just pure unfiltered cope. It’s bullshit, nobody wanted that outcome. Now we have to hope that it works out, but you keep posting like this is some master plan from our FO that people are forgetting to believe in. It wasn’t their plan A or B either. Plan C, from what we know, could technically be true but is being generous.

lol, yeah as far as Antonio. I was surprised no one else pushed him on the draft thread unless i am forgetting a post. But if someone is posting to me now where they are explaining to me how Antonio's skills fit the greater plan -- my mind races to granted egotistically, I watched a ton of his games, I sort of know the Antonio drill I've been on it for months -- and while I love the player, and I do think he can do a bit of everything -- his wheel house is slot-short area quickness. And I am far from on an island on it, people who covered him at Clemson have said the same.

Having said that, i would put money that I hear about him being a home run threat during camp -- because they really have no choice IMO but to give him some Z reps. And he's a better seperator and route runner IMO than Dyami, Burks, Lane, McCaffrey.

So yeah lets say he's a plumber (slot) who dabbles in being a vertical guy, too (Z). His dabbiling in it by default is IMO better than the others at that spot who are just guys. Plus this staff seems to like to talk themselves into their in house solutions at Wr, so lol I bet within a month or two we will be hearing he's Tyreek Hill.

 

[Anselmheifer]

It's not like people are overlooking Aiyuk. It's that he is the biggest wildcard and mystery perhaps in the whole NFL let alone for this team. Among other things, we are banking on him showing up to SF camp. If he doesn't from what I've gathered his season is over. He's a wildcard. Wildcards IMO are gravy -- the cherry on top of the sundae, a bonus. It's not what you depend on.

The way the Aiyuk situation has been playing out, and the fact that he would have to show up to force their hand, and he’s not talking to anybody, and his agent fired him, I think there is a very high probability that he plays it wrong and we don’t sign him, or that if we do, he’s a non productive distraction.

I wish we would just sign Diggs at this point.

 

[Conn]

No one here knows what will happen and you really can’t convince either side to see the other. Both will regularly stick to their guns at any and all costs. That doesn’t make either side correct. Only time will tell who, or if even either, was right.

It doesn’t really seem to be about correct or incorrect. As we won’t know until it plays out, like you said, it’s more philosophical in terms of roster building preferences/priorities.

In a vacuum we’d all prefer the people who think we did enough to be correct in their belief, as it’ll lead to positive outcomes.

But in my view these are the two opposing takes causing friction here:

Side A: this is concerning. It could work, but we watched them make similar mistakes last year and it backfired. This is an important season for Jayden and this regime so that could be reckless, even if the D is much improved. Side B prefer to put their heads in the sand, and not being concerned must be a coping mechanism.

Side B: it’s not as concerning as Side A thinks, this is why [insert reasonable arguments about improved D, run game, etc that could absolutely be true]. It is more likely to work than not, and Side A are being chicken littles to be this concerned.

Bonus Side C: there’s always people who don’t fit into the other categories, but they also aren’t inflaming the conversation, so this is probably a more enjoyable place to be.

 

[skinsinparadise]

If it isn’t an either/or situation, then you’re looking at cutting guys with upside like Dyami, LMC, or Lane. I’m not sure replacing younger guys you drafted with aging vets is a good long term strategy.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think we should add a vet like Diggs or Aiyuk, but we really don’t need both of them.

If you are good with bringing one but not two veteran WRs, I don't think you are arguing with the typical fan here.

As to the young WRs, IMHO Antonio is someone to get excited about. I doubt it as far as McCaffrey and Lane. But there is nothing stopping them from shining, that's part of the idea behind camp.

How much upside does Dyami have? This is year 6. I think we got the idea by now.

Terry won the job in camp as a rookie. If they signed Diggs or whomever -- how about for McCaffrey beating the UDFA corners who covered him in camp? Guys (including myself who watched a practice) have said in camp, McCaffrey has struggled.

Lane according to Suter who played WR and does Sheehan's film reviews thinks he's struggiling right now as a route runner but likes his future as a PR. Will see. But kill it in camp and people will notice. I've been to a ton of camp practices over the years, its a good place to showcase really the Wr spot more than any other.

I get worrying about the loss of our most productive WR and TE, but I think there is some recency bias in the belief our offense is so bad. 2025 was a struggle for sure, but consider why. Our star QB, 3 of our top 4 wideouts (Terry, Noah, LMC), our receiving RB (Ekeler), and our starting TE (Ertz) were all hurt for long stretches of the season. So the problem was largely injuries and an aging roster.

This year, we’ve addressed that by going younger and hopefully healthier: Chig over Ertz, Williams over Deebo, Dyami Brown over Noah Brown, White over Ekeler, etc.

A lot fans want to “fix” our offense by bringing in more old players with injury history and off the field problems. Thinking that is a bad idea is not necessarily homerism.

My point about homerism has zero to do with how you framed it.

 

[Anselmheifer]

I wonder if Aiyuk even has any agent at all right now. Or anyone to give him good advice about showing up for camp.

I honestly also wonder if he has CTE.

 

[MartinC]

They also vastly improve the RB group and extend Tunsil but overall I see it the same as you. Their belief is the C position was improved by releasing Biadasz , we will see.

Defensively on paper we should be able to attack the QB which is what they wanted. There is still much skepticism that more is needed in the backfield and it's not too late upgrade

The other big concern is the brand new coordinators, especially on the offense who comes creating his first playbook.

Don’t have a concern about change of coordinator and scheme on D. That - along with the infusion of talent - was needed. Plus the Head Coach has a defensive background.

We should (must be!) MUCH better on that side of the ball.

O is the big question. We have the QB and O’line (with some depth as well). Outside of Terry (and the QB) we don’t have a single skill position player the opposing D have to really gameplan for.

It’s going to take good scheme, game planning and play calling to create opportunities. And we have a first time OC and play caller.

 

[skinsinparadise]

It doesn’t really seem to be about correct or incorrect. As we won’t know until it plays out, like you said, it’s more philosophical in terms of roster building preferences/priorities.

In a vacuum we’d all prefer the people who think we did enough to be correct in their belief, as it’ll lead to positive outcomes.

But in my view these are the two opposing takes causing friction here:

Side A: this is concerning. It could work, but we watched them make similar mistakes last year and it backfired. This is an important season for Jayden and this regime so that could be reckless, even if the D is much improved. Side B prefer to put their heads in the sand, and not being concerned must be a coping mechanism.

Side B: it’s not as concerning as Side A thinks, this is why [insert reasonable arguments about improved D, run game, etc that could absolutely be true]. It is more likely to work than not, and Side A are being chicken littles to be this concerned.

Side C: there’s always people who don’t fit into the other categories, but they also aren’t inflaming the conversation, so this is probably a more enjoyable place to be.

Absolutely, its totally about mindset.

Look at how they attacked the O line position last year, and Edge and LB this year. They left nothing to chance. The attacked to some extent corner last year, too but they flubbed it -- but the mindset was right IMO.

They clearly aren't attacking WR the same way. It's not a a subjective point. It's absolutely correct. It's not a debate. You can say they swung and missed at bigger targets at Wr so they deserve props for it. OK. But you can't pretend that Dyami or Van Jefferson have had great careers. Or Lane and McCaffrey are proven stud young Wrs. Or pretend that this FO didn't have an impasse with the negotiation with Terry centered on his age and how WRs post 30 tend to decline. We can't pretend that Antonio hasn't taken a snap yet in the NFL. These are all facts, not speculation, no opinion but facts. Ditto the idea that Aiyuk hasn't played in eons, and is a wildcard on a number of fronts.

We got some national observors posting (I posted it here at the time) this room is one injury away from being the worst WR room in NFL history. And look even I think that's hyperbole. But with the exception of a small group of vocal fans and a small group within the local media, I don't see anyone sold on the WR room.

But as far as how it goes down. Yeah they can run with this room and every hope and dream for these WRs can come true. We got no idea. Maybe Lane becomes Tyreek Hill. Maybe Luke becomes more like his brother Christian. Maybe Dyami is a late bloomer and finds his stride in his 6th season. Maybe Terry defies the whole idea that post 30 Wrs decline and has a career year. Or whatever. I don't know, you don't know, no one does. But I do know they didn't address the Wr spot aggressively, at least not yet.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I wonder if Aiyuk even has any agent at all right now. Or anyone to give him good advice about showing up for camp.

I honestly also wonder if he has CTE.

 

[skinsinparadise]

The way the Aiyuk situation has been playing out, and the fact that he would have to show up to force their hand, and he’s not talking to anybody, and his agent fired him, I think there is a very high probability that he plays it wrong and we don’t sign him, or that if we do, he’s a non productive distraction.

I wish we would just sign Diggs at this point.

Yeah lol I know some people think I am being negative just to be negative.

But far from it. I like a lot what they did on defense. I like FA. I like the draft. It just all feels though incomplete. If are building to 2027 or 2028 its fine. But if we want to win now, IMO finish the job.

And I've been one of the pro Aiyuk guys from the jump. But its looking more and more dicey over time for reasons we've all hit. But yeah my prime worry right now is Aiyuk doesn't have the wherewithal to show up to camp -- and the SF brass checkmates him into being shelved for the season.

 

[Chris]

It doesn’t really seem to be about correct or incorrect. As we won’t know until it plays out, like you said, it’s more philosophical in terms of roster building preferences/priorities.

In a vacuum we’d all prefer the people who think we did enough to be correct in their belief, as it’ll lead to positive outcomes.

But in my view these are the two opposing takes causing friction here:

Side A: this is concerning. It could work, but we watched them make similar mistakes last year and it backfired. This is an important season for Jayden and this regime so that could be reckless, even if the D is much improved. Side B prefer to put their heads in the sand, and not being concerned must be a coping mechanism.

Side B: it’s not as concerning as Side A thinks, this is why [insert reasonable arguments about improved D, run game, etc that could absolutely be true]. It is more likely to work than not, and Side A are being chicken littles to be this concerned.

Bonus Side C: there’s always people who don’t fit into the other categories, but they also aren’t inflaming the conversation, so this is probably a more enjoyable place to be.

Terms like ‘heads in the sand’ and ‘chicken littles’ only serve to reduce the discussion to absolute non-absolutes. In my view that is not genuinely true overall for this board in general but just for some of the most vocal participants.

I don’t view either side as being particularly insightful, just dug into their positions. Positions that are strictly personal opinions and may or may not be ultimately true or sound. Again, time will tell and I don’t think for a second that either side will not be invested in being correct or incorrect down the road or forgo any opportunity to say so.

I guess that’s the fun in forums like this for many. For myself it’s more noise than anything.

 

[skinsinparadise]

For me personally, being one the more vocal ones on the point, I do not think Peters has his head in the sand.

It's obvious to me, that its at least on their radar considering they went after Doubs and Pierce. And took a WR in the third round. And their interest in Aiyuk seems pretty clear judging by insiders.

So its at a minimum on their mind. But if the product in the end is status quo with lets say Aiyuk and it doesn't work out -- it feels like they misplayed their hand. And its perfectly fine IMO to misplay your hand in one off season at a spot -- but I don't love it if it went down 3 seasons in a row.

Most of my angst on this is baked with two points.

A. SB window
B. Lets help Jayden kick ass.

But overall I think on the aggregate Peters has done a good job this off season, and i am one of the bigger fans of his draft and FA haul. I just hate the idea of them squandering the SB window if it goes down that way because they didn't quite finish building the death star so to speak and if we get another round of Jayden not trusting his WRs where we hear about his "regression".

And as to being right or not, lol, no one hates being right. But my fandom is a country mile bigger than being right. I wasn't a big Haskins (RIP) fan, I actively rooted on draft day for him to be taken before they took him but once he became this team's QB I rooted really hard for the dude. Right or wrong I think it evens out for everyone. I'll be right, I'll be wrong. It doesn't matter one whit.