The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Darrell Green Fan]

The only real truth we can ALL count on is that we simply don't know what is going to happen. We want to believe we can predict it. It's uncomfortable and disconcerting to consider that we can't possibly know. But we don't know.

My wife is really tired of me saying this but this is what is so great about sports. You never really know what's going to happen. For the same reason this is why I hate sports movies, we always know that the good guy wins in the end.

 

[Riggo44]

Absolutely. And “yeah, but…” cuts both ways. These guys are absolutely wild cards. On paper, this supporting cast doesn’t exactly jump off the page.

Yeah but...

Very true. It does cut both ways.

Look at Philly, they were rated #1 and they were pedestrian because Saquon regressed and Hurts sucks.

Currently, the Patriots have one (1) 1000 yard seasons anywhere in their roster, Stevenson had 1040 yards 3 years ago. Their current #1 receiver has never had a 60-catch OR a 750 yard season. Sure it looks like they have depth, but how much of those numbers were inflated by playing the easiest DVOA schedule ever recorded?

Even with "knowns" there will be regression and improvements. I've stepped away from posting this thread because it's been just a repeat of the same talking points, and the Nats are fun as shit right now, so they're taking my attention.

I had to come in because some are treating the Ian Hartiz as gospel. And even if they said we had top-10 talent, my reaction would be the same: that's nice, let's see what happens.

Camp can't come soon enough

 

[burgold]

If we go 7-10 but Jayden is great again this season will be a success IMO. We have to find out if we really have a great QB or not. Many people are talking up the OL, I see a line with question marks at C and LG. The lack of weapons is a major concern as it should be. But we aren't done yet. All signs point to Aiyuk being the plan for the upgrade, they better be right.

I want to be greedier than that in this part of the offseason lol

I want to imagine 7-10 is closer to our floor.

 

[Conn]

Absolutely. And “yeah, but…” cuts both ways. These guys are absolutely wild cards. On paper, this supporting cast doesn’t exactly jump off the page.

 

[burgold]

Okay, let me ask it.

Who is Ian Hartitz? Never heard of him.

 

[Riggo44]

Okay, let me ask it.

Who is Ian Hartitz? Never heard of him.

Fantasy guy that works with Matthew Berry's fantasy site.

 

[Riggo44]

Yeah. There's no chance anyone improves 🙄

 

[heisenberg]

This receiver thing is going from obsession to limerence.

 

[Conn]

Yeah. There's no chance anyone improves 🙄

Very good chance someone improves. Multiple someones, hopefully. Would be hard not to. Will any of them improve to the point that they should be starting on a playoff caliber team? We’ll see. It’s really not an offensive idea that we’re really taking a medium-to-big risk, going into year three with Daniels under a new OC, relying on a hodge-podge Moneyball-esque “hey we can’t acquire a WR2 BUT we can build a WR2 in the aggregate!”

 

[Conn]

This receiver thing is going from obsession to limerence.

You’re not wrong. That’s because while we have already been talking about this for months (yawn), national media and fantasy football types are now catching up with OTA’s starting and having their own “I can’t believe my eyes” moments looking at our depth chart. And a lot of these guys include those who are high on Antonio Williams as a sleeper candidate to step right into a big role for a rookie 3rd rounder, to be fair.

If people hate it I’ll stop posting the outside views, but people with fresh eyes who follow the entire league hitting basically June, starting to write their huge offseason fantasy draft manifestos, and being disbelieving at what our gameplan appears to be with Jayden…I find that interesting.

 

[Riggo44]

Very good chance someone improves. Multiple someones, hopefully. Would be hard not to. Will any of them improve to the point that they should be starting on a playoff caliber team? We’ll see. It’s really not an offensive idea that we’re really taking a medium-to-big risk, going into year three with Daniels under a new OC, relying on a hodge-podge Moneyball-esque “hey we can’t acquire a WR2 BUT we can build a WR2 in the aggregate!”

Or maybe Williams turns into St. Brown (probability way lower than possibility there)...But if he puts in an average Romeo Doubs season? That much more probable.

There is a lot of credence given to a fantasy writer as "this how everyone sees us" when, in reality, he's demonstrably full of shit, as are most predictions right now. See Barnwell's rankings I just posted.

 

[heisenberg]

You’re not wrong. That’s because while we have already been talking about this for months (yawn), national media and fantasy football types are now catching up with OTA’s starting and having their own “I can’t believe my eyes” moments looking at our depth chart. And a lot of these guys include those who are high on Antonio Williams as a sleeper candidate to step right into a big role for a rookie 3rd rounder, to be fair.

If people hate it I’ll stop posting the outside views, but people with fresh eyes who follow the entire league hitting basically June, starting to write their huge offseason fantasy draft manifestos, and being disbelieving at what our gameplan appears to be with Jayden…I find that interesting.

No its fine, as you said there's not much else to talk about.

Im in wait and see mode still hoping for an addition or two but not expecting much and also realizing it doesn't matter how much I get worked up over it I cant do anything about it.

 

[Conn]

Or maybe Williams turns into St. Brown (probability way lower than possibility there)...But if he puts in an average Romeo Doubs season? That much more probable.

There is a lot of credence given to a fantasy writer as "this how everyone sees us" when, in reality, he's demonstrably full of shit, as are most predictions right now. See Barnwell's rankings I just posted.

There is no specific credence given, these guys can be right and wrong. It is once again just a post as an example of the sort of chatter I’m seeing all across Twitter and the internet, shared as a sample of what I’m seeing. It is not some minority opinion, just happened to be a couple succinct tweets I could easily copy and paste in the spirit of that discussion (re: the “perception” outside the building).

Any individual prognosticator can be torn down, that’s fine. We all hope they’re wrong. It’s simply a “this is what I mean when I say this is how people are seeing us” post. It is a very common viewpoint. It can easily end up right OR wrong, just like Barnwell.

I do tend to pay a little more attention to positive-rep fantasy guys whose business revolves around digging deep for lottery ticket sleepers and paying attention to 5th/6th string risers and do the research. Some are still know-nothings, as in any field. But the national “narrative-focused” reporters who make rankings and such are usually writers/podcasters who couldn’t actually name whole depth charts or tell you who any team’s 5th round pick was used on. That’s a high concentration of BS-posting this time of year imo, and why most rankings from big content creators like that are trash with the info they’re aware of in June.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I want to be greedier than that in this part of the offseason lol

I want to imagine 7-10 is closer to our floor.

Oh I'm not rooting for it, just saying Jayden playing well will be far more important to our future than a few more wins in 2026.

 

[Conn]

Oh I'm not rooting for it, just saying Jayden playing well will be far more important to our future than a few more wins in 2026.

It’s kind of tough though, for Jayden to play well enough that we all feel really good about it, but still only win 7 games, it probably means something went really wrong with the defensive retool and people are getting fired anyways. Tough to imagine Jayden playing that well, borderline-elite again or better, and us not making the playoffs unless they whiffed on the D.

 

[bowhunter]

So now we’re saying a RB, a guard, or some random defensive player like a CB is more important to a young QB than even a WR1 — let alone a WR2 — as his best friend on the field? And multiple people liked the post. Wow.

To each their own, but if we took that argument outside this board and put it in front of most NFL people or fans, I don’t think I’d be the one getting side-eyed here. That’s an outlier take.

And trust me, I’ve had some outlier opinions myself over the years, so I get it.

But I also suspect some people here don’t fully believe some of what they’re saying once you remove the emotion from it — the excitement around Peters, loving the offseason, wanting to defend every move, believing this season is destined to be special. I remember that feeling well. I can remember like it was yesterday defending every offseason move and convincing myself the next season was going to be one for the ages.

And look, I get that for some people, posts like this from me or others feel like a downer, so the points get dismissed or ridiculed. But I’m actually not down on this team at all. I think they’ve got a real shot to be very good this season, and I genuinely love what they did on defense.

I’m just not at the point where I’m going full football version of a teenage crush and convincing myself every single move was flawless.

And trust me, I know how to do that. I can spin and defend every move and paint Peters’ offseason like it’s a Picasso. Honestly, I think I’m as good as anyone at doing it. Just for fun, I even did it in a couple of posts recently to show I still have that old-school homer fastball in me. But I do think some people are getting a little carried away.

If WR is supposedly some secondary “yawn” position when it comes to helping a QB, then why is the league paying receivers what it is? WRs are making dramatically more than RBs, TEs, guards, centers — even more than left tackles by a pretty healthy margin. The only positions consistently paid more are QB and elite edge rushers.

So when some people act like emphasizing WR help for a young QB is some silly obsession by me and others, I’d argue the league itself clearly disagrees. NFL teams are telling you exactly what they value with their wallets.

Actually I'm of the same opinion as yourself, some of which may be because of how much credence I give to your well spoken and defended positions. The final sentence of that post stated that I want us to sign BA/Diggs, trade for BTJ because there is a gaping hole at WR2 right now.
burgold was correct in pointing out that I was just reiterating a phrase commonly heard in NFL commentary of how a Tight end is a QBs best friend, and how that phrase I have also heard its spin-off of how a great running game or defense is also inserted there. I don't know why that phrase popped into my mind as I was perusing this thread but it did. so I took that brief moment of clarity and tried to help put everything in another perspective.
Currently our WR room is not good, but workable IF: Terry stays healthy, Williams quickly develops, AND Chig can be a reliable move the chains tight end. You can't have another "posse" if it's only 2 weapons. That would be just Matt and Festus lol. So please, don't feel that I was calling you out or even in disagreement on our need to add a legit WR2, as I was only intending to add some color to the convo.

 

[burgold]

So, in Burgold's ideal world if there are no additions, this is what I imagine.

Bill has improved his pass pro to above average and becomes a scary, break a run threat. I think he already can be a good enough runner. He just has to be good enough on pass plays that his presence on the field will not be a tell.
Terry stays Terry for one more year.
Okonkwo causes chaos because he's impossible to match up with a linebacker.
Williams finds his home underneath and is the quick separator, move the chain receiver we want him to be.
Burks provides some tough possession catches.
Lane provides that punt returner as receiver mojo where teams feel if he catches it short he can break it.
White is who he has been. A very steady, better than average receiving back, and a reliable outlet.

Again, all of these are ifs and I'd like to add a bit more certainty (Diggs and Hill over Aiyuk) but there is a world that is reasonable where you can see these players exerting pressure on several points of the defense simultaneously. It doesn't have to be a one-dimensional offense even as is. Mind you, I unless the coaches know something we don't I think adding a bit more "ready to go" is a wise move.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Actually I'm of the same opinion as yourself, some of which may be because of how much credence I give to your well spoken and defended positions. The final sentence of that post stated that I want us to sign BA/Diggs, trade for BTJ because there is a gaping hole at WR2 right now.
burgold was correct in pointing out that I was just reiterating a phrase commonly heard in NFL commentary of how a Tight end is a QBs best friend, and how that phrase I have also heard its spin-off of how a great running game or defense is also inserted there. I don't know why that phrase popped into my mind as I was perusing this thread but it did. so I took that brief moment of clarity and tried to help put everything in another perspective.
Currently our WR room is not good, but workable IF: Terry stays healthy, Williams quickly develops, AND Chig can be a reliable move the chains tight end. You can't have another "posse" if it's only 2 weapons. That would be just Matt and Festus lol. So please, don't feel that I was calling you out or even in disagreement on our need to add a legit WR2, as I was only intending to add some color to the convo.

Cool, fair enough, thanks.

No doubt a great running game and/or a great TE who can consistently move the chains can help a QB tremendously. Of course they can.

But there’s also a reason WRs get paid dramatically more than TEs and RBs. Outside of the QB position itself, elite receivers are viewed by the league as the biggest engines of modern offense.

Now, if the question is: would I take an elite RB like Barkley or an elite TE like Kelce over just a “good” WR2? Absolutely, I would. Elite talent is elite talent.

But if we’re talking elite WR versus elite TE or elite RB, I’m taking the elite WR every time — and so would most of the NFL. I doubt I’ll ever see a truly elite WR prospect like Jeremiah Smith passed over in favor of a TE or RB. The league has made its priorities crystal clear.

That’s why top WRs are pushing $40 million a year now while TEs and RBs aren’t even remotely in that neighborhood. Heck, even elite left tackles generally aren’t getting that kind of money.

And look, I understand all the “if this guy develops” and “if that player breaks out” arguments. If enough things go right, this offense could absolutely be very good. My issue is simply that there are too many “ifs” for my comfort level.

That said, I’m also nowhere near the national media crowd that acts like this roster is trash. I think this is a good football team. I loved what they did defensively. I think they’ll be competitive and potentially very good.

I just don’t think the roster is beyond criticism, and to me the two clearest weak spots remain WR and CB.

And I think that’s really the heart of the frustration for some of us. WR has felt like an unresolved issue around Jayden for three straight offseasons now, and a lot of us simply want to see the organization do absolutely everything possible to maximize a young franchise QB.

So when the pushback becomes not just “the current WR group might be enough,” but almost “WR isn’t really the priority to help a QB anyway,” that’s where it starts to feel strange to me.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, obviously. But it almost feels like a doctor telling a patient they need better hydration, and then someone jumping in saying, “No, don’t focus on water — there are better ways to solve it.” Sure, there are multiple ways to improve an offense. Nobody disputes that. But in today’s NFL, high-level WR play is one of the clearest and most proven ways to elevate a young quarterback.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Riggo44]

Oh wow, THE Simone Love?! Well that seals it 🤣