The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[Voice_of_Reason]

No, he didn't. And honestly, you're not even in the ballpark on that one. He was in the 400-yard range, not 700.

YOu're right. He was on pace for exactly 700 yards. He played in 11 games, had 453 yards.

And you're arguing with the wrong person about Noah Brown. One of my biggest criticisms last season was exactly that point: the guy has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career, and even when healthy, I don't view him as a legitimate No. 2 receiver.

I said re-signing him was a mistake when they re-signed him.

As for the idea that 700-yard receivers are just lying around everywhere and can be found as easily as spare change, that's where we completely lose each other.

If you look around the league, second WRs get somewhere between 500 and 700 yards if there is a legitimate #1 and some other weapons.

Take Romeo Doubs. His best season was just over 700 receiving yards, and by multiple accounts Washington made a serious push for him and was willing to offer significant money. If a 700-yard receiver is as easy to replace as you're suggesting, why pursue him so aggressively?

Now, if the argument is that Peters recognized the need, tried to address it, and circumstances simply didn't break his way at receiver, that's a discussion I'm willing to have. Free agency and trades don't always cooperate. Sometimes the player chooses another destination. Sometimes the market doesn't develop the way you expect.

But that's a very different argument from saying the position doesn't matter much or that WR2 is some easily replaceable spot.

In fact, Peters' actions suggest the opposite. His pursuit of players like Doubs indicates he saw receiver as a meaningful need and was actively trying to upgrade it.

That's why I probably need to stop framing this as people reflexively defending Peters. In a weird way, I don't think that's what's happening. Because the logic being used to downplay the position doesn't really align with Peters' behavior.

If Peters truly viewed WR2 as a minor concern, he wouldn't have been chasing upgrades in the first place.

So basically, that's what I've been saying for MONTHS and getting pushback along the lines of "well, it didn't work so clearly he doesn't care about it." I had the whole debate about "Ok we tried, we failed, now what?" And got something like "trying isn't good enough."

What I'm saying is he did try. It didn't work. (And I've said this over and over) They didn't panic and do something stupid and pay a lot of money to an average WR. That would have been bad. They didn't panic pick a WR in the draft who hasn't stayed healthy. They switched course, went after Chig as a weapon at TE, and then drafted the most ready to play WR they could.

I really like the adaptability. If plan A doesn't work, you switch to plan B. Which they did really well. Could they have done more? Maybe? They could have signed Jennings, though I really think there's something up with that guy which Peters knows which is why they stayed away. There are a few other guys they could have gone after. They could go after Diggs.

I think what Peters would agree with me on is there are a lot of ways to get to the end result. There isn't just one way. He tried one way, it didn't work, so he had to adapt and try a different way.

And none of this would matter if McCaffery developed into a really good contributing WR.

So to me, the more consistent position is: Peters recognized the need, attempted to solve it, and didn't get the outcome he wanted. I can understand and even sympathize with that argument.

What I can't reconcile is the idea that the position isn't important while simultaneously defending a general manager whose actions strongly suggest he believed it was.

I'm not defending or criticizing Peters on WR. I'm simply saying I don't get quite the panic level with all the other things, their offensive philosophy, and the way they want to run the offense.

I'll be honest, if Amos doesn't practice next week, I'm going to be VERY critical of him on the CB position. Because it would be a damn shame to invest all this money on defense, flip coordinators, and then not be able to cover for the 2.5 seconds needed for the pressure to get there. It could undo the entire season. And if Sainristil is the only starting CB, man, that's risky.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

As I mentioned, I haven't listened to that podcast yet and will. So was wondering since you cited him if he flipped his position. lf he said "a little" more that would be a shift from him that comes off like his close to satsified with it and just needs a little tinkering. He's been critical of the WR room they built in the context of going for it this season, and has had guests on his show who have been critical. But I'll get to listening to it.

He said the "a little bit more" on the podcast with Keim and Bram.

It's the same podcast Keim said CB was his biggest worry.

I think he's been pretty consistent, actually, about the WR room. My summarization is he thinks is could hold up but also could be better.

 

[DWinzit]

I agree burgold - that's why I made the comment 'over the course of an NFL season'... in critical moments and even in certain games those factors can be significant. But again, which player's attitutudes and intangibles are we talking about? When 2/3rds of your starting roster is sidelined, intangibles can only do so much for you. It's just common sense. The Replacements and Rudy are great movies but they aren't the norm. As far as Adam Peters himself pointing to them, what is he really expected to say? He gets asked a million questions and he has to say something to all of them. I don't put a lot of stock in what he says publicly. If you pressed me, my explanations for the woeful 2025 season would be (and I'll bet Peters list would be similar):

1. Epic and early injuries to key players, most notably Jayden Daniels.
2. Poor defensive coaching
3. Inadequate depth at key positions
4. Poor job by Dan Quinn adjusting to said disaster
5. Failure of a number of 'project players' to develop into consistent contributors.

Poor coaching which represents points 2 and 4 more than likely contributed to points 1 and 5.

And poor GM and coaching planning and roster building left obvious roster holes and subpar depth...point 3

 

[skinsinparadise]

As for the multiple TE sets I agree, they likely will go more 12-13 personnel.

Chig was my guy on the FA thread. It's a bit premature to consider him a star before he becomes one, but I like his chances.

Sinnott, I am not feeling great about but maybe he surprises in camp. I thought it was interesting that they signed a veteran TE yesterday, who can catch the ball, journeyman, Anthony Firkser. I am guessing the TE coach had him when he was in Atlanta and maybe Blough overlapped with his Detriot stint.

But in short like Terry if Chig misses time, there isn't an obvious #2.

Interesting to hear in camp that McCaffrey is sticking to slot, not Z, so far.

And Keim in his last podcast talked about Rashaad White, pass catching, pass blocking and in turn talked about Croskey-Merritt needs to improve as a pass catcher, pass blocking if he wants a lot of #1 type reps -- it seems to be his low key way of saying don't sleep on the idea of maybe White usurping the #1 job albiet he didn't say it that way but usually he doesn't drop hints like that for no reason. Will see. So far not much J. Ford mentions.

 

[skinsinparadise]

He said the "a little bit more" on the podcast with Keim and Bram.

It's the same podcast Keim said CB was his biggest worry.

I think he's been pretty consistent, actually, about the WR room. My summarization is he thinks is could hold up but also could be better.

I listened to that one. I've listened to him all summer. Any position can hold up. But he's been critical.

 

[DWinzit]

I am hoping Bill latches on to White, watching his every move. We need Bill to be able to handle pass pro and become a legit "3rd down back" so he can stay on the field

 

[skinsinparadise]

So basically, that's what I've been saying for MONTHS and getting pushback along the lines of "well, it didn't work so clearly he doesn't care about it." I had the whole debate about "Ok we tried, we failed, now what?" And got something like "trying isn't good enough."

What I'm saying is he did try. It didn't work. (And I've said this over and over) They didn't panic and do something stupid and pay a lot of money to an average WR. That would have been bad. They didn't panic pick a WR in the draft who hasn't stayed healthy. They switched course, went after Chig as a weapon at TE, and then drafted the most ready to play WR they could.

I

I've been making this point for months: the issue may have been execution, not intent. As to THIS off season.

Conn made that argument months ago, and I agreed with him. While Washington was waiting on Doubs, the two other obvious alternatives came off the board. That's a legitimate criticism. They targeted a player, missed, and failed to pivot effectively. That's an execution problem.

And honestly, I can live with an execution miss if it's Year 1 of addressing a weakness. Mistakes happen. Markets don't always cooperate. Players choose other destinations.

My problem is this is Year 3.

At some point, when the same position remains a concern year after year, the margin for error shrinks. Peters couldn't really afford a miss here, in my opinion.

What's funny is that the arguments minimizing the importance of WR2 and insisting the current outcome is perfectly fine actually make me more sympathetic to the execution argument. I don't necessarily agree with the execution, but at least that argument is grounded in reality. It acknowledges there was a problem and an attempt to solve it.

The "everything is fine" argument or close enough loses me completely.

To each their own, but it strikes me as such an extreme defense of the status quo that it feels disconnected from how NFL teams actually operate.

The more I've thought about it, the more I've realized I'm probably closer to Peters' viewpoint than some of the people defending him.

Because if Peters truly believed WR2 wasn't important, he wouldn't have spent time pursuing upgrades in the first place. No I don't think replacing Ertz with another TE is pivoting. It was necessary. You can't have Sinnott as your #1 TE, that would be a joke.

So ironically, I don't even view some of these arguments as pro-Peters anymore. I think Peters himself would push back hard against them. His actions suggest he saw receiver as a meaningful need and tried to address it.

That's why I find myself more aligned with the "they identified the problem but failed to execute" crowd than the "there was never really a problem to begin with" crowd.

One argument is that Peters recognized a weakness and didn't solve it.

The other is that the weakness barely exists.

Based on his actions, I think Peters would agree with the first argument and reject the second one just as strongly as I do.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I am hoping Bill larches on to White, watching his every move. We need Bill to be able to handle pass pro and become a legit "3rd down back" so he can stay on the field

Keim made the same argument that I did relating to Croskey-Merritt -- that is, if you aren't about pass protect and running routes as a pass catcher, you have to be really special as a runner to be that #1 guy -- and then cited Merritt rushing for 800 yards not 1000 plus. It was about Keim speak as it gets as don't sleep on the idea that White wins the #1 job.

Having said that, its super early and RBs are tough to judge in camp.

 

[KDawg]

And my point is you don't need anything more than a serviceable #2 as long as you have contributions from elsewhere. And I think you can get serviceable from the group of players we have.

I listed what Standig said, and I tend to agree with at this point. The plan is the primary weapons are McLaurin, Chig, Williams and White out of the backfield. Unless things go terribly wrong with the current direction, we're going to be a 50% called run play team. With Daniels' runs factored in, we'll probably be at 55% or more in total runs. So, with that said, if you have an average of 66 offensive plays a game, 33 of them are running plays. I'd be willing to bet the majority of the targets are going to go to the top 4 guys I listed above. A few other folks will catch balls. In the Ben Johnson offense, the slot guy is a major contributor and gets a lot of targets. So Williams or whoever is playing the slot looks to be the second most targeted player.

In this methodology, your second outside receiver is generally no higher than your 5th or potentially 6th overall offensive option.

The other thing to keep in mind is if you're reading the tea leaves, we're going to be in 12 personnel a lot. So 2 TE, 2 WR and RB. And they've already said that Williams is going to play some on the outside, some on the inside. I think you're going to see him line up outside a bunch in 2 WR sets, with Chig and either Bates or Sinnott depending on down and distance. Is that a lot to put on a rookie? Maybe. But maybe not.

My premise for not panicking is in the plan they are executing, they have decided they're going to follow the model of a lot of teams where the offensive production comes from WR1, TE and Running game. That's the plan. That has been the plan for just about all the good offenses in the NFL for the last several years. The Lions are even more funky, because St. Brown isn't even an outside WR, they get production from him in the slot, TE, and Gibbs as a dual threat pass catcher. Their outside guys have been the definition of "meh."

If they're going to execute that plan, all they need is a combined 600-700 yards or so from the secondary outside receiver spot. I think the combination of Burks/MCaffery/DBrown/Van Jefferson can get that. They need McCaurin to stay healthy. If he doesn't, they're kindof screwed. However, if Puka Nakua gets hurt for the Rams, they're basically screwed also. He accounted for >1,700 yards last year. They have no replacement for that on the roster. If Smith-Njigba gets hurt, the Seahawks are screwed. He had 1,700 yards last season, the next WR was Kupp at 580. They can't replace his production either. Virtually no team has the capability of replacing a top end WR who goes down. You are forced to do it by committee. The Bengals are an exception.

As a slight digression, I hate the 50/50 run/pass balance as a "north star" of the offense. It's not the style of offense I like. But that's what they seem to be going with. I still subscribe by what Mike Leach said, "There's nothing balanced about the 50 percent run, 50 percent pass, because that's 50 percent stupid... What is balance is when you have five skill positions and all five of them are contributing to the effort in somewhat equal fashion—that's balance." He's right. But that's not what we're doing.

As I said, I'm panicked about cornerback. I'm not panicked at WR. I'd like for them to add somebody else. I think they will eventually. But executing the plan they seem to have, I'm not panicked. And that's not because I think Burks has looked good, it's just that to execute the plan they are trying to execute, they don't need to solve that particular problem.

I also think if they had gotten Pierce or Doubs, we wouldn't have Chig. They were going to get one or the other. The backup plan in failing to get one of the top 2 WRs was to get the most explosive TE they could get.

If they wanted to run the greatest show on turf offense? Then I would be panicked. But that's not what they want to do.

The crux of this whole thing is you are depending on hope. A serviceable #2 is that 700 yard range. Not a single one of our current receivers has gotten there except Terry. I posted the actual numbers pages back and I’m not going back to look. But that’s the point here.

You are hinging on hope and projection and banking on it.

Many others are looking at career projection and saying, “they could get there, but have yet to do so.”

We are talking risk mitigation. Going with guys who have not achieved that landmark and we are projecting to get there is much higher risk than having a guy in our back pocket that has gotten there.

 

[Conn]

If Terry gets seriously injured and this season spirals, and the staff gets fired, I’m sure they’ll all say in their exit interviews how satisfied they are that we were responsible with our cap dollars and didn’t waste $5-10M above market on serviceable WR upgrades. They’ll be excited for the healthy cap situation the next staff walks into, knowing they did their part to be economical in the face of doubt. How embarrassing it would be to have overpaid some average starters

 

[burgold]

I don't think Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed are Rudy. We're not talking about one player either — we're talking about two different examples, good depth. Either one would walk into Washington and immediately be the clear-cut No. 2 receiver.

And then there's New England. Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, and Demario Douglas all around the 500-yard range. Boutte averaged roughly 17 yards per catch, scored six touchdowns, and did it while sharing opportunities in a rotation. Hunter Henry, their TE, was pushing 800 yards.

I think Cooper Kupp fits the Rudy mold in two ways. He was a third round draft pick who surprised and overproduced when he became a pro. I remember when he first emerged, hearing analyst after analyst gush about how surprised at how good he was. I also think you can revisit his Rudy-ness today by saying that last year of people discounted him and didn't think he was much of a threat anymore.

Now, the disconnect may be that I'm using Rudy in a very loose way. Basically, for me, I'm using it as shorthand as a player who overachieves expectations by a largish amount. Someone overlooked who proves the naysayers wrong.

I'm ignoring all the reframing, because it just reads like you are pushing for a fight. Honestly, I'm a little tired of all the circular arguments.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I think Cooper Kupp fits the Rudy mold in two ways. He was a third round draft pick who surprised and overproduced when he became a pro. I remember when he first emerged, hearing analyst after analyst gush about how surprised at how good he was. I also think you can revisit his Rudy-ness today by saying that last year of people discounted him and didn't think he was much of a threat anymore.

Now, the disconnect may be that I'm using Rudy in a very loose way. Basically, for me, I'm using it as shorthand as a player who overachieves expectations by a largish amount. Someone overlooked who proves the naysayers wrong.

I'm ignoring all the reframing, because it just reads like you are pushing for a fight. Honestly, I'm a little tired of all the circular arguments.

I'm certainly not looking for a fight here. I think this is just a matter of perspective. From my vantage point, the circular arguments are coming from the other side of the debate, not mine. But it's all in good fun.

When I say "circular," I mean arguments that aren't really being supported by the facts being presented. Just from this morning alone, I've seen:

A. A stat about Noah Brown that wasn't accurate.

B. A point about the Lions that wasn't accurate.

C. An argument built around Super Bowl teams that suddenly ignored examples that didn't fit the conclusion.

None of that is the end of the world. I know they are just honest mistakes.

Going back to Seattle, Rashid Shaheed is one of the best deep threats in the league. Cooper Kupp has averaged over 900 receiving yards per season across his career. Yes, Terry was a third-round pick, too.

And none of this is personal toward anyone who sees it differently.

Like you, though, I'm getting a little exhausted by the debate.

At the end of the day, I hope Brandon Aiyuk ends up here, kills it and makes the entire conversation irrelevant.

KDawg's point is basically my point. It's not that this can't work. It's not that all of the optimistic projections are impossible. They absolutely could happen. Many of the players being championed now are guys I personally wanted in free agency or the draft.

I just don't like building a critical position group around a chain of "coulds." That's really all this comes down to. I'd rather eliminate variables than depend on every one of them breaking in our favor.

 

[ES1974]

Seems rather obvious that we are threadbare at WR and that we have a GM and QB hoping their friend will eventually join our ranks and play lights out almost 2 years from football.

Damn, even Dan and Vinny would have had R1 fired up and the best receiver on the market in house within minutes 😂

We need a WR, plenty think we need two.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Speaking of Patriot WRs, they have a #1 and a #2, but also basically have three #3 WRs right now, and Boutee IMO is at least a low end #2 WR. One of their WRs will have to sit on the bench a lot barring injuries.

He's not a high end #2, but that's fine, I just want a #2, and he can be that guy. TDs-big plays, good hands and has some history with Jayden, so for a 5th or so I'd do it.

 

[Riggo44]

Damn, even Dan and Vinny would have had R1 fired up and the best receiver on the market in house within minutes 😂

And how did that work out?

 

[Riggo44]

If Terry gets seriously injured and this season spirals, and the staff gets fired, I’m sure they’ll all say in their exit interviews how satisfied they are that we were responsible with our cap dollars and didn’t waste $5-10M above market on serviceable WR upgrades. They’ll be excited for the healthy cap situation the next staff walks into, knowing they did their part to be economical in the face of doubt. How embarrassing it would be to have overpaid some average starters

And if Daniels is hit by a truck, and if Styles decides his real passion is in the Lord of the Dance, and if Laramey Tunsil suffers a fatal heart attack (not unlike the animator of the Black Beast of Argh)...

 

[KDawg]

Aiyuk getting in trouble with the law now. I hope we aren’t waiting on him. If so, I hope that wakes us up.

 

[Riggo44]

Aiyuk getting in trouble with the law now. I hope we aren’t waiting on him. If so, I hope that wakes us up.

Pretty sure we're not at this point. I was never banking on him anyway.

 

[NickyJ]

And if Daniels is hit by a truck, and if Styles decides his real passion is in the Lord of the Dance, and if Laramey Tunsil suffers a fatal heart attack (not unlike the animator of the Black Beast of Argh)...

You say it in mockery, but Styles and Tunsil have players behind them that are adequate to survive with. Daniels getting hit by a truck is what will happen each game if he has to run across the highway when Dyami and Van Jefferson fail to shake their coverage. The only question will be how hard does the truck hit.

 

[RedWolf]

Not only do we need a solid number two opposite of Terry this year we also need somebody to replace Terry next year