The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[burgold]

Sounds like it. I think they see Van Jefferson as their OZ.

 

[burgold]

We've talked a little bit about the ticking clock and when there becomes little chance of a newly signed receiver finding early success and I found myself looking back at Noah Brown, OZ, and Burks. All of them came in and contributed pretty quickly. Was that "quick" success due to the simplicity of Kliff Kingsbury's system. From what I am hearing, since Kliff's system was largely hurry up, play calls were often simplified down to one letter and one number.

With Blough's system being more traditional dies that mean that the likelihood of a late signing contributing early shrinks? When does it become too late?

 

[HTTR]

Can someone please explain to me what they see in Van Jefferson? I’d call him a JAG, but I’m not sure he’s even that. Despite being in the best environment possible with McVay, he has done nothing. And he had plenty of chances to shine when other guys got hurt. Since then, he’s bounced around to several teams and gotten nowhere. He hasn’t had 30 catches in a season in the last five years. He hasn’t had 400 yards in a season in the last five years. He’ll be 30 next month.
He certainly fits their preferred free agency pick up… Cheap and old. But other than that, I just don’t get it. Very disappointing that this is what we are settling for with 50 million in cap space going unspent. Seems like a road to nowhere and I’d rather give the reps to the young guys.

 

[DWinzit]

Can someone please explain to me what they see in Van Jefferson? I’d call him a JAG, but I’m not sure he’s even that. Despite being in the best environment possible with McVay, he has done nothing. And he had plenty of chances to shine when other guys got hurt. Since then, he’s bounced around to several teams and gotten nowhere. He hasn’t had 30 catches in a season in the last five years. He hasn’t had 400 yards in a season in the last five years. He’ll be 30 next month.
He certainly fits their preferred free agency pick up… Cheap and old. But other than that, I just don’t get it. Very disappointing that this is what we are settling for with 50 million in cap space going unspent. Seems like a road to nowhere and I’d rather give the reps to the young guys.

It has been said by a number of us due to the issues the WR group faced last year. Not running good routes, not being able to get on page with Jayden, not being able to separate from defenders or to separate themselves from the other receivers as legit and reliable threats on the field. Van can be a reliable option if indeed Jayden could not get on page with the other receivers.

That said, my posts have been in favor of adding a better receiver for months. I just posted the below quote in another thread, so hard to follow all the WR posts since the topic dominates many of the most active threads.

I do question the starter potential of a number of our current WR's. We could have a couple studs or we don't. If we don't, we may not know this until September, I sure as hell hope that doesn't occur. If Bough can put everything together the way he envisions it, he can put these guys in better situations than they were left in last year (assuming they stay healthy).

If the team still felt as strongly as they did when chasing Pierce with their pot of gold, then I'd think AP would have other feelers out on WR's and would probably need to be ready to pay up.

The one guy that sticks in my mind is Brian Thomas Jr. Not only another WR familiar with Jayden but a stud coming into the league. The Jags say he is not available but we hear that a lot then trades happen. Put a package together with draft picks, one of our WR's like Luke, or Lane and/or one of our defensive front 7 since we are now stacked there. The Jags love Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington and they have the uber-talented Travis Hunter along with a couple young guys they like. They need help with the front 7.

If the team made a trade like that it would quell any question about them not being all in and fully supporting Jayden. I believe this is the move @skinsinparadise would be enamored with.

Hey. it's worth a shot and would give the team a legit contender as an eventual Terry replacement while being an immediate WR2 answer

 

[burgold]

Can someone please explain to me what they see in Van Jefferson? I’d call him a JAG,

Mentally, I've been putting him in that OZ bin. In 2024, OZ was considered just a guy, but he kept making plays and playing above his weight. He was a professional receiver who knew how to run a route and dependably caught the ball.
and
I think that's what they are hoping to get from Van Jefferson. They aren't looking for flashy or big plays. They are looking for reliability. They want a guy who will be on the same page as the OC and QB every play.

If I had to guess, as of this moment the plan is, Terry at 1, Williams at 3, and a hybrid 2 consisting of Burks, Van Jefferson, and Brown. The weapons being Terry, Chig., and occasionally Brown. The chain movers being everyone else. I would like to see McCaffrey and Lane get their shots, too, because I think they're story hasn't been written and so maybe they have more upside, but while I keep hearing about McCaffrey I have heard almost nothing about Lane.

 

[Kalu44]

There will be a ton of balls going to White in the passing game. I know that doesn’t negate the need for a true #2 WR, but the point is that the ball will be spread around.

 

[burgold]

If we have a productive 1, 3, TE, and RB. That's actually pretty good.

I'm greedy and want more, but that's pretty good.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Listening to Keim among others, he suggested that the team doesn't think they have a traditional #1 RB. But they think it can work by committee. As I mentioned before Keim seems to be hinting that Croskey-Merritt doesn't have that #1 RB job locked down and they are looking to see improvement from him in the passing game. Feels like Rachaad White has a shot to get more reps.

J. Ford seems lost in the sauce as I listened to different narratives from beat guys but maybe that changes once preseason games begin, tough to flash at RB in camp. Seems like Robert Henry has turned some heads and might be a surprise player who makes the roster.

The one beating the drum for Croskey-Merritt seems to be Bram, saying if he's not the guy making explosive plays then where are the explosive plays coming from? In other words, not much as to home run hitters on offense and Croskey can be one of those so that should help on that front and thereby be featured.

 

[DWinzit]

Interesting competition in that RB roo.

White is our best all around RB, what a big FA signing really.

Bill has a lot of potential but needs to develop that pass pro and receiving ability.

You know Allen is making the team and could prove to be the best all around eventually over all of them.

I have a hard time seeing Ford staying lost in the mix as he can do it all and is a proven commodity.

If Henry does anything, maybe they keep him on the PS but it is doubtful he does anything more than that

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Listening to Keim among others, he suggested that the team doesn't think they have a traditional #1 RB. But they think it can work by committee. As I mentioned before Keim seems to be hinting that Croskey-Merritt doesn't have that #1 RB job locked down and they are looking to see improvement from him in the passing game. Feels like Rachaad White has a shot to get more reps.

J. Ford seems lost in the sauce as I listened to different narratives from beat guys but maybe that changes once preseason games begin, tough to flash at RB in camp. Seems like Robert Henry has turned some heads and might be a surprise player who makes the roster.

The one beating the drum for Croskey-Merritt seems to be Bram, saying if he's not the guy making explosive plays then where are the explosive plays coming from? In other words, not much as to home run hitters on offense and Croskey can be one of those so that should help on that front and thereby be featured.

but this is a quote from Anthony Lynn last week during the media availability by position coaches:

"We're going to just let them compete and let iron sharpen iron and we'll see what happens because right now, I can't tell you there's one clear-cut starter. I think, but we'll see."

I haven’t seen the full transcript posted, but I heard it on JP’s pod, they played all of the position coaches pressers uncut.

He basically said out loud they had a bunch of complementary pieces but they don’t know who the starter is and they’re waiting to training camp to figure out guys roles.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Sounds like it. I think they see Van Jefferson as their OZ.

Van Jefferson is actually really similar to Noah Brown. I did a comparison a few weeks ago in terms of stats, and they were eerily similar.

I think folks forget that OZ really only produced after Noah Brown went down with injury. He had 3-4 good games at the end of 2024, then DBrown was really good in the playoffs.

Noah Brown is the WR they really liked, and the one they re-signed.

And I think they believe Van Jefferson is cut from the same mold.

 

[skinsinparadise]

but this is a quote from Anthony Lynn last week during the media availability by position coaches:

"We're going to just let them compete and let iron sharpen iron and we'll see what happens because right now, I can't tell you there's one clear-cut starter. I think, but we'll see."

I haven’t seen the full transcript posted, but I heard it on JP’s pod, they played all of the position coaches pressers uncut.

He basically said out loud they had a bunch of complementary pieces but they don’t know who the starter is and they’re waiting to training camp to figure out guys roles.

ok, how does the "but" pertain to my post?

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

ok, how does the "but" pertain to my post?

Not entirely sure I was writing on my phone and not sure why the but is there….

 

[skinsinparadise]

Van Jefferson is actually really similar to Noah Brown. I did a comparison a few weeks ago in terms of stats, and they were eerily similar.

I think folks forget that OZ really only produced after Noah Brown went down with injury. He had 3-4 good games at the end of 2024, then DBrown was really good in the playoffs.

Noah Brown is the WR they really liked, and the one they re-signed.

And I think they believe Van Jefferson is cut from the same mold.

They are both veteran-professional Z types. Noah is 25 pounds heavier and is more physical than Van. Van has better hands.

Noah had two 500 plus yard seasons in a row before coming to Washington. Van did it once 6 years ago and otherwise not in his career. Both have sort of odd career arcs in opposite ways. Noah basically did nothing earlier in his career then emerged with Dallas. Van got off to a hot start and then cooled off.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Interesting competition in that RB roo.

White is our best all around RB, what a big FA signing really.

Bill has a lot of potential but needs to develop that pass pro and receiving ability.

You know Allen is making the team and could prove to be the best all around eventually over all of them.

I have a hard time seeing Ford staying lost in the mix as he can do it all and is a proven commodity.

If Henry does anything, maybe they keep him on the PS but it is doubtful he does anything more than that

Henry is a fun watch if you look at him on youtube, good hands, too.

Keim seems to be hinting that Rachaad White might end up the guy. And he's gone out of his way to say multiple times, that this job isn't per se Croskey-Merrit's to lose and that its truly open.

I would say though if there is a spot where training camp is decieving its RB, tough to showcase that spot in the traditional way in practice. That's a spot where preseason games matter some.

Yeah like you I have a hard time seeing Ford getting lost in the sauce but will see.

 

[Conn]

Well…sort of sounds like Kittle is sick of the situation/talking about it but he does keep speaking in support of apparent Aiyuk’s health and activity. So, if he shows up to camp and gets his release, he maybe has functional knees at least.

I still sort of think he’s mentally ill and won’t show to camp, but will keep posting dumb Commanders videos anyways while he rots on the 49ers DNR list at no cap charge, as if he’s not in control of his own fate, and will never play again.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Thats a non update update. He's just repeating what those around the 49ers have said for awhile.

He was doing rehab in the mornings with them, then he just disappeared.

 

[Conn]

Thats a non update update. He's just repeating what those around the 49ers have said for awhile.

He was doing rehab in the mornings with them, then he just disappeared.

It’s not really an update, just a reminder/confirmation that he was already running routes at full speed 8 months ago, so if he can pass a physical when it comes to chronic health of his knee, then he’s probably a functional athlete at least. Now football shape is another thing entirely.

I think there’s been so much confusion around his skipped rehab and cancelled guarantees that there are legitimately people who think the 49ers never saw him getting healthy after his surgeries at all, originally. So I figured worth posting, definitely not new information.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Apparently Aiyuk just posted a photo of Rypien hoisting the Super Bowl XXVI trophy on IG.

Post from Itz Showtime Edits

ð¤£ððð You may not like it but Brandon Aiyukâs latest IG story is a picture of Mark Rypien after the Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992 with #StickTalk. #Wash...

youtube.com

 

[SkinsFTW]

Well…sort of sounds like Kittle is sick of the situation/talking about it but he does keep speaking in support of apparent Aiyuk’s health and activity. So, if he shows up to camp and gets his release, he maybe has functional knees at least.

I still sort of think he’s mentally ill and won’t show to camp, but will keep posting dumb Commanders videos anyways while he rots on the 49ers DNR list at no cap charge, as if he’s not in control of his own fate, and will never play again.

If he has to show up to get released and doesn't then he has to know this by now.

If Aiyuk is dumb enough to allow the 49ers to shelve him unpaid for the second time in two years we are better off without his services anyway.

How dumb do you have to be to allow that to happen?

Would likely mean that he's not interested in playing again because he can't really be that dumb.