The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[skinsinparadise]

Yep that's the other part of it, if Terry missed time they likely would have been screwed, now not as big of a deal

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Conn]

Is this too much, mods?

 

[clskinsfan]

About time too, what took so long?

Not sure Diggs was in a hurry to get into a training camp at his age. Good signing. Although I want to see where he fits in the new system.

 

[Boone]

Welcome to the team Stefon!

That is so dumb.... homeboy

 

[Boone]

I'm really worried about WR3.

Too soon?

 

[SkinsGuy99]

Terry, Diggs, Williams are locks

Burks, Brown, McCaffrey, Lane, Jefferson are not locks.

We still have a hole at Z receiver, but hopefully in the scheme we can hide that. We aren't keeping 8. I doubt we keep 7 either.

I would disagree.

Besides McLaurin, Diggs, and Williams, I think Lane, McCaffrey, and possibly Brown are locks.

The others we shall see in preseason.

 

[KDawg]

It was the worst kept secret we were all in on Aiyuk until he had a mental breakdown. I almost guarantee this is a pivot from that.

 

[skinsinparadise]

It was the worst kept secret we were all in on Aiyuk until he had a mental breakdown. I almost guarantee this is a pivot from that.

Yeah pretty much every beat guy has said the same, Keim basically said it on air a few minutes ago

and here
There were multiple reasons. At one point, Brandon Aiyuk appeared to be a possibility -- Washington was just waiting for him to be released from the 49ers. The Commanders would have been interested, according to multiple team sources. But he has yet to be cut.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49539100/stefon-diggs-washington-commanders-signing-contract-questions

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Skinfanjon]

I would disagree.

Besides McLaurin, Diggs, and Williams, I think Lane, McCaffrey, and possibly Brown are locks.

The others we shall see in preseason.

This is how I have it. Not necessarily what I'd choose, but high confidence this is how it goes down. Jefferson is Dyami insurance and Burks, well, thanks for that catch I guess. He can't play and can't stay healthy.

 

[ES1974]

At last 😂

Great move, massive uplift in the credibility of that receiver group.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

It was the worst kept secret we were all in on Aiyuk until he had a mental breakdown. I almost guarantee this is a pivot from that.

Aiyuk was definitely plan C after Pierce and Doubs.

Then he had a mental breakdown.

Diggs was plan D.

 

[SkinsGuy99]

This is how I have it. Not necessarily what I'd choose, but high confidence this is how it goes down. Jefferson is Dyami insurance and Burks, well, thanks for that catch I guess. He can't play and can't stay healthy.

Yeah, they can probably technically hold onto 7 WRs if they list Lane as a special teams player rather than a WR, but I think outside of Lane, the other five I mentioned are locks.

 

[ES1974]

No doubt the 49ers will cut Aiyuk in the next 24 hours to put the final boot in.

 

[RedWolf]

After hearing we signed Diggs ❤️

A little ham and eggs coming at us!
That's baby making music right there!
Aqualung!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[Due East]

Don't underestimate how bad Brandon wants to be here. He will be on the practice squad when the season starts waiting in the bullpen and seeing if he can get back in football shape. lol

 

[KillBill26]

It was the worst kept secret we were all in on Aiyuk until he had a mental breakdown. I almost guarantee this is a pivot from that.

Thank God he showed his true colors before we signed him. That drama as a new signee heading into this season would've been so toxic.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think this was an absolutely ridiculous move just made to placate the fans. It's going to stifle the development of all of the draft picks and young guys.

...
(Did I have you going just for a second?)

I think this was a good pickup. I don't think it's the needle mover others do, but I do think it's always better to have more good players than less good players. And now they have something they didn't have before: a WR who has consistently produced aside from Terry. That is meaningful.

I do wonder how many snaps Diggs is going to get. And where. I wonder if they use him mostly outside (even though he was more effective in the slot) with Williams inside on 3 WR sets, and then let Williams slide outside in 2 WR sets.

With the assumption they keep 25 offense, 25 defense, 3 ST (that could move around a little bit) here's what I think the offense looks like now:

Position Number Players
QB 2 Daniels, Mariota
RB 4 Bill, White, Allen, McNichols/Ford
TE 4 Chig, Bates, Sinnott, Yankof
WR 6 McLaurin, Diggs, Williams, McCaffery, 2 of Dbrown/Burks/Van Jefferson
OL 9 Tunsil, Conerly, Coleman, Cosmi, Allegretti, Paul, Gulbin, Wylie, Trent Scott,
Offense: 25
PR 1 Lane


Lane takes the ST spot Nick Bellore has held as essentially a player on the roster who's only there for ST, not much of anything else. They might play him occasionally at WR, but mostly, he's going to be emergency depth and the primary punt returner.

I know people think there's some chance McCaffery or Lane don't make the roster. I think it would be more likely for me to see Millie Alcock walking down Maple Avenue in Vienna in her full Supergirl costume over either of them being a roster cut. McCaffery is showing progress, and is the primary kick returner, and did a good job. By all accounts, he is having a good camp. Lane is a second year guy and might be one of the better punt returners in the league. They're making the team.

I think what's likely is the Diggs signing actually bumps an OL off the 53. Most of OL players who are going to make the roster are set. We know that Tunsil (LT), Conerly (RT), Cosmi (RG) and Allegretti (C) are the definitive starters at their positions. Both Paul and Coleman will make it, one will start, the other will be the Guard swing backup. That's 6. They re-signed Wylie and he can be the swing backup tackle and guard. He makes it unless he has a massive drop off in camp. They're keeping the draft pick Gulbin . That's 8. My guess is they keep one more swing tackle, probably Trent Scott, but who knows. That's 9. I think this is bad for JGG. He would seem to be the obviously backup center unless Gulbin unseats him in camp. But they're not going to cut multiple draft picks, and they're going to be forced to cut the 7th round QB to get to 53. It would be a really bad look to cut 2 of your 5 draft picks, so he makes it.

I think they're going to bump a depth OL who would almost certainly be inactive on game days (can't play ST), rather than a WR who could possibly play and might contribute on teams. Also, they could almost certainly get JDD to the PS.

 

[SkinsFTW]

It's nice to get Diggs finally but everybody knows that we have probably the worst Wr3+4s in the entire league.