The 2026 Free Agency Thread

[KDawg]

Trying to keep my bias for the way OL was handled out of it… here is how I view our situation:

-Tunsil being out was the first major domino to fall that made the OL take a down step.

-Releasing Biadasz, by report, was for reasons. For this conversation that doesn’t matter. They released Biadasz because, based on reports, he wasn’t good enough. They wanted Allegretti to slide in.

-He did, but got hurt quickly. In his career he has played 17 games just once and it was as a guard.

-There was no real backup plan at center after they missed on Linderbaum.

-We hired our assistant OL coach to take over the line. While I am not down on him, that is a tough ask. This line needed a ton of coaching and putting everything on a guy that lacks experience can be difficult.

-Cosmi is our best healthy lineman. No debate there.

-Coleman probably wasn’t wowing them at guard. If so, you don’t look to move him to tackle (unless Wylie scares them that much at tackle… he scares me at tackle.) Coleman is a decent OT on an upward swing. So this could work.

-I thought Paul was a goner this offseason. But we signed him and put him in a competition with an OT to be our LG starter. Not sure that inspires a ton of confidence in many, but Paul had some positive moments.

-Conerly still needs development.

My opinion: Biadasz being let go was the first concern. But Tunsil going down killed their entire OL plan before they even got a chance to see it materialize. Paired with a brand new OC and OL coach (not a shot at them, a lot is now on their shoulders that shouldn’t be) that makes this tough. The only position we’re currently in good shape at is RG.

Cosmi will make things better up front. But I think we need to sign some FAs, and may need to spend some cash, to keep us competitive.

Decker and then slide him to LG if possible when Tunsil is back (if he comes back late in the year) could be a huge help. Just need to figure out how to address center and we could go from “uh oh” to “oh okay”

 

[skinsinparadise]

I get it. I found it frustrating when they missed in a number of centers in the draft that I liked, seemed to fit the scheme, had more experience and graded better than Gulbin.

Once the draft was completed and we had Gulbin and Good-Jones, there were other viable FA's available. The choice to entertain that thought then is biting them in the ass. Just like waiting and putting their trust in Aiyuk. We were lucky Diggs was still available and had interest in playing in Washington so late.

I don't believe this regime foresaw all of this and is sitting back chill about how it played out. If they had to do it over again, I'd bet they sign a veteran center in free agency. A banged-up Allegretti and Good-Jones looking like a train wreck as the backup — I doubt any of that was on the radar.

For me I think there's close to zero chance they played out Good-Jones and Gulbin knowing full well neither was a viable backup, just to stall camp until someone got released — unless they were secretly negotiating with someone like Glasgow (which I doubt, given his social media post on the subject) and the money didn't work out.


Center is so much about chemistry — with the QB and with the rest of the line — that there's zero upside to waiting it out and signing someone at the last minute who'd have two weeks to learn the playbook before Week 1, against a murderers' row of defensive tackles. And that's on top of Allegretti missing most of camp.

It's notable that when Quinn praised Good-Jones, it was almost always about how well he knew the playbook. If this offense leans on play-action, and the previous center was moved on mainly because of struggles calling protections — as has been reported — then bringing in a backup center from another team who has to hit the ground running in two weeks against arguably the best defensive tackle tandem in the NFL doesn't add up. I doubt that was ever the plan. But I think they got no choice and its the plan now.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Trying to keep my bias for the way OL was handled out of it… here is how I view our situation:

-Tunsil being out was the first major domino to fall that made the OL take a down step.

-Releasing Biadasz, by report, was for reasons. For this conversation that doesn’t matter. They released Biadasz because, based on reports, he wasn’t good enough. They wanted Allegretti to slide in.

-He did, but got hurt quickly. In his career he has played 17 games just once and it was as a guard.

-There was no real backup plan at center after they missed on Linderbaum.

-We hired our assistant OL coach to take over the line. While I am not down on him, that is a tough ask. This line needed a ton of coaching and putting everything on a guy that lacks experience can be difficult.

-Cosmi is our best healthy lineman. No debate there.

-Coleman probably wasn’t wowing them at guard. If so, you don’t look to move him to tackle (unless Wylie scares them that much at tackle… he scares me at tackle.) Coleman is a decent OT on an upward swing. So this could work.

-I thought Paul was a goner this offseason. But we signed him and put him in a competition with an OT to be our LG starter. Not sure that inspires a ton of confidence in many, but Paul had some positive moments.

-Conerly still needs development.

My opinion: Biadasz being let go was the first concern. But Tunsil going down killed their entire OL plan before they even got a chance to see it materialize. Paired with a brand new OC and OL coach (not a shot at them, a lot is now on their shoulders that shouldn’t be) that makes this tough. The only position we’re currently in good shape at is RG.

Cosmi will make things better up front. But I think we need to sign some FAs, and may need to spend some cash, to keep us competitive.

Decker and then slide him to LG if possible when Tunsil is back (if he comes back late in the year) could be a huge help. Just need to figure out how to address center and we could go from “uh oh” to “oh okay”

My guess — some based on leaks, some based on what just makes sense to me.
The original concept:

• LT: Tunsil — a stud
• LG: Coleman — with a full offseason to focus on the spot, he develops into it
• C: Allegretti — maybe solid at best, but that's how they viewed Biadasz too, and he's reportedly smarter and a better leader
• RG: Cosmi — a stud
• RT: Conerly — improved as last season progressed, expected to take another step

Depth looked fine on paper: Paul could play either guard spot, same with Wylie, and Coleman could kick out to tackle with Paul sliding to guard if needed. As for center depth — they swung and missed on Linderbaum, and apparently on another target too. Beyond that, I am guessing they were thinking the remaining options really that much better than Good-Jones? They clearly value smart, high-IQ centers, which supposedly is Good-Jones' calling card — and they also drafted a center.

Then camp happened:
Allegretti got hurt. Tunsil went down. Coleman, according to every beat writer, was beating out Paul at LG. Paul wasn't having a good camp. Conerly didn't make the climb they expected and had an up-and-down camp.
Coleman moved to LT. Allegretti, who they'd hoped would be back sooner, reaggravated his injury. Paul looked shaky at LG. Conerly stayed inconsistent. Add it up: a decent-but-unspectacular LT, a shaky LG, a Cosmi who's genuinely very good, and a still-inconsistent Conerly. And now Allegretti — who himself had a shaky season at guard last year — is somehow supposed to be the savior at center, banged up, with almost no training camp reps, because there's no one behind him.

It's no surprise that when national media ranks this the worst O-line in the NFL, even one person whose actually watched camp are agreeing they might be right.

My most optimistic take: we catch a break and a decent center gets released, Paul rediscovers last year's form, and Conerly keeps developing. That's the path out of this.

 

[Discobob]

Our current online bites my ass

Can we sign a FA olineman that doesn't bite my ass?

Edited to honor the request below ⬇️

 

[Primus Porcus]

Folks, this is a free agency thread. While i understand that Free Agency may be where we look to address C, we're bleeding way over. There is a thread dedicated to the Offensive line, so lets steer this thread back to its original topic, and move the depth of this conversation over to the OLine thread please.

 

[DWinzit]

I don't believe this regime foresaw all of this and is sitting back chill about how it played out. If they had to do it over again, I'd bet they sign a veteran center in free agency. A banged-up Allegretti and Good-Jones looking like a train wreck as the backup — I doubt any of that was on the radar.

For me I think there's close to zero chance they played out Good-Jones and Gulbin knowing full well neither was a viable backup, just to stall camp until someone got released — unless they were secretly negotiating with someone like Glasgow (which I doubt, given his social media post on the subject) and the money didn't work out.


Center is so much about chemistry — with the QB and with the rest of the line — that there's zero upside to waiting it out and signing someone at the last minute who'd have two weeks to learn the playbook before Week 1, against a murderers' row of defensive tackles. And that's on top of Allegretti missing most of camp.

It's notable that when Quinn praised Good-Jones, it was almost always about how well he knew the playbook. If this offense leans on play-action, and the previous center was moved on mainly because of struggles calling protections — as has been reported — then bringing in a backup center from another team who has to hit the ground running in two weeks against arguably the best defensive tackle tandem in the NFL doesn't add up. I doubt that was ever the plan. But I think they got no choice and its the plan now.

To me I'd rather see them trade now for the right C and not wait for just the reason you mention, they need to create chemistry. 2 weeks is better than waiting until cut down days. However, at least bringing in that newly created FA would both fill a roster void and fit into this thread primus's lol

I wasn't familiar with DQ's comments on Good-Jones. That scares me because at the end of the day, the guy sucks as a player whether he knows the playbook or not. His play should have alarmed DQ and the offensive coaching staff...why hasn't it?

 

[burgold]

To me I'd rather see them trade now for the right C and not wait for just the reason you mention, they need to create chemistry. 2 weeks is better than waiting until cut down days. However, at least bringing in that newly created FA would both fill a roster void and fit into this thread primus's lol

I wasn't familiar with DQ's comments on Good-Jones. That scares me because at the end of the day, the guy sucks as a player whether he knows the playbook or not. His play should have alarmed DQ and the offensive coaching staff...why hasn't it?

I blame modern practices. With no hitting, Good-Jones probably held up.

(Not sure if serious)