Tag: 49ers free agents

49ers have tough decisions to make with 2 star free agents

San Francisco is weighing stardom vs. availability when evaluating LB Dre Greenlaw and S Talanoa Hufanga’s pending free agencies.

San Francisco will have a series of franchise-altering decisions to make when the 2025 offseason arrives.

Among those are what to do with pending defensive free agents in linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga.

Greenlaw has been a staple of San Francisco’s defense during his six seasons with the franchise. Alongside Fred Warner, Greenlaw has helped form one of the NFL’s best linebacking duos.

Even before his Achilles injury in Super Bowl LVIII that sidelined him until last Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, Greenlaw’s career has been hampered by nagging quad, groin, calf and hamstring injuries. Since being selected in the 2019 NFL draft, Greenlaw has missed 34 games.

The results speak for themselves, though. As ESPN’s Nick Wagoner shared, San Francisco’s defense limits opponents to 19.7 points per game and boasts a 44-19 record in its 63 regular season games with Greenlaw.

In the 34 games without Greenlaw, San Francisco is just 16-18 and allows 21.1 points per game.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, Hufanga was a first-team All-Pro in the 2022 season. Hufanga has played in just four games this season and entered the year working his way back from a torn ACL in his right knee that ended his 2023 season in November of last year.

After returning from his ACL injury to begin the 2024 campaign, subsequent ankle and wrist injuries shelved him for most of this season.

On Wednesday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked how the team will weigh the duo’s respective star power against their availability when the offseason and their pending free agencies arrive.

“That goes into factoring everything. That’s what’s unfortunate. Nothing those two guys can do differently about it. But those are two of the better players I’ve been around and two of the better players on our team and two of the main reasons we’ve had the success here we’ve had. So, hopefully we can do everything we can to work out keeping them here because they’re as much of examples of 49ers as anyone I can think of,” Shanahan said.

It’s clear that Shanahan has an affinity for the duo and would like to keep both Greenlaw and Hufanga around.

Shanahan wasn’t surprised that both stepped right in and played well in their respective returns either.

“That’s what they’ve done the other times. One of the best games I’ve seen a linebacker play is, I think ’21, when Dre played in Week One versus Detroit and didn’t come back until Week 17 versus the Rams. We needed that game to go to the playoffs and that was the first time I’ve seen someone miss 16 games and come back and play at that level. So it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Shanahan said of Greenlaw.

“Huf’s, he came back earlier in this year and with having a wrist injury and stuff, he’s been able to get ready for this opportunity a little bit more than coming off his ACL that he had before that. So Huf’s been chomping at the
bit to get back and he was more ready for that moment.”

In his season debut, Greenlaw played just 30 defensive snaps before exiting with knee and Achilles soreness, but he racked up a quick eight tackles and the 49ers limited the Rams to just 12 points.

Hufanga tallied five tackles in a 38-13 blowout win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14. San Francisco held Chicago to just four yards of first-half offense in that victory over the Bears, which was the lowest mark of any NFL offense in a first half this season.

Then, against the Rams last week, Hufanga totaled eight tackles and 1.5 stuffs.

Even with possible free agency looming, Shanahan said that pair can help provide an energy to the 49ers’ locker room during these final three games of the season.

“A ton. I think you guys can see how, I think Huf going out there the Sunday before, and I think our safeties have played pretty good this year too, but just Huf the person and his communication and just having him out there I think was very inspiring.

“And then adding Dre the next week, or four days later, one, how good of a player he is and how big of a difference he makes just from that, but the style of how he plays really adds to our defense and makes everyone else better around him, not just adding a good player,” Shanahan said.

San Francisco (6-8) hopes that the spark from that duo can roll on into this week when the 49ers travel to Miami (6-8) to battle the Dolphins from Hard Rock Stadium. Kickoff on Sunday is set for 1:25 p.m. PT.

Insider offers wild option at QB for 49ers if they don’t extend Brock Purdy

Oh dear…

It would appear the San Francisco 49ers’ future at quarterback is set with Brock Purdy.

The Athletic’s 49ers beat reporter Matt Barrows isn’t so sure.

Barrows in an appearance on 95.7 the Game in San Francisco told hosts Steiny and Guru that quarterback Aaron Rodgers could be a route the 49ers go instead of extending Purdy in the offseason since their other options are relatively thin.

“I don’t really know what the recourse would be,” Barrows said. “Do you play hardball with Brock Purdy? Who else is going to be your quarterback? Do you want Brandon Allen to be your quarterback? Do you go out and sign Sam Darnold who will be a free agent?

The one sort of intriguing possibility is in New York if things just fall apart with the Jets and all the sudden Aaron Rodgers — a guy that the 49ers were definitely interested in in the past — becomes available.”

It’s hard to imagine San Francisco would still be as interested in Rodgers as they were three or four years ago when his exit from Green Bay looked imminent. His tenure in New York has featured a catastrophic Achilles injury and a worse start than they had under Zach Wilson. Not to mention Rodgers isn’t playing particularly well and he turns 41 on Dec. 2.

Even if they’re still not sold on Purdy, they could conceivably have him play out the final year of his rookie contract before committing to a deal at or near the top of the market. The final pick in the 2022 draft is under contract through the 2025 season.

Rodgers is also under contract through 2025, but New York may be eager to move on from him given how calamitous his tenure there has been.

It sounds, per Barrows, like having Purdy play out his rookie deal would be a route the team went before making a seismic shift to an aging Hall of Famer like Rodgers.

”I just think that — two things — one is that the 49ers are not as down on Brock Purdy as the public is,” Barrows said. “I think they realize Purdy is dealing with a lot of challenges this year. And we can go over them, it’s a laundry list of things that are different from last year and that they’re very happy to have him for the future.

And B, and probably most important … the market is the market. They’re not going to — just like Brandon Aiyuk and wide receivers — they’re not gonna be able to get a discount if Brock Purdy’s numbers dip a little bit this year. That doesn’t come with a discount. They’re gonna have to pay what the going rate for a starting quarterback is, and it’s been well established — some guys we don’t think of as top-tier quarterbacks have gotten paid like top-tier quarterbacks recently.”

If Rodgers does come available, we can probably expect his name to be tied to the 49ers. He and the club are inextricably linked since they passed on him in the 2005 draft, but it sounds more like San Francisco would sooner roll with Purdy than take on Rodgers at this point.

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It may be time for 49ers to part with superstar playmaker in offseason

It might be time…

It appears the San Francisco 49ers are headed toward an offseason full of difficult decisions.

The salary cap and quarterback Brock Purdy’s impending contract extension were always going to make the 2025 offseason a rough one, but the team’s sluggish 5-5 start to the 2024 campaign is an indicator that significant changes need to be made to their roster.

One of those changes may be parting ways with wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

It’s nigh impossible to envision the Kyle Shanahan 49ers without Samuel. His rookie season was in 2019, the year the club turned around a sustained run of mediocrity and catapulted to the Super Bowl. In that year we saw glimpses of what eventually made him an All-Pro in 2021.

He is a unique play maker whose 1,405 receiving yards, 365 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021 may be a stat line we never see again from a wide receiver.

Samuel was also a consistent offensive spark for San Francisco, and Shanahan wasn’t afraid to lean on him when the team needed to generate offense.

It appears this season that version of Samuel may not be there anymore for the 49ers. In nine games he’s produced 33 receptions, 490 yards and one touchdown on 52 targets. He’s also carried 27 times for just 79 yards and one touchdown. Of his 27 carries, only two have generated either a touchdown or a first down, and his longest run of the season is just 12 yards.

In Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks where the 49ers didn’t have tight end George Kittle, there was a prime opportunity for Samuel to have a major impact. Instead he hauled in four balls for 22 yards and lost one yard on his only carry of the game.

Samuel’s yards after catch per reception are a career-low 7.7 so far this season. His yards-per-route run of 1.98 are the second-lowest mark of his career. He’s also forced only eight missed tackles on 33 receptions after forcing 40 on 73 catches last year. That trend continues in the run game where he has eight missed tackles forced on 27 carries this year, down from 22 missed tackles forced 43 carries a season ago per Pro Football Focus.

The explosiveness that made Samuel the NFL’s most dangerous playmaker through the early portion of his career seems to have evaded him. It’s hard to blame him given the physicality that defined his playmaking ability.

However, the 49ers need to start devising new ways to create offense, and parting ways with Samuel is starting to look like more of a necessity if they want to turn the page to the next chapter of football in San Francisco.

If they make Samuel a post-June 1 designation, they’ll have a $10,751,753 dead cap hit while saving $5,206,105 against the cap per Over the Cap.

With the type of high-priced contracts the 49ers are holding, that extra $5 million in room would be helpful, and Samuel would be able to find a new opportunity with a team that can differently maximize him.

It also opens the door for players like Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing and Jauan Jennings to be more involved in whatever the next evolution of the 49ers’ offense looks like.

Parting ways with the 2021 All-Pro wouldn’t be easy, and it would be perhaps the single biggest move the 49ers could make to signal that a new era has arrived. It may be a necessity though given everything we know after 11 weeks of the 2024 season.

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Did Kyle Shanahan hint that 49ers plan to keep pending free agent CB?

Deommodore Lenoir has been awesome this season.

There aren’t many players on the San Francisco 49ers playing better than cornerback Deommodore Lenoir through the first eight weeks.

Lenoir, a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft, is entering the final year of his contract and appears to be on track for a sizable payday in the offseason. The 49ers have some financial constraints ahead considering the lucrative contract extension quarterback Brock Purdy figures to fetch this offseason, but Lenoir may be another player they prioritize.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday was asked about Lenoir’s terrific start to the 2024 campaign. In his answer he made an interesting comment about Lenoir’s playing style that may signal the team’s intent to pay him in free agency.

“Yeah, DMo’s been a stud,” Shanahan said. “He is exactly what you want a 49er to play like. He came in his first rookie camp and stood out, got me fined for illegally jamming people too hard and putting on the internet. So, I always mess with him for that. But he started out real well, made a couple mistakes early on as a rookie and lost his confidence just a little bit I thought his rookie year. Then that second season, the way he came back in the offseason, kind of just possessed to get that job back and he’s kind of owned it ever since. He’s been a stud for a while to me and he gets better each year. He’s having a hell of a year.”

It’s not a slam dunk that the 49ers will keep a player just because the head coach said “he is exactly what you want a 49er to play like,” but it’s an indication of how highly regarded Lenoir is in the team’s building.

He has the versatility to play in the slot or outside, and he’s steadily improved over his four years to become the most reliable member of a very good secondary.

Lenoir figures to get a big-time contract in free agency, and his market may dictate that he’s owed more than the 49ers can or will spend at corner.

However, his importance to their team is growing and Shanahan’s quote on him is indicative of that.

If the 49ers’ pass rush continues to struggle and their secondary continues playing well, we may see a shift in philosophy where the 49ers prioritize a very good coverage corner like Lenoir, then see if they can go bargain hunting to fill in their pass rush instead of the other way around.

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Report: 49ers re-sign interior OL Ben Bartch

The #49ers bolstered their interior OL depth by bringing back Ben Bartch:

The 49ers are bringing back interior offensive lineman Ben Bartch according to Matt Barrows of the Athletic. Bartch, 25, will get an opportunity to compete for a roster spot and potentially a starting job in 2024.

San Francisco acquired Bartch last season when the team signed him from the Jaguars practice squad. He was with Jacksonville for three-plus seasons after they selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft.

In his three-plus years with the Jags, Bartch played in 41 games with 20 starts. He appeared in five games for the 49ers last season and played 28 offensive snaps.

He’ll at least provide some versatility and depth for the 49ers up front, but he’ll also be in the running for a starting guard job as the team looks to shore up its offensive line.

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Here’s what 49ers may have to pay restricted free agent WR Jauan Jennings

Here are the #49ers options with restricted free agent WR Jauan Jennings, and how much it’ll cost:

The NFL on Friday announced the official salary cap number for the 2024 season, and with it the dollar amounts for the various restricted free agent tenders.

Restricted free agency is for players who’ve only accrued three seasons entering the free agent market. For the 49ers only one player, wide receiver Jauan Jennings, fits that description this offseason.

In restricted free agency teams have a handful of RFA tenders they can place on a player before he is allowed to test the free agent waters. Those tenders are full-guaranteed one-year deals. Here’s a rundown of each of the options San Francisco can explore with Jennings, and how much it would cost:

8 free agents 49ers could lose to Jets and Robert Saleh

The San Francisco 49ers have a slew of free agents who could follow Robert Saleh to the New York Jets.

The New York Jets find themselves in a favorable financial situation heading into an offseason where money for some teams will be a significant issue. They hold the second-most cap space in the league with $67,948,314 according to Over the Cap. With head coach Robert Saleh at the helm following his successful four-year stint as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, they’re in a position to dramatically improve their roster via free agency.

Saleh and his coaching staff that contains a number of former 49ers coaches on both sides of the ball will undoubtedly aim to establish a new culture in the Big Apple by way of adding some of San Francisco’s free agents.

Here are eight unrestricted free agents from the 49ers who could make their way to the Jets to pair up with Saleh.

Safety Kai Nacua announces return to 49ers

San Francisco 49ers free agent safety Kai Nacua announced his return on Twitter.

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The San Francisco 49ers appear to have another of their exclusive rights free agents signed.

Safety Kai Nacua on Wednesday tweeted a photo with the caption, “Returning to #NINERGANG. Let’s work,” complete with the requisite emojis for the occasion. 

Nacua was originally an undrafted free agent signee by the Browns in 2017 following his career at BYU. He played in 16 games for Cleveland with three starts as a rookie. Over the following two seasons he bounced from the Ravens’ practice squad, to the Panthers’ practice squad and then to the Colts during the 2019 preseason where he was cut after two weeks.

San Francisco added Nacua to their practice squad in late November last year as injuries ravaged their secondary. He was promoted to the active roster before the 49ers’ Week 13 game vs. the Bills and stayed on as a special teams contributor for the final five weeks.

The 49ers simply don’t have very many bodies at safety going into the offseason, so Nacua has a shot to stick around the active roster if he can continue adding value on return teams.

49ers re-sign LS Taybor Pepper to 2-year deal

The San Francisco 49ers signed long snapper Taybor Pepper to a 2-year contract with some guaranteed money.

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The 49ers on Thursday announced their third free agent signing of the offseason. Long snapper Taybor Pepper inked a two-year deal to return to the club. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported the pact will earn Pepper $300,000 in guaranteed money.

Pepper was set to hit restricted free agency where he likely would’ve received a one-year deal that wouldn’t have come with any guaranteed money. By signing early he avoids the RFA market and pulls in the $300,000 guaranteed.

San Francisco added Pepper in Week 4 last season after long snapper Kyle Nelson struggled in a Week 3 blowout vs. the New York Giants where he had multiple errant snaps. Pepper spent the rest of the season with the club and long snapping was no longer an issue.

Re-signing the 26-year-old long snapper takes one of the myriad issues facing the 49ers in the offseason. While the snap is a fairly routine part of the special teams, it can change games if it becomes a problem.

Pepper joins cornerback Ken Webster and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. as the early offseason signings for San Francisco.