How the San Francisco 49ers Could Be the Big Winners of NFL Free Agency

The San Francisco 49ers will be one of the teams that everyone is watching in free agency this offseason. They have some cap space and they have an aging roster that is hoping to capitalize on a Super Bowl window. This could cause the team to get aggressive.

Will the San Francisco make the biggest splashes in NFL free agency?

Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated made bold predictions for all 32 NFL teams, and his prediction for the 49ers was that they would be the team that everyone is declaring a winner.

While this is an obvious red flag, the distance between the 49ers and the Seahawks was made obvious during the divisional round of the playoffs. With many of their best players in their prime or near retirement age, the 49ers will spin more than $40 million worth of cap space into Alec Pierce and a top veteran offensive lineman.
Connor Orr

This is quite bold. The biggest issue will be whether the Indianapolis Colts let Alec Pierce leave the building. There are plenty of rumors that the Colts will find a way to keep one of the top receivers on the market, and they may even move on from Michael Pittman to do so.

Pierce is not quite a great fit with the 49ers, either as his deep ball role is similar to Ricky Pearsall. The 49ers best fit may be Pittman, who is a more refined version of Jauan Jennings. Because the Colts want to clear the cap space for Pierce, the 49ers may be able to acquire Pittman for minimal draft capital.

That would definitely get fans excited. Another addition would be a big offensive line addition. David Edwards is arguably the top left guard option available. The Buffalo Bills may let him walk because he is expected to command up to $19M per year.

San Francisco 49er — Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

If the 49ers invested over $20M into Pittman and $19M into Edwards, it would be the exact splash that Orr is talking about. It would also fill both of the 49ers significant offensive needs before free agency starts.

This would give the team a chance to identify any other needs, or look to the best player available in the draft. It would also allow them the flexibility to draft a position like left tackle, knowing that a high rookie draft pick would sit a year behind Trent Williams.

Still, the roster would have a lot of the holes fixed already and they would have other draft picks to address some of the needs on the defensive side of the football.

It seems farfetched at first, but the 49ers would be making a statement that they feel confident in the health of returning stars to make a run towards the Super Bowl