49ers Offseason Primer - Looking for Veteran Help

By Scooter_McG

In my previous article I outlined the internal moves I believe the 49ers should make, in terms of coaching staff, own FA re-signings and restructuring deals for players to create cap space.

Since that article it has been confirmed that Bobby Slowik and Corey Undlin will be departing the 49ers to join up with DeMeco Ryans in Houston. In a corresponding move, the 49ers have hired Klint Kubiak to a yet to be defined 'senior assistant' position on offense, to replace Slowik. I personally love this hire as the Shanahan/ Kubiak tree has a long history of working well together and both Klint and Klay are creative offensive minds that have grown up around some of the best offensive coaches in football. Don't be surprised if Klint becomes a HC candidate in the near future as the next Shanahan disciple.

Quick Recap of Own Roster Decisions

As a recap, in terms of restructures/ extensions I suggested McCaffrey, Ward and Bosa were the obvious candidates, with those three moves likely capable of freeing up between $15M-$20M (and possibly more if the team is happy to push large chunks of the cap hit to future years), giving the team around $25M-$30M in cap space to play with. There is also the possibility of restructuring the deals for players like Williams, Warner, Armstead or Kittle, though I would suggest the team try to restrict itself in how much they touch these due to the already high annual prorated bonuses for these players. 

In terms of own FAs to re-sign, the guys I would make priorities are Gipson and Brendel. In my opinion the team should be able to retain those two players while only adding around $5M-$6M in 2023 cap liability - Gipson likely won't cost more than around $2.5M on a 1-year deal while Brendel I believe could be retained on a 2-3 year deal for around $6M per annum on average, but with a small cap hit in 2023. Robbie Gould will also likely be re-signed, but again, I would aim to keep his 2023 cap hit fairly low. There are also a bunch of lower cost pending FAs I outlined the team should retain, but bringing them back should not add much to the 2023 cap liability (when considering top 51 contracts, as only the top 51 contracts count against the cap until the final roster cuts). 

The 49ers should be able to retain these players while still having $20M+ in cap space to play with (some of which needs to be set aside for draft picks and in-season moves).

Notably, I would let the following bigger name players hit FA: Jimmie Ward, Mike McGlinchey, Emmanuel Moseley, Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Azeez Al-Shaair, Jimmy Garoppolo. If a market doesn't develop for Moseley, Ebukam or Omenihu, I would consider bringing them back. 

Free Agency

When it comes to FA, I think 49ers fans will need to go into this with reasonable expectations. Unless the team is willing to mortgage the future, they won't have the cap space to make a bunch of splash signings. And from what we have seen in the past, and what Lynch and Shanahan have repeatedly said about building the team the right way to compete every year, don't expect them to mortgage the future. 

Last offseason the approach was simple: they targeted a premier CB and STs, then used FA to fill out the roster with lower price FAs for depth and competition. I think we should expect a similar philosophy this year - maybe one or two 'splash' signings and a bunch of depth/ competition guys.

But what position(s) and which players should they target?

Assuming the team follows my formula for re-signing their own FAs, for mine there are really only three positions that make sense for a potential splash signing: RT, DT and DE. The other positions all have players that the team should feel reasonably comfortable starting and depth/ competition can be added with lower cost FAs and draft picks. 

Of those three positions, there is one position I feel the team absolutely needs to address through FA to add a high level starter, and that is NT/DT. Kinlaw simply hasn't developed the way the team hoped or been able to stay healthy, and while players like Givens and Ridgeway can likely be retained relatively cheaply they are also better suited as rotational players. 

Over on Twitter there is quite a lot of folks talking about David Onyemata from the Saints as being an ideal signing. I'll be honest, I disagree with this. Onyemata is more of a traditional 3T DT and while he is a nice interior pass rusher he can be a little suspect against the run. That is not what I believe the team needs, with Armstead, Givens, McGill and Ridgeway all able to provide a similar skillset. In my opinion they need someone that is stout against the run while also being able to provide some pass rush, to replace Kinlaw in the starting lineup. In saying that, it is worth keeping in mind the 49ers don't use a traditional NT - their DTs need to be able to penetrate.

I see two main candidates. My number one candidate would be Dalvin Tomlinson from the Vikings. He played a pseudo DT/DE role for the Vikings but is an ideal candidate for the DT spot next to Armstead in my opinion. The problem is he will likely be in high demand and could easily see a contract north of $10M a year. Even so, that's a figure I'd be willing to consider for him over say a 3-4 year deal, keeping the 2023 cap hit at a more manageable $5M range. If Tomlinson is a no-go, my fallback option would be Sheldon Rankins from the Jets, who will likely get a contract in the $6M-$8M a year range at maximum. 

With the money being spent at DT, I believe the 49ers would be well served looking to add serviceable but relatively low cost FAs at RT and edge to add to the competition/ rotation, supplemented with draft picks. 

At RT, the two players I would be looking at if I was the 49ers are Cameron Fleming and Jermaine Eluemunor. Both players had solid years last season and should be relatively cheap on short term deals. In the case of Fleming, Klint Kubiak will be familiar with the player from their time together last year. Neither player should be considered an upgrade from McGlinchey, but they can be serviceable starters that you also hope can be beaten out by a younger player. If the 49ers are willing to splash the cash at RT, to be honest, they would be best served retaining McGlinchey.

At edge, as much as I would love to bring in a big name star, I think the 49ers need to be looking for the next reclamation project for Kocurek to work his magic on. And I have a top candidate for this: Clelin Ferrell. Yes, Ferrell has been a major disappointment to date, after being the 4th overall pick in 2019. But there is no denying he has the physical talent and seems an ideal fit to get the Kocurek treatment on a 1-year prove it deal. The success of Kocurek in getting the best out of guys like Hyder, Key and Omenihu (and thus allowing these players to enter FA at the peak of their value) should be attractive to a guy like Ferrell who needs to shed the 'bust' label. As backup options, the Texans pair of Rasheem Green and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo also pique the interest. And if Ebukam or Omenihu do not see big money offers coming their way, I'd also be keen to bring back one of those players (but probably can't afford both).   

Aside from those positions, I think the 49ers should be looking more at depth/ competition rather than potential starters. One guy I would be keeping tabs on though is Byron Murphy, the Cardinals CB. He has the versatility to compete at both outside and slot CB and would be a nice addition if he can be brought in relatively cheaply. 

That's my thoughts on potential targets for the 49ers FA. Who would you like to see the team try to bring in?