Have the 49ers Done Enough in Free Agency?

Free agency has been underwhelming for the San Francisco 49ers thus far.
Have the 49ers Done Enough in Free Agency?
Have the 49ers Done Enough in Free Agency? /
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Free agency has been underwhelming for the San Francisco 49ers thus far.

Nine new players have been signed with pass rusher Leonard Floyd as the headliner. Outside of Floyd, there haven't been any players who move the needle, and you could argue that Floyd isn't moving it much either.

Most of the signings the 49ers made have been for depth, so it's nothing too drastic with improvements. The lack of doing so without any "splash" free agents can make the 49ers look like failures in free agency, especially since they have signed one splash player in the last two seasons.

Have the 49ers done enough in free agency?

Absolutely. The idea that the 49ers were going to be heavily active in free agency was delusional. For starters, their salary cap space was fairly restrictive. They needed to restructure the contracts of Fred Warner, Javon Hargrave, and Kyle Juszczyk to free up space just to sign the nine players.

Some of that space will also be needed for the upcoming draft class and a possible Brandon Aiyuk extension. Free agency isn't an avenue where the 49ers were going to drastically improve themselves. It is an avenue that helps them fill needs with depth. They were never going to sign that "splash big name" free agent.

To say the 49ers haven't done enough means that the expectations on them being heavily active was a wrong presumption. Why did they need to overspend on a big time free agent when they already have seven All-Pro players? By the way, Nick Bosa wasn't one of those All-Pro players last year either.

The 49ers already have their star players. Really, the only one who could've been considered was pass rusher Danielle Hunter, but he was never going to get anywhere close to the deal he signed with the Houston Texans from the 49ers. Free agency should be viewed as a success for them. 


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Jose Luis Sanchez III
JOSE LUIS SANCHEZ III

Jose Luis Sanchez III has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily for FanNation since 2019. He started off as the lead publisher for FanNation's All49ers, then switched positions to become the Deputy Editor in 2020. Sanchez writes, edits, and produces videos daily for All49ers. He also co-hosts a show on YouTube with All49ers lead publisher Grant Cohn weekly. Prior to FanNation, Sanchez started his writing career back in 2016 for the school newspaper at Skyline college where he covered all sports team in the Bay Area. Following that from 2017 to 2019, he found a role as a contributor for FanSided's news desk along with their site's Just Blog Baby covering the Las Vegas Raiders and Golden Gate Sports every professional Bay Area sports team. Atop all of that, he was able to graduate with a Bachelors degree in Communication Studies at San Francisco State University in 2020. Sanchez is committed to ensuring he delivers transparent analysis and straightforward opinions that resonates with readers to get them thinking.