Why the 49ers are very likely going to be the unanimous pre-season favorites in the NFC West
Just when NFC West rivals could imagine the potential demise of the San Francisco 49ers, John Lynch was able to bring back Robert Saleh as their DC. Saleh is an outstanding teacher and motivator who commands the respect of every player on the roster.
And that’s not the only auspicious boost for the 49ers coming off their worst season since 2020.
Currently, they have $46.5M in cap space, which ranks #11 most in the NFL.
Yes, they may want to come to terms with QB Brock Purdy on a multi-year extension —- or they can wait for Purdy to finish out his 4th season to see if he bounces back from what was in some cases the most inconsistent season of his young career.
Note: if the 49ers want to draft a QB this year, they have a plethora of 2025 picks:
- #11
- #43
- #75
- #99
- #138
- #139
- #149
- #187
- #256
Top 3 needs according to PFF: G, T, DL
Key in-house free agents (2024 starters):
- DT Javon Hargrave —- gone
- CB Charvarius Ward —- likely gone
- LB Dre Greenlaw —- likely re-signed
- LB D’Vondre Campbell —- gone
- G Aaron Banks —- likely re-signed
2025 Depth Chart (per Ourlads)
2025 San Francisco 49ers Depth Chart | Ourlads.com
Biggest concerns:
Contract negotiations. The 49ers have been making a mess of them the past few years with several of their best players resorting to prolonged holdouts while being the subject of trade rumors that drag into training camp.
As what happened with the Cardinals in 2022, 49ers’ players this past year who held out and/or elected to skip OTAs and come Week 1 of the regular season were not in the best of physical and mental shape and virtually all of them landed at one point or the other on the season-ending IR.
The Purdy contract is tricky. Waiting another year to assess Purdy’s true market value would seem prudent. Was pleading like crazy for the Cardinals to do that with Kyler Murray. Kept hearing “the Cardinals have no choice” —- when obviously they could have waited another two years, having already picked up his 5th year option.
Purdy, as a 7th round pick, does not have a 5th year option —- but if he has a big year, the 49ers have a safety net of the franchise tag.
ROTB Poll:
: