Niners Nation
Ranking the San Francisco 49ers’ unrestricted and restricted free agents in order of importance and value to the organization
The San Francisco 49ers have six players whose contract voided after the conclusion of the 2024 season, making them unrestricted free agents. They’ll join 18 other UFAs, two other restricted free agents, and seven exclusive rights free agents this offseason.
For the sake of this exercise, we’ll omit the exclusive rights of free agents, as they’re only allowed to receive offers from the 49ers unless San Francisco will enable them to pursue other offers. They’re all players who figure to return, anyway. Those players are Jake Tonges, Jalen Graham, Brayden Willis, Sam Okuayinonu, Alex Barrett, Evan Anderson, and Austen Pleasants.
Linebacker Curtis Robinson and running back Jordan Mason are the pair of restricted free agents. We will see what type of tender Mason receives. For his sake, I hope Mason gets the opportunity he deserves and works out a long-term deal with another team. Mason would be relegated to backup duty so long as Christian McCaffrey and perhaps even Isaac Guerendo are in the fold.
That means we have 24 players to evaluate and rank according to how we believe the 49ers should prioritize them ahead of free agency. Let’s start with the players the Niners should re-sign.
The last two times we saw Greenlaw on the field was in Week 15, and the Los Angeles Rams couldn’t get a first down one week after scoring 44 points against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The time before that was in the Super Bowl when the 49ers' defense made the Kansas City Chiefs look pedestrian offensively.
Greenlaw’s mere presence would make it hard to let him walk in free agency. The 49ers pass defense allowed nearly two whole fewer yards per pass attempt to the middle third of the field with Greenlaw on the field since 2023. The defense was night and day without the heart and soul, and dare I say...leader? The stats back up the eye test. Whether against the run, pass, or as a blitzer, the 49ers linebacker play took multiple steps back without Dre.
Injuries are a concern, and Dee Winters's emergence in 2024 shouldn’t be ignored. However, unless another team breaks the bank for Greenlaw, he should be at the top of the 49ers' list to re-sign come free agency.
Bartch played 64 snaps compared to Aaron Banks’s 729 in 2024. They both played the same position. Banks comes in with the higher draft status and more experience, but I’d argue that Bartch showed more in his brief appearances than Banks did all season.
One way for the 49ers to save money is to give Bartch the left guard job or bring in competition late in the draft or with a veteran free agent. Regardless, I’m prioritizing Bartch to re-sign at his price and letting Banks walk for a potential compensatory...
