With their 2025 season now officially over following a 41-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round, the San Francisco 49ers will now turn their full attention to the 2026 NFL offseason.
While the defeat to the Seahawks was obviously disappointing, the fact that the Niners even made the playoffs at all was a minor miracle, given the ridiculous amount of injuries this team was forced to fight through.
On the defensive side of the ball, San Francisco lost Nick Bosa to a season-ending torn ACL back in Week 3, while Fred Warner sustained a broken and dislocated ankle in Week 6. On the offensive side of things, Brock Purdy missed eight games during the regular season, as did Ricky Pearsall, and George Kittle sat out six before rupturing an Achilles in the Wild Card round against the Philadelphia Eagles.
And, of course, the 49ers were without Brandon Aiyuk for the entire season, and he’ll likely never take another snap in San Francisco.
But despite these setbacks (and all the others, of course), the 49ers still managed to finish with a 12-5 record and put themselves in position to win the NFC West and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference before losing a winner-take-all battle for both with the rival Seattle Seahawks in Week 18.
So, again, while the season ultimately ended in disappointment, the fact that they got as far as they did is commendable.
But now, it’s time to move forward, and GM John Lynch and the rest of the front office have a lot of decisions to make, as several key contributors on both sides of the ball (and special teams as well) are set to become unrestricted free agents, a list that includes wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne, offensive linemen Ben Bartch and Spencer Burford, defensive linemen Jordan Elliott and Yetur Gross-Matos, punter Thomas Morstead, and kicker Eddy Pineiro.
Edge rusher Sam Okuayinonu and backup tight end Jake Tonges are also among the handful of Niners set to become restricted free agents.
The good news for the 49ers is that they’re currently projected to have the 11th-most salary cap space heading into the 2026 offseason, with more than $37 million. And one would assume they’ll create even more space by restructuring some contracts and releasing some players. So, if they want to bring any of these players back or add some external free agents once the new League Year begins on March 11, they should be in a solid position to do so.
Every 49ers player set to enter free agency
Here’s a look at every 49ers player set to enter some sort of free agency this offseason. (UFA=unresricted free agent, RFA=restricted free agent, ERFA=exclusive rights free agent)
Player
Position
Free Agency Type
Yetur Gross-Matos
EDGE
UFA
Jauan Jennings
WR
UFA
Jordan Elliott
DL
UFA
Spencer Burford
OL
UFA
Jason Pinnock
S
UFA
Kevin Givens
DL
UFA
Luke Gifford
LB
UFA
Kendrick Bourne
WR
UFA
Skyy Moore
WR
UFA
Jon Weeks
LS
UFA
Ben Bartch
OL
UFA
Brian Robinson Jr.
RB
UFA
Thomas Morstead
P
UFA
Curtis Robinson
LB
UFA
Eddy Pineiro
K
UFA
Clelin Ferrell
EDGE
UFA
Patrick Taylor
RB
UFA
Trent Taylor
WR
UFA
Matt Hennessy
OL
UFA
Garret Wallow
LB
UFA
Tarron Jackson
EDGE
RFA
Sam Okuayinonu
EDGE
RFA
Jake Tonges
TE
RFA
Robert Beal Jr.
EDGE
RFA
Chase Lucas
CB
RFA
Kalia Davis
DL
RFA
Austen Pleasants
OL
ERFA