{"id":629337,"date":"2026-05-07T17:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/629337\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T17:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T17:50:14","slug":"49ers-news-who-still-makes-sense-for-the-niners-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/629337\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers news: Who still makes sense for the Niners in free agency?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The San Francisco 49ers are well-equipped with cap space, holding over $70 million currently, according to OverTheCap, easily the most of any team in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That\u2019s a good sign because the 49ers can now be players in the final wave of free agency, with teams no longer being penalized by the compensatory formula for signing free agents. That\u2019s a key reason why several veterans have remained on the board nearly two months into free agency, with some slowly starting to get signed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Now, the 49ers don\u2019t need to spend all $70 million. They\u2019ve been quite cognizant of their cap space in recent years, carrying money over to future years to help with their growing cap hits. But there is the opportunity to strengthen this 2026 roster with quite an amount of cap space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So, who still makes sense for the 49ers in free agency?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The fit with Becton will be interesting. But Becton was a solid guard for the Philadelphia Eagles two seasons ago before spending last year with the Los Angeles Chargers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">He\u2019s a unique athlete who can slide into the left guard role as a short-term solution for the 49ers on a one-year deal, giving them a more proven option than what they currently have in the role. Now, he\u2019s coming off a rough season where he both struggled with injury and inconsistency, but he\u2019s younger than the other veteran guards on the market, which might be more appealing to the 49ers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Second time\u2019s the charm?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 49ers went after Bosa last offseason, to no avail, as he took a more lucrative offer with the Buffalo Bills. Could they try again this offseason?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Now, San Francisco did add to their defensive line group with Romello Height in the draft, but they could give him some time to develop and add some experience to quite a young group up front.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">A good sign? Bosa was healthier than usual in 2025 with the Bills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Talking about guards, the top player on the market is Joel Bitonio. While he\u2019s 34, he\u2019s another short-term solution at left guard that could fit with the 49ers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">He\u2019s played in a familiar system in Cleveland, has a ton of experience, and could be a veteran leader to the young, developing guys in the room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Injuries are something to watch, but the 49ers could take a flyer here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Going the veteran edge route again, Jadaveon Clowney could be an interesting add after bouncing around the last few years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Clowney did have 8.5 sacks in 2025, so there is some pass-rush juice there, and he could fit in as a rotational piece on the defensive line for the 49ers alongside Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This might be a surprising choice, but Njoku is still available in free agency after the first wave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The tight end position is becoming more and more valuable, and Njoku would be the second-best pass catcher in the room behind George Kittle. Even if it\u2019s just situational, there\u2019s a role to be had, and the 49ers would have a better tight end room with the veteran in it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers are well-equipped with cap space, holding over $70 million currently, according to OverTheCap, easily&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,2745,99],"class_list":["post-629337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}