The San Francisco 49ers had a different offseason this past year, electing to save money as they released several veterans, while letting other key free agents walk as they prioritized the draft.
While doing so, the 49ers did extend multiple key starters, such as Brock Purdy, Fred Warner, and George Kittle. They ended up drafting 11 players in May, and several of those pieces have gone on to either be starters or rotational players in 2025.
The youth reset was needed as San Francisco was heading to be one of the NFL’s oldest rosters. They hadn’t been hitting on draft picks at a high level in 2022 or 2023 after the ill-fated move to trade up for Trey Lance in 2021.
Now, the 49ers have cleaner books, younger talent, and are still surging with a 9-4 record here in 2025. Will they continue looking to save money in 2026?
General Manager John Lynch recently went on “The TK Show” with Tim Kawakami and revealed that the 49ers aren’t expecting to try and save money this offseason. But, they will continue to prioritize the draft and development.
“No, [I don’t think we’ll prioritize saving money in free agency],” Lynch said. “But I think the great thing about watching a rookie draft class like [ours] is maybe you aren’t as inclined to go out in free agency and feel like ‘we have to go spend here’ because we’ve got a lot of young players who we’re really excited about.
“[The rookie class] buoys your confidence that we can go replicate that in the future. That’s not to say we won’t be wise and try to spend money strategically in free agency. It will always be a combination of all of the above: drafting really well, [acting on it] when there’s an opportunity in the trade market, and free agency.”
The 49ers likely won’t have 11 draft picks again in 2026. But, Lynch knows that the draft is the way to get starters, while free agency can be more of a complementary piece for the roster.
“It’s healthy for your team to keep adding and infusing youth,” Lynch continued. “It’s a young man’s game. I just like the combo. Whatever we have, we’ve got to just be committed to spending it wisely. We’ve rewarded a lot of players around here, and there are consequences for that. But I think that so long as you manage it well, we can keep this thing going.”
The 49ers have made some splashes in free agency. Perhaps the biggest hit was Charvarius Ward, who signed on a three-year deal and became the team’s top cornerback during his stint with the 49ers. They also spent big on Javon Hargrave, who was good but didn’t pan out to the money he got paid with injuries.
In general, they’ve been spenders in free agency during the Shanahan-Lynch era, which was partially why last year’s dramatic cutback was a surprise. Perhaps the 49ers didn’t have to go so drastic with their cuts, but they’re in a good position to spend in 2026 while continuing to build via the draft.
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