With that said, let's take a look at every upcoming 2025 free agent, as well as cut/trade candidates for those with ballooning contracts we can't or shouldn't retain.
2025 FREE AGENTS
QB Brandon Allen
QB Josh Dobbs
OL Jaylen Moore
OL Jon Feliciano
OL Aaron Banks
OL Ben Bartch
RB Elijah Mitchell
RB Patrick Taylor
RB Jordan Mason (RFA)
CB Chavarius Ward
CB Demo Lenoir
CB Rock Ya-sin
CB Ambry Thomas
CB Isaac Yiadom
DT Kevin Givens
DE Sam Okuayinonu (ERFA)
LB Dre Greenlaw
LB Demetrius Flannigan Fowles
LB DevonDre Campbell
LB Jalen Graham (ERFA)
LB Curtis Robinson (ERFA)
TE Eric Saubert
TE Jake Tonges (ERFA)
WR Chris Conley
S Talanoa Hufanga
Expectations: We will easily re-sign all our RFA/ERFAs (Note: If/when Evan Anderson is promoted, he would be an ERFA too.) -- After that, Greenlaw and Lenoir are musts. I advise we don't mess around there. Banks is replaceable, and they might just draft someone to compete with Burford. Either way, I think if he demands too much, we'll let Banks walk. Moore probably comes back as a swing tackle still. Givens has been solid for so long, I expect he finally gets a payday in free agency, but not from us. Zero chance we can afford CB Ward, but Yiadom might get another chance to compete. I think if the price is right, Hufanga comes back to compete. Mustapha looks promising, but Brown looks terrible. Communication is meaningless if you can't cover or tackle. We should keep one of our backup QB, but the rest from this list above will probably be too old, too injured, or just not good enough to retain.
2025 TRADE/CUT CANDIDATES
DT Javon Hargrave - when looking at contracts, this is the most obvious one. While he was productive for us last year, next year he will not only be coming off a season ending injury, his cap number EXPLODES from 9.2 million to a whopping 28.1 MILLION! Hargrave's struggles against the run alone make him not worth that. Collins is as good or better in both phases and yet cheaper. We would save $20.7 million if we designate Javon as a June 1 cut. That's a no brainer to me. Develop NT Evan Anderson, and restock our DT depth in the draft and/or supplement with role-specific, budget signings here.
WR Deebo Samuel - His cap number will be around $16 million, and we save a little over $5 million by trading or cutting him (and again would have to designate as post June 1). I lean towards us trying to deal him, because we'd still be on the hook for 10.7m, and my understanding is that he wouldn't cost much to a team trading for him, so draft resources obtained, IMO, probably offsets the lack of huge savings. $5m + draft capital is worth it.
2025 Projected Off-season Depth Chart After Vacancies:
QB Brock Purdy, Brandon Allen, Tanner Mordecai
RB Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Isaac Guerendo
FB Kyle Juszczyk
TE George Kittle, Eric Saubert, Brayden Willis, Jake Tonges, Mason Pline
WR Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Jacob Cowing, Ricky Pearsall, Terrace Marshall, Ronnie Bell, Terique Owens
OT Trent Williams, Colton McKivitz, Jaylon Moore, Isaac Alarcon
IOL Dominick Puni, Spencer Burford, Jake Brendel, Drake Nugent, Nick Zakelj
DE Nick Bosa, Leonard Floyd, Sam Okuayinonu, Robert Beal, Yetur Gross-Matos
DT Maliek Collins, Evan Anderson, Jordan Elliott, Kalia Davis, TY McGill
LB Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Dee Winters, Jalen Graham, Curtis Robinson, Tatum Bethune, Deshaun White
CB Demo Lenoir, Renardo Green, Darrell Luter, Isaac Yiadom
S Ji'Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, Talanoa Hufanga, Jaylen Mahoney
Summary of Needs:
IOL, OT, IDL, CB, LB, and S need fresh faces and/or better depth. RB and TE could use someone in development too. As it stands right now, we will still have a lot of holes to address and we're gonna have to get lucky again with some UDFA contributors at certain spots. S, TE, and RB are generally easy for getting budget free agents. Sometimes IDL, too, but I'd prefer to look to the draft for our next great IOL, OT, DT, LB, and CB. We've already surrounded Brock with weapons, it's time to protect him as best as possible and shore up our defensive weaknesses. Even after paying him, we should be more than capable of fielding a juggernaut team as long as we draft well enough.
[ Edited by OnTheClock on Oct 10, 2024 at 8:56 AM ]