Reasons Behind the 49ers' Decision to Part Ways with 17 Players During Free Agency

For the majority of the last five years, the San Francisco 49ers' offseason strategy could be encapsulated in the phrase "Run it back." However, following a disappointing 6-11 season, the sentiment has shifted to something akin to "What is happening?" During the initial week of free agency, the 49ers have experienced a significant departure of key players through trades, releases, or by not extending offers. As of Wednesday evening, 15 players who were either traded, released, or left as free agents have signed contracts that, if they achieve maximum earnings, could total up to $341,522,500. In contrast, San Francisco has secured 10 external free agents with contracts amounting to a potential total of $41,880,000, averaging $2.388 million annually, which is the lowest in the league. They have guaranteed only $4.785 million. Additionally, the 49ers' decision to release players with remaining years and financial commitments has resulted in a league-high dead money figure of $86,602,800 on the 2025 salary cap, particularly after accounting for the post-June 1 releases of defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins. This shift is not unexpected, as general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan had hinted at their forward-looking strategy in the weeks leading up to the new league year. "At some point, you have to reset a little or at least recalibrate," Lynch stated. "You can't just keep pressing the pedal, and I think there’s some benefit that could arise from it. We need to get younger. I believe we were the oldest team in football trying to make a run last year, and it’s beneficial to continually infuse youth into the roster." While Lynch did not explicitly use the term "cheaper," it is an underlying aspect of the 49ers' initiative to rejuvenate the team. For the 49ers, the focus extends beyond just managing the salary cap—though improving it for future seasons is a priority—it's also about controlling cash expenditures. In 2024, the 49ers allocated $334.5 million in cash for player contracts, the highest in the league and significantly exceeding the $255.5 million spent by other teams.

The practice of credit card-style spending has become a hallmark of the 49ers' offseasons since they emerged as contenders in 2019. That year, they ranked third in the league for cash expenditures, ultimately losing Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs. In the following five years, they committed to doing whatever it took to achieve success, disregarding future salary cap implications.

As the 49ers continued to fall short in their pursuit of a championship, the financial burden of maintaining the core of their teams while also integrating impactful new players escalated, making them one of the highest-spending teams in the league. In 2023, they ranked sixth in cash spending, following fifth-place finishes in both 2021 and 2020, with a slight decline to 19th in 2022.

Currently, the 49ers are in the process of recalibrating their strategy. They began preparing for potential player departures last year by drafting receiver Ricky Pearsall, cornerback Renardo Green, guard Dominick Puni, safety Malik Mustapha, and running back Isaac Guerendo, with the intention of having them succeed Samuel, Charvarius Ward, Aaron Banks, Talanoa Hufanga, and Jordan Mason/Elijah Mitchell by 2025. While these moves were somewhat predictable given the contract situations of the departing players, the 49ers' challenges throughout 2025 played a significant role in their decision to part ways with veterans like Hargrave, Collins, and defensive end Leonard Floyd. In essence, the 49ers aimed to stop investing in players whose performance did not match their salaries and sought to eliminate those costs from their financial statements by 2027. They currently have over $42 million in available cap space, although some of this will be allocated for quarterback Brock Purdy's upcoming contract extension, and a portion may be carried over to mitigate the more than $21 million in dead money already accounted for in 2026. As Shanahan noted in January, substantial changes are necessary for the 49ers to remain competitive in 2025 and beyond. It is essential to focus on the present while also considering the long-term vision in football.

During that offseason, the Rams fell to the bottom of the NFL rankings in cash expenditures, spending $185.9 million and incurring nearly $80 million in dead money due to the release of players like Robinson and Floyd, as well as the trade of cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins. In that year's draft, the Rams made an impressive selection of 14 players, which included offensive lineman Steve Avila, linebacker Byron Young, defensive tackle Kobie Turner, and receiver Puka Nacua.

Despite facing some initial challenges, Los Angeles finished the season with a 10-7 record and secured a playoff spot, a feat they replicated the following season after ranking 31st in cash spending for 2024. However, duplicating this success is often more complex than it appears. The 49ers have struggled to derive significant contributions from their 2021, 2022, and 2023 draft classes, with the exceptions of cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and quarterback Brock Purdy. While last year's draft class showed potential, there remains much to demonstrate.

As San Francisco approaches this year's draft with 11 picks, including the 11th overall selection, the key will be to capitalize on several of those choices. Continued development from the younger players on the roster, alongside a core that features Purdy, Lenoir, McCaffrey, Williams, tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, and defensive end Nick Bosa, combined with improved luck regarding injuries, could lead to a stronger performance in 2025 than their free agency results might suggest. 

Is this scenario unrealistic? Possibly, yet ESPN BET still positions the 49ers as the favorites (+125) to win the NFC West division, with only five teams having better odds than San Francisco to claim the Super Bowl.

"We always want to be competitive now and into the future," Lynch said last month. "I think our thought has always been you grow the core and then you can kind of supplement around that."