NFL Free Agency: 5 Positions the San Francisco 49ers Must Address in 2016

The 2016 San Francisco 49ers will be looking to fill a number of holes via free agency this offseason. With a sizable amount of cap space, what are the top five positions the Niners should address?

The San Francisco 49ers will be in a unique position during the 2016 offseason. Coming off a 5-11 finish in 2015, the 49ers will be looking to make substantial improvements at a slew of positions. They will also have a sizable amount of cap space along with a high number of draft picks — as many as 12, including compensatory selections.

But, sticking with free agency, where should the Niners be looking to make upgrades? What positions are of the utmost importance to the team and should be addressed via free agency?

The pressure will be on for general manager Trent Baalke to make some substantial changes this offseason. He’ll be under the microscope given San Francisco’s situation.

And here it is. The 49ers will have $53,554,714 in cap space against the projected $150 million salary cap, per Over the Cap. This is the third highest number among all NFL teams, which gives San Francisco a significant advantage in making some splashes.

This allows the Niners to be aggressive. At least to an extent.

But Baalke has stressed the 49ers to execute due diligence in approaching the free-agent period. He recently made some remarks about this at a press conference in early January, per David Fucillo of Niners Nation:

"Well, the one thing that I’m convinced of is you can’t buy championships. You earn championships and there’s a process to it. You build through the draft. You supplement your roster with free agency. You take care of your own guys because that creates ownership on their part. So, to say we’re going to go out and because we have X number of dollars to spend, how are we going to spend that? Are you going to spend that on two players or are you going to spend that on 12 players? I don’t know. I don’t have that answer right now nor would I from a competitive standpoint share that. But, there’s different ways to use that money. We just have to make sure we use it correctly."

Baalke is right about the need to build through the draft and supplement via free agency. But some positions require NFL-ready talent. And the 49ers have a slew of these needs.

The 49ers haven’t traditionally been big spenders under Baalke’s watch. Wide receiver Torrey Smith signing with San Francisco last season is an exception. But the 49ers haven’t exactly had a plethora of cap space either.

So, with all this in mind, let’s dive into the five most critical positions needing to be addressed via free agency.

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