Niner Noise
FanSided

San Francisco 49ers: Position-by-Position Prediction of 2016 Roster in Advance of Free Agency

By Peter Panacy

Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco 49ers tackle Anthony Davis (76) pass protects in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco 49ers tackle Anthony Davis (76) pass protects in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
11 of 11
Next
December 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (9) kicks the football during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Levi's Stadium. The Chargers defeated the 49ers 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (9) kicks the football during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Levi’s Stadium. The Chargers defeated the 49ers 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Special Teams (3)

Rookie (K), Bradley Pinion (P), Kyle Nelson (LS)

Yes, the 49ers won’t be moving forward with 41-year-old veteran kicker Phil Dawson after yet another solid career in San Francisco.

Dawson earned over $3 million last season, and the pending free agent may still have a little more left in the tank. But with the 49ers starting to get younger across the board — the drafting of punter Bradley Pinion last year to replace Andy Lee is an example — it’s harder to envision Dawson remaining with the 49ers than general manager Trent Baalke looking elsewhere.

Of course Baalke could dip into the free-agent market to lock up a veteran kicker. The problem is there aren’t any pending free agents at this position worthy of value. That will certainly change though.

Special teams will be rounded out by aces and depth players who can make contributions here. So while this portion of the team may not generate anywhere near the buzz as the offense and defense, it’s still an important factor

So there you have it — the complete prediction of what the 49ers’ 53-man roster may look like in 2016. There are obviously a lot of yet-to-be-determined variables and factors to be worked into the equation. And it’s anyone’s guess how Baalke elects to formulate this roster with the amount of cap space and draft picks at his disposal.

Training camp and the preseason will also play their respective roles in advance of 2016. Players will rise or fall and competitions will be won and lost. And then there are injuries.

More from Niner Noise

Such is the nature of the NFL.

How will the roster finally pan out? We’ve got a while to wait but a lot of pending information to change the outlook.

Next: 49ers Primer for 2016 Free Agency

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated. Contractual information courtesy of Over the Cap.