Grading 49ers Actions in First Round of Free Agency

49ers Re-sign Free-Agent Kicker Phil Dawson to One-Year Deal

This is it, 49ers fans. This is the move that finally brings this team back to relevancy after a couple of disappointing seasons.

So maybe it’s not the free-agent kicker I was hoping the 49ers would sign–that would be Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker–but Dawson is a close second.

Tucker was franchise-tagged by the Ravens less than two weeks ago, effectively taking the best kicker in the NFL off of the market. At that point, Dawson likely became a target for the 49ers.

Dawson’s 2015 cap number of over $4 million was never going to be an option for the 49ers in 2016. As of now, the team has kicker Corey Acosta signed for $450,000 and may see him as the kicker-of-the-future. That feels odd to say, but sometimes it’s important to keep tabs on cheap players that become replacements in the near future.

Despite his age–Dawson is 41 years old–he’s been one of the most reliable kickers over the past three seasons as a 49er. He’s made 81 of 94 attempted field goals, including making all three attempts from 50 yards or farther in 2015. For the 49ers, a team that seems to hate scoring touchdowns after getting within the opponent’s 20-yard line, that sort of consistency is incredibly valuable. Once Tucker was unavailable, re-signing Dawson seems like a no-brainer.

Signing a kicker isn’t the type of move that fans will adore but the 49ers have holes all over the roster and are wise to make decisions that get immediate value. The free agents that have elected to sign elsewhere could have been the upgrades that the 49ers need, but the price tags associated with signing highly-desired free agents scare off Baalke. That’s nothing new. Whether the strategy is exciting or not, we’ve seen consistency.

Grade: B

The 49ers approach to free agency over the last four or five seasons has been relatively clear–sign less players than we lose. That plan leads to the team receiving compensatory picks in the NFL Draft that, as of next year, can be traded like any other pick. Baalke enjoys stockpiling his picks and the free agent frenzy is another method of doing so.

They were just awarded four extra picks in the 2016 NFL Draft due to the loss of free agents last year.

In a league where finding hidden gems is crucial, the NFL Draft becomes a lesson in probability. With more options–i.e. picks in the draft–the 49ers and Baalke have a higher chance of selecting players that can contribute. That’s the flipside to the silence that we’ve generally seen from the 49ers in free agency.

The 49ers aren’t done in free agency. They routinely look for bargain players once the circus that is the first week has settled down. The team will probably target a wide receiver and offensive lineman over the next week to round out the positions of need before approaching the 2016 NFL Draft in April.

The overall report card for the 49ers in the first wave of free agency reads similarly to the inconsistency we’ve seen from the team on the field. With grades of A, C-,C+ and B, the 49ers are walking home with a G.P.A. of 2.75. That’s enough to get you into a good school but nothing to write home about. The 49ers will need to make more high-quality moves if general manager Trent Baalke wants to be considered at the top of the class again.

Next: Breaking Down 49ers Inactions

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN Statistics unless otherwise indicated. All salary cap figures and approximations courtesy of OverTheCap.com unless otherwise indicated.