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San Francisco 49ers: An Early Look at the Team’s 2017 Free Agents

By Peter Panacy

Jan 3, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert looks over the defense against the St. Louis Rams in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Rams 19-16 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert looks over the defense against the St. Louis Rams in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Rams 19-16 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 6, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; As San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) celebrates with San Francisco 49ers defensive end Quinton Dial (92) after beating the Chicago Bears 26-20 in overtime at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; As San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) celebrates with San Francisco 49ers defensive end Quinton Dial (92) after beating the Chicago Bears 26-20 in overtime at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert

The 49ers quarterbacking situation in 2016 is going to be very interesting, and that’s putting it lightly.

San Francisco has two NFL-caliber starters on its roster — Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert.

Kaepernick may be on the hot seat entering this season, but Gabbert is also playing for his NFL future, which has zero guarantees beyond this year.

It’s hard to state whether Kap or Gabbert would be an ideal fit in head coach Chip Kelly’s offense. Perhaps neither is. At the same time, Kelly has made seemingly unnoticed (Nick Foles) or underachieving (Sam Bradford) quarterbacks into something useful before.

So can Gabbert build on his relative success experienced with the Niners a year ago after he took over for Kaepernick in Week 9?

If there’s one thing clear, Gabbert isn’t a long-term solution under center for the 49ers. And unless he somehow makes himself invaluable to the Niners offense, there won’t be any reason to assume he’s under contract in San Francisco in 2017.

More from Niner Noise

So there you have it — an early look at the 49ers’ current list of free agents as it stands now.

Yes, this will change in coming months. Players may be cut, extended, re-signed or who knows what. Such is the nature of the NFL.

Next: Expectations for 49ers Best 5 Players in 2016

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