In the NFL, there are teams that go out and overpay for certain free agents every year. As anticipated, these players typically never live up to the hype of their contracts. The San Francisco 49ers were wise to steer clear of these five free agents.
The 49ers came into NFL Free Agency with over $100 million in cap space to spend on free agents.
Nine days after the new league year began, the 49ers lead the league in cap space, with $73.9 million, even after signing 13 free agents.
Many people, including NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal, claimed that “agents smelled blood in the water with new general manager John Lynch and knocked him around at the negotiating table.”
But in actuality, Lynch and the 49ers did a fantastic job of avoiding free agents that will hurt the long term future of the team.
If you breakdown all the contracts that the 49ers dished out last week, most are front-loaded and incentive based. The 49ers also hold team options on a lot of the players in the latter years of their contracts.
After taking a look at the contracts that some players received around the league, Lynch and Co., were wise to avoid these five free agents.
No. 1: Quarterback Mike Glennon
It was obvious coming into NFL Free Agency that the 49ers needed a quarterback. After QB Colin Kaepernick had opted out, the 49ers didn’t have a single one on their roster.
John Lynch didn’t make the mistake of signing an unknown in QB Mike Glennon, rather signing a proven veteran in QB Brian Hoyer.
San Francisco 49ers
Over the last two years, Glennon has only attempted 11 passes. Think about that for a second, the player that has barely seen live action in the last two years is going to make $15 million over the next three years.
Standing at 6-foot-6, the 27-year old quarterback, has spent four years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his time there, he started in 18 games, completed 59.4 percent of his throws for 4,100 yards.
None of these number validate the 3-year, $45 million deal that he just signed with the Chicago Bears.
On the flip side, the 49ers signed a 31-year old veteran quarterback in Hoyer. His deal was for 2 years, $12 million, which is a much more manageable number.
Hoyer, based on his contract and numbers, was the smarter option for the San Francisco 49ers at this time. Glennon might have the potential upside to be a starter in the NFL, but the risk that’s associated with signing him was extremely high.
Lynch was smart to avoid Glennon, even with the desperate need for a quarterback.
No. 2: Cornerback A.J. Bouye
CB A.J. Bouye was a marquee free agent heading into 2017 who was going to get a huge deal on the open market.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, as they so often do, decided to sign him to a 5 year, $67.5 million contract. The Jaguars decided to make a player that only has 18 career starts, the 7th-highest paid cornerback in the league.
Bouye, 25, made 11 starts for the Houston Texans in 2016, stepping in after injuries in the secondary. He had 63 tackles and 16 passes defensed, but only one interception. For his four-year career, he only has six interceptions.
Just to put it in perspective, there were four players in 2016, that had six interceptions or more.
These are the contracts that can potentially set a rebuilding team further back in its’ mission to come back to relevance.
The 49ers have a need for a shutdown cornerback, with CB Tramaine Brock aging and DB Jimmie Ward potentially moving to free safety.
But with that said, it was smart of John Lynch to avoid Bouye at this price tag for someone that’s only been relevant for one season.
No. 3: Inside Linebacker Dont’a Hightower
This might be the most surprising one on this entire list, but hear me out first. I’ve been as big a proponent of signing LB Dont’a Hightower as any other 49er fan, but there were some red flags throughout this process.
First, there weren’t many suitors for Hightower as one would expect for a dominant linebacker. The Pittsburgh Steelers showed interest in him, but let him leave without signing him to a contract.
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Then, the New York Jets were reportedly courting the Patriots linebacker, but after a physical, they decided to pull the offer.
This raised the question, why was a dominant, top of the market, free agent only being courted by three teams, one being his own?
Hightower is a chess piece on defense, he isn’t necessarily a true inside linebacker or a solid outside pass rusher. Over the past three seasons, he’s missed 11 games due to various injuries with New England.
Also, playing for Bill Belichick, Hightower was implemented in a system that best suited his strengths, but with the 49ers, could he and LB NaVorro Bowman be a strong tandem?
Not so sure if he could be what LB Patrick Willis was for Bowman, but it was smart of the 49ers to avoid the risk with Hightower.
No. 3: Defensive End Calais Campbell
At 30 years old, it seemed like DE Calais Campbell might have one more small run left in him in Arizona. Nope, think again, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Campbell to an outrageous four-year, $60 million deal.
The 49ers have been looking to add defensive line depth, even with the signing of DT Earl Mitchell. Not only would it strengthen the 49ers DL, but also weaken a division rival in Arizona.
But Campbell’s contract is so far out the 49ers’ ballpark, that it was wise for them to avoid Campbell.
Spending his entire nine-year career in Arizona, Campbell has racked up 382 tackles and 56.5 sacks. He’s been a formidable part of their defensive line, but at an inclined age, can he continue to perform at the same level?
That’s the most important question to answer and clearly Jacksonville thinks he can. It was wise for John Lynch and Co. to look younger to shore up their defensive line and avoid a prized free agent in Campbell.
No. 5: Wide Receiver Terrelle Pryor
Another surprise on this list, but again through this free agency process, I realized that WR Terrelle Pryor’s market wasn’t as large as anticipated.
After one big season with Cleveland, not many teams were willing to sign Pryor to a long-term deal. In 16 games, he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards, with four touchdowns.
The biggest thing in his favor is that the Browns didn’t have a real quarterback all season and Pryor still managed to put up those numbers.
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- Low-risk free agents 49ers can still target before NFL Draft
- 49ers aren’t talking to this free agent (but they should)
Even Cleveland didn’t want to sign him to a long-term deal, choosing the 28-year old WR Kenny Britt instead for a four-year deal.
Pryor didn’t have many suitors, with the Redskins and Browns really being the only ones pursuing him early in free agency.
It was also reported that he was looking for deal that had a much higher annual average and that potentially cost him some options.
He landed with Washington on a one-year, $8 million deal, who were desperate after losing receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson.
Next: Breaking Down the 49ers’ Salary Cap After the First Wave of Free Agency
The 49ers probably did the right thing and avoided giving Pryor a long-term contract. With only one year of receiver experience at 28 years old, it was smart to not risk a lot of cap space on Pryor.