Why the 49ers didn’t spend like crazy in 2018 NFL free agency
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers were expected to be big players in NFL free agency this offseason but came away with blue-chip players instead of the big names. Here’s why.
At one point this offseason, the San Francisco 49ers were loaded with more salary cap space than any other team in the NFL, roughly $110 million before signing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a five-year extension.
Naturally, one might have expected general manager John Lynch and Co. to be aggressive on the 2018 free-agent market, right. Even if Lynch noted the team would be “prudently aggressive.”
Well, they weren’t exactly aggressive.
San Francisco 49ers
True, Lynch brought aboard two “big name” players in former New York Giants center Weston Richburg and running back Jerick McKinnon, the latter involving a bidding war with the New York Jets, per the New York Daily News.
And, of course, there was cornerback Richard Sherman.
But the other big-name guys many a fan wanted to see in a red and gold uniform — wide receiver Allen Robinson, cornerback Malcolm Butler or offensive guard Andrew Norwell — signed elsewhere. Did San Francisco gaffe, or was there another reason why none of these high-profile players ended up tier-one targets?
Want to know why? The 49ers are saving money.
According to Over the Cap, the Niners still boast just shy of $40 million in cap space. One figures about $8 million of that will be used to sign San Francisco’s 2018 NFL Draft rookie class, leaving about $32 million in cap space before the regular season starts.
To some, this might seem negligent — reinforcing an age-old notion about CEO Jed York being “cheap.”
There’s another reason, however. One that makes a lot more sense.
Playing the Long Game
Signing free agents to lucrative contracts on the first day of free agency can be a dangerous thing. All too often, those players wind up being cap casualties two or three years into their respective deals.
Take a look at former Indianapolis Colts nose tackle Johnathan Hankins, whose three-year, $27 million contract was cut short after just one season. Same thing with former Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, who lasted just a season through his three-year free-agent deal.
Rarely are these smart business practices. In last year’s case, Lynch was aggressive in free agency. But even he largely avoided the high-ticket players many fans thought the Niners would be interested in. Lynch’s actions in 2017 were more focused on blue-chip talent, rather than big-name players.
The same for 2018, only there were merely fewer names.
Additionally, this year’s free-agent class was generally viewed as pretty weak. That creates a player’s market, where free agents can drive up their own price with relatively few other options on the market.
Aside from McKinnon and Richburg, perhaps, the Niners didn’t want to get into massive bidding wars.
49ers Want to Save Their Cap Space
Spend money now or invest it? That’s the Niners’ question.
York reiterated back in January 2017 the team always rolls over excess cap space. That might not seem crucial right now, but it can play huge dividends in coming season.
There are some key contractual decisions facing Lynch and Co. on the horizon. Three players, defensive tackle Arik Armstead, as well as safeties Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt command attention here. Armstead, a 2015 first rounder, has a relatively expensive fifth-year option the team may want to pick up for 2019. The deadline to do so is May 3.
Ward, another first-round draftee, is currently playing on his fifth-year option. His injury history might negate the desire to sign him to a long-term deal, but it’s interesting to monitor nonetheless.
Tartt, a 2015 second-round pick, is a free agent after 2018.
Should San Francisco want to re-sign any/all of these players, it will need cap space to make it an easy move.
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Additionally, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and right tackle Trent Brown are players the 49ers may want to extend in the near future. Brown is a pending free agent after 2018, which could put pressure on the Niners to use their cap space left over to retain his services for the coming future.
Re-Signing a Team’s Players Is a Better Approach
If there’s a trend throughout NFL free agency, it’s often that bad teams spend big when the market opens. These teams, like the 49ers, often have the cap space because they had little reason to sign/extend players they brought aboard previously.
Why? Well, because they were bad.
Good teams make retaining talent a priority. It’s why you rarely see perennial playoff contenders targeting the big-name guys when free agency begins.
That’s the direction the 49ers are hopefully heading. They have a relatively young roster right now. But in the coming years, many of those players will be due for lucrative, expensive contracts.
Signing a player like Norwell, Butler or Robinson would have been nice. But that likely would have meant not re-signing someone like Buckner, Tartt or Brown.
Next: Refuting complaints about 49ers' 2018 free-agent class
You choose, 49ers Faithful. What would you have rather done?