Niner Noise looks at the influx of San Francisco 49ers offseason talent, via free agency and the NFL Draft, and breaks down five veteran players who may lose starting status in 2018 as a result.
Unlike 2017, the San Francisco 49ers weren’t heavily active in free agency and didn’t make a whirlwind of splash picks in this year’s NFL Draft.
It makes sense, after all. General manager John Lynch was tasked with improving the roster a year ago by any means necessary. This offseason, it was more about fine-tuning it — grabbing key pieces to address more specific areas of need.
The approach wasn’t perfect, by any means, but any influx or additions could possibly push would-be starters out of a job.
Key word: could.
To qualify as a starter, each player needed to be penciled in as the team’s No. 1 roster option at his position to start the season or start at least six games over the course of 2017.
For note, linebacker Reuben Foster is left off this list. His future, due to offseason off-field incidents, remains up in the air. So we elect simply not to go there right now.
Roster change each and every year. And every team’s goal is to improve at whatever position possible. With that as a backdrop, let’s look at five veteran players who could lose out on starting jobs in 2018.