San Francisco 49ers: 15 best free-agent acquisitions of all time

Garrison Hearst, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Garrison Hearst, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 16
Next
Phil Dawson, San Francisco 49ers
Phil Dawson, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Greatest free agent acquistions in San Francisco 49ers history: 10. Phil Dawson

49ers Tenure: 2013 – 2016

Robbie Gould might hold some of the franchise’s best records at kicker. But one of his predecessors in Phil Dawson did it for San Francisco for longer. Therefore, it’s necessary to place him a bit higher on this all-time free-agent list.

Dawson spent four years with the 49ers, having his best years in 2013 and 2015 — seasons in which he recorded an 88.9 field-goal percentage. Those figures hold the No. 8 and 9 spots on the Niners’ all-time successfully made field-goals list. In 2013 and 2014, he was a perfect 100 percent in extra-point attempts, too.

Not even Gould can brag about those numbers.

Dawson might not have been quite as automatic as Gould was. Yet there’s no denying he was reliable, especially at a time when the 49ers were slipping from a perennial playoff favorite into one of the league’s cellar dwellers.

You have to give him credit for staying consistent during that time, too.