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) /
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Gary Plummer, San Francisco 49ers
25 Sep 1994: LINEBACKER GARY PLUMMER, #50, OF THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS IN ACTION DURING A 24-13 WIN OVER THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT CANDLESTICK PARK IN LOS ANGELES. /

Greatest free agent acquistions in San Francisco 49ers history: 9. Gary Plummer

49ers Tenure: 1994 – 1997

While Deion Sanders was the 49ers’ biggest free-agent acquisition in 1994, it’s almost impossible to overlook the importance of bringing in former San Diego Chargers linebacker Gary Plummer. He helped solidify the Niners’ defensive front seven that year.

Plummer didn’t quite have the numbers over his four-year tenure in San Francisco, compared to his lengthy time in San Diego. While he did manage 64 tackles in 1994, that number paled in comparison to the whopping 146 he had back in 1989.

Still, that 1994 season was magical for Plummer. He’d have the chance to enact some vengeance against his former Chargers squad in Super Bowl XXIX, and Plummer felt as if that was part of the culture he joined.

“Once I signed with the 49ers, it was, ‘See you in Miami in January,'” Plummer said back in 1995, via the New York Times. “I knew we’d be here. I wasn’t sure about them. Football had become drudgery in San Diego. You go 4-12 and 6-10 a lot and you are not having fun.”

Plummer sure seemed to have fun in San Francisco.

His abilities against the run, in particular, ensure him a spot within the top 10 of the Niners’ all-time free-agent pickups.