49ers: Free agency, the NFL Draft and other areas of concern in 2020
By Peter Panacy
Coming off a tough loss in Super Bowl 54, the San Francisco 49ers now face the arduous task of contending again in 2020. Free agency and the NFL Draft are among challenges facing the red and gold this new year.
It’s going to be difficult for the San Francisco 49ers to make it back to the Super Bowl after their heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the big game on Feb. 2.
As pointed out by CBS Sports, ranking the last 10 Super Bowl losers, only the 2018 New England Patriots managed to win the following year’s league championship game after being stunned by the Philadelphia Eagles the year before.
And like every team each and every offseason, the Niners are going to face some challenges. Unlike previous seasons, where San Francisco was likely enjoying a plethora of open cap space and a top pick in the NFL Draft, the 2020 49ers face an entirely different array of question marks — the kinds which the team hasn’t faced since much earlier last decade.
A number of the Niners’ key contributors are hitting NFL free agency. Determining who to re-sign presents a challenge for general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers hold only one pick in the 2020 NFL Draft between Rounds 1 and 4, and it comes late in the first round.
San Francisco isn’t going to proverbially “sneak up” on anyone this year, as the rest of the league now knows the 49ers have reached the pinnacle of contending for a Super Bowl.
Simply put, the 2020 offseason offers an entirely new slate of challenges Lynch, Shanahan and the rest of the franchise will face. In addition to those on-roster players, who’ll have to figure out a positive way to use the Super Bowl loss as motivation, here are other significant challenges the Niners will have to deal with between now and the start of next season.