3 biggest reasons to worry about the 49ers in 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers Will Lose Key Players in NFL Free Agency
The 2020 49ers will have some notable changes from the Super Bowl-bound 2019 roster.
According to Over the Cap, the Niners have a projected $12,108,031 in available cap space. General manager John Lynch and Co. can free up some room by cutting some players, restructuring the contracts of others and the like. But they also have to start thinking about extending some will-be-expensive players like tight end George Kittle and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner sooner than later.
That’ll cut into any money generated by reworked contracts and cuts, and it seems highly unlikely San Francisco will be able to re-sign all three of their top-name free agents, defensive end Arik Armstead, defensive back Jimmie Ward and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
Armstead and Ward both enjoyed career-best years in 2019. All one needs to do is look at how effective the 49ers defense was last season, combine the efforts from these two players and see how a would-be absence creates some notable question marks this upcoming season.
Additionally, Sanders potentially walking in free agency could create a void not exactly easy to fill with on-roster options. Two wide receivers, Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor, were both injured for all of 2019, and the former has yet to play a snap at the NFL level.
Aside from receivers Deebo Samuel and Kendrick Bourne, the 49ers have little proven commodities here.
Even if the Niners bring back at least two of their three big-name free agents, it’s a tall order to expect them to replicate the kind of performances they enjoyed over the course of 2019 again.