San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who could extend their contracts in 2020

The San Francisco 49ers are looking to push their Super Bowl window beyond just a single season. One way to do that is to extend their important players beyond their current contracts. Here are five candidates for extensions during the 2020 offseason.

Up until recently, the San Francisco 49ers needed to consider creative ways to add to their rather minuscule amount of cap room heading into the 2020 offseason.

And then the first day of so-called “legal tampering” period leading into free agency ended up being a lot more eventful than anybody would have expected. The 49ers re-signed defensive end Arik Armstead to a long-term deal to the tune of five years and $85 million, although the overall number makes it look more massive than it actually might be.

Almost immediately after announcing Armstead, the Niners reportedly traded defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts for their 2020 first-round draft selection. The former 49er will sign a contract extension that will make him the second-highest paid player at his position behind the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald.

Subsequently, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan brought back safety Jimmie Ward, who is coming off his best season as a pro, on a three-year deal, checking off another box on their offseason to-do list.

All these moves, along with the passing of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement on Sunday, put the 49ers in a very different position as it pertains to the salary cap, according to Jason Hurley:

So on that level, the Niners are in much better shape in terms of considering players who they could offer contract extensions to. But the other purpose in doing so is to keep the 49ers’ Super Bowl contention window open by maintaining as much continuity on the roster as they can.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five current San Francisco players who might be in line for extensions this offseason.