49ers free agency: 5 surprise players Niners may add in 2021

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George Kittle, Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers

Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals and George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /

The 49ers don’t have a lot of wiggle room in NFL free agency this offseason, but there could still be some surprise additions.

Barring some serious roster alterations, the San Francisco 49ers are probably going to be pretty quiet on the NFL free agency front.

One of the chief priorities, of course, will be to retain as many of the near-40 pending free agents the team currently has set to hit the open market. But with just over $12.5 million in cap space for 2021, per Over the Cap, it’s not going to be an easy process.

And it’s likely going to limit whatever general manager John Lynch wants to do to retool his roster.

Because of this, it’s likely the Niners will have to look to reclamation projects and underwhelming players who could sign on the cheap, and Lynch might also need to consider adding others who would be something of a surprise addition.

Focusing on the latter category, here are five players who could potentially be eye-raising additions by San Francisco this offseason.

No. 5: 49ers bulk up tight end depth with Tyler Eifert

On the surface, it doesn’t seem as if this would be a good idea. At least not in the wake of the 49ers suffering so many injuries last season.

Injuries have defined veteran tight end Tyler Eifert’s career at the NFL level. The former first-round pick has played a full 16-game slate of games just once in his career, 2019, and it’s hard to imagine the 30-year-old one-time Pro Bowler suddenly finding a clean slate of health moving forward.

But Eifert, who spent last year with the Jacksonville Jaguars after being with the Cincinnati Bengals previously, won’t cost much because of this. And it’s no secret the Niners have spent considerable effort trying to find a complementary No. 2 tight end to pair with the All-Pro, George Kittle.

Last year, San Francisco took a flier on oft-injured tight end Jordan Reed. With Reed a pending free agent, it wouldn’t be overly shocking to see yet another low-risk, low-cost flier in Eifert’s direction.