SF 49ers: Post-free agency 53-man roster projection

SF 49ers Specialists (3)

K Robbie Gould

P Mitch Wishnowsky

LS Taybor Pepper

This isn’t a particularly complicated group.

Robbie Gould had another strong season in 2020, hitting on 83 percent of his field goals last year on 23 attempts. He is also signed to a contract that keeps him in San Francisco through 2022 since he would account for over $12 million in dead money over the next two seasons and stand as negative cap savings for 2021 if cut.

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2021 will be year three of Mitch Wishnowsky’s rookie deal, and while him being a fourth-round draft selection means his cap hit is over $1 million for each of the next two years, the Aussie punter has been solid enough to be considered safe.

As for long-snapper Taybor Pepper, he came in a quarter of the way through last season and solidified the position, prompting the team to bring him back on a two-year deal.

The kicking battery being in set in place through the whole season should hopefully be good news for the 49ers, although it hopes to need less of both its kicker and punter than it did in 2020.

Again, it’s too early to tell if these predictions will be even close to correct, but the key thing to note here is that, barring injury, the Niners will return one of the better rosters in the NFC, a group that should catapult them right back into contention.