5 pending free agents 49ers shouldn’t re-sign next season
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers face some tough challenges in NFL free agency in 2022, but those decisions should be made easier by not re-signing these five players.
The San Francisco 49ers, along with the rest of the league, can take some comfort in 2022 knowing the salary cap is going to jump from $182.5 million this year up to an estimated $208.2 million, according to Over the Cap.
Currently, OTC projects the Niners to have $12.77 slated for use in cap room next year, a number that’ll certainly increase a lot if the team fully elects to part ways with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo en route to opening up the door for the No. 3 overall pick from this year’s NFL Draft, Trey Lance, to start under center next season.
That’ll free up over $25 million in 2022, yet there are still plenty of financial challenges general manager John Lynch and Co. will have to face.
Those challenges can be alleviated somewhat, however, if San Francisco decides it wants to have nothing to do with these five pending free agents, who should kindly be shown the door during the offseason to sign elsewhere.
No. 5: 49ers Cornerback Jason Verrett
Few pro athletes have gone through as many injury setbacks as veteran cornerback Jason Verrett, who after playing just six regular-season games between 2016 and 2019, finally enjoyed a relatively clean slate of health in 2020 and set himself up for yet another productive season in 2021.
Only to tear his ACL in Week 1, effectively ending his year and probably his 49ers tenure.
Perhaps the Niners can be faulted for banking on Verrett’s health this season, and it certainly is unfortunate for him to have had such a devastating injury history. That said, the Niners have to shift their philosophy away from injury-prone players and look to reinforce their roster with players who can stay on the field.
As good as Verrett can be when he’s on the field, the liability of him missing extensive time with injuries is simply too great for San Francisco to explore once again after getting burned by it in two of the last three seasons.