4 free agents who could (improbably) re-sign with 49ers in 2023
By Peter Panacy
While we don’t know what their plans are, the 49ers are probably going to let these four players walk in NFL free agency, right? Right?
There are more than a few challenging choices facing San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan in NFL free agency heading into 2023.
For starters, according to Over the Cap, the Niners have just over $8 million in salary cap space, meaning it’ll be tough to offer a market-rate value to many of the starting-caliber players on the roster whose contracts are expiring with the start of the league new year this March.
Lynch and Shanahan can always engineer some roster-jockeying to free up money to re-sign some preferred players or to target others on the open market.
But that’ll mean bidding farewell to a number of other pending free agents, correct?
Not so fast.
San Francisco has surprised with some free-agent re-sign deals in previous seasons, and 2023 could shape up to be more of the same.
Particularly with these four 49ers players poised to hit NFL free agency and whom most think the Niners won’t re-sign.
But, what if San Francisco does re-sign these four?
49ers improbable free-agent re-sign No. 4: Tight end Ross Dwelley
The 49ers already made a lot of movement to suggest they were wanting to upgrade over Ross Dwelley for the No. 2 tight end spot behind the All-Pro, George Kittle, by grabbing Charlie Woerner in the 2020 NFL Draft and then adding veteran Tyler Kroft as a free agent last offseason.
Dwelley, who was the main support behind Kittle in 2019 and 2020, saw his snap counts decrease significantly in the last two seasons, and he was already suspected of being shown the door as a free agent a year ago.
Except the Niners re-signed him to a one-year deal.
Kroft didn’t exactly set San Francisco’s offense on fire behind Kittle in 2022, and Woerner remains a run-blocking specialist.
While the 2023 NFL Draft is full of promising tight end prospects, it wouldn’t be shocking if the 49ers retained Dwelley for yet one more season as a low-cost insurance policy.