The 49ers could, in theory, apply the franchise tag on Dre Greenlaw this offseason even if it doesn't seem like a good idea.
The San Francisco 49ers have plenty of offseason questions, including what to do about a small-but-noticeable list of pending free agents poised to hit the open market in a few weeks with the start of the league new year.
One of the strategies general manager John Lynch could deploy is using the franchise tag on one of those soon-to-be free agents. After all, Lynch and Co. would have from Feb. 18 through March 4, teams can apply tags on players with the desire to either keep them for another season or extend the window for contract negotiations.
It's not unlike what the Niners did with former kicker Robbie Gould back in 2019, applying the franchise tag before signing the veteran specialist to a long-term contract extension.
That's the last time San Francisco has used the tag, so there's evidence it's not a preferred tactic by Lynch and the front office.
If anything, there's only one player who'd remotely make sense for the 49ers to apply the franchise tag, linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
If you had to pick a player for 49ers to apply the franchise tag, Dre Greenlaw would be it
The Niners essentially have three top-quality free agents hitting the market this offseason:
- LB Dre Greenlaw
- CB Charvarius Ward
- S Talanoa Hufanga
There are others, yes, but these would be the blue-chip players for San Francisco.
The 49ers already committed big money to fellow cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and have second-year pro Renardo Green assuming a bigger role in 2025, likely pointing toward Ward departing this offseason. With Malik Mustapha's ascent last year, the need for Hufanga lessens, too.
It doesn't make much financial sense for the Niners to commit approximately $20 million in fully guaranteed money to either pending free-agent defensive back on a franchise tag.
Greenlaw does make some sense to receive the franchise tag, especially in light with how much San Francisco's defense struggled without him for the majority of 2024. Unless the 49ers are counting on third-year pro Dee Winters taking a massive leap alongside All-Pro Fred Warner this upcoming season, retaining Greenlaw is most desirable.
Just ask Warner.
That said, if franchise-tagging a defensive back is expensive, doing so with a linebacker is even pricier: an estimated $27 million fully guaranteed, the second-costliest tag behind quarterbacks.
The Niners would have zero interest in applying the tag on Greenlaw for that amount of money unless they were absolutely sold on engineering a contract extension with him; a window that would extend into July.
Of course, Greenlaw would be restricted from hitting the open market, and he might not want to engage in long-term extension talks with San Francisco anyway, putting the team at risk of paying Greenlaw $27 million fully guaranteed.
So, that doesn't make much sense either.
But, if the 49ers had to pick a player, Greenlaw would be it.