The San Francisco 49ers have an old roster. That does not come as a shock to anyone. A recent chart shows the average NFL roster age of every team in the league, and the Niners rank as the second-oldest team on average out of 32 teams.
What is a bit more jarring is the fact the 49ers are the oldest team on average, offensively, while they rank No. 11 in terms of average age on defense.
It’s a bit surprising the Niners have a younger-than-average defense, and yet their offense still makes them such an old team overall. With skill players like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Mike Evans being on the wrong side of 30, that shows just how old they are on that side of the ball, which is more than a little worrisome.
Injuries ravaged the 49ers in pretty much every way last season, but they certainly seemed to hurt more on defense. Both Fred Warner and Nick Bosa were lost to season-enders, while on offense, the Niners missed quarterback Brock Purdy and Kittle for extended stretches, but they didn’t lose anyone for good until Kittle went down with that Achilles tear in January.
It just feels like the Niners are going to have another injury fest in 2026. Perhaps that is being too pessimistic, but it’s been the case almost every season in the Kyle Shanahan era, and San Francisco has to travel a ton with a bunch of older players, so it is so easy to see it adding up to yet another injury-plagued season.
The Niners just have to hope they can avoid season-ending injuries. They can live if Kittle misses a few weeks or Evans can’t suit up for every contest. They have adequate depth to get them through and even win games, like they proved they could do last season. But the 49ers need to get healthy late in the year heading into the playoffs if they want to make any sort of run.
Once teams get into the playoffs, that old roster is going to look like an advantage rather than a hindrance because they have so many experienced players who have been in the heat of battle in the playoffs before. That matters in tough playoff matchups. So, as long as they can make the playoffs and do so in a relatively good position, health-wise, they should feel pretty good about their chances.
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