49ers roster bubble watch with 2023 NFL Draft in the books
By Peter Panacy
With the 49ers roster now at a full 90 players, Niner Noise takes a look at which players are locks and which ones are on the bubble.
The major portion of the San Francisco 49ers' offseason roster construction for 2023 is over. Sure, there'll be minor tweaks here and there, a free-agent grab or a release that barely makes the news cycle. But, with the notable waves of free agency and the NFL Draft now in the rearview mirror, head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad looks much like how it will until the final 53-man roster is constructed ahead of Week 1.
With 90 players under contract, nearly half of those are going to see their hopes of sticking around with the Niners into the regular season dashed.
Related Story: Early 53-man roster predictions for 49ers after 2023 NFL Draft
There's a long way to go before determining that, however. And there are other X-factors that we'll take note of, too, such as contracts, crowded positions and whatnot. But we can try looking at who's at risk and who isn't in our first offseason roster bubble-watch piece of the 2023 season.
Per usual, each player will land in one of the four categories:
- Lock: Barring something crazy, he'll be there Week 1
- Strong bubble: Pretty good shape even if a spot isn't guaranteed
- Weak bubble: A lot would have to go right to survive cuts... and we mean a lot
- Long shot: Good luck, dude
Got it? Good. Let's kick this thing off with the group that, well... kicks. Special teams.
And there's actually some drama here for a change.