The San Francisco 49ers' first 90-man offseason roster is more or less finished after general manager John Lynch and Co. wrapped up their class of eight picks from the 2026 NFL Draft and subsequently inked additional undrafted players to the group.
Granted, the roster will shift and change over the course of the entire season, especially if the Niners take advantage of subsequent waves of free agency and sign still-available players to plug sizable gaps on the depth chart.
For now, though, what we know of San Francisco's offseason roster is just that: what we know.
It's fun to do this exercise a few times during the offseason, looking at the full roster and seeing who's on the bubble, who's safe and who'll be little more than an afterthought when the first 53-man roster is announced this September.
If you've been here before, you know the categories:
- Lock: Guaranteed a spot, barring unforeseen injury or something wild
- Strong bubble: Looking good, but can't quite guarantee a spot
- Weak bubble: A lot (and we mean a lot) has to go the right way to land a spot
- Long shot: Hope you enjoyed your Niners training camp experience
All contractual/salary information, courtesy of Over the Cap.
49ers roster bubble watch, post-NFL Draft edition
* denotes rookie
Quarterback
Lock: Brock Purdy, Mac Jones
Strong bubble: Kurtis Rourke
Weak bubble: Adrian Martinez
Long shot: None
No surprises here. Jones will back up Purdy, unless another team suffers a serious injury under center and offers a desperate package to trade for the former.
Meanwhile, Rourke should get his first pro-level action this summer after redshirting his rookie campaign. It'll be interesting to see if San Francisco tries slipping him through waivers and onto the practice squad ahead of Week 1.
Running back
Lock: Kyle Juszczyk, Christian McCaffrey
Strong bubble: Jordan James, Patrick Taylor Jr., Kaelon Black*
Weak bubble: Isaac Guerendo
Long shot: Sincere McCormick
Black was the 49ers' biggest of many reaches in the draft, which potentially means they'll give the third-rounder extra chances to prove the consensus wrong. And while Black won't endanger CMC or even James, the second-year pro, there's a better-than-good chance he bumps the estranged Guerendo from a roster spot after the latter was fully iced out from offensive duties last season.
Wide receiver
Lock: Mike Evans, Christian Kirk, Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling*, Demarcus Robinson
Strong bubble: Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins
Weak bubble: Junior Bergen, Malik Turner
Long shot: Brandon Aiyuk, Wesley Grimes*, Will Pauling*
Far more drama at wide receiver than either quarterback and running back.
Evans, Kirk, Pearsall and the rookie, Stribling, are all shoo-ins to make the cut, while Robinson should be there based on his $2 million in guaranteed salary in 2026.
After that, there's likely one spot, and it'll be split between Cowing and Watkins. The former has the edge on special teams, whereas Watkins is the shinier toy.
Of course, Aiyuk will be fully off the roster, come Sept. 1.
Tight end
Lock: George Kittle, Luke Farrell, Jake Tonges
Strong bubble: None
Weak bubble: Brayden Willis
Long shot: Hayden Rucci, Khalil Dinkins*
About the only question at tight end involves whether Kittle is fully recovered from last January's torn Achilles, and if he isn't, signs are already pointing at him missing less than the mandatory four weeks for starting off the year on the unable-to-perform list.
Willis appears to be a preferred practice squad call-up, should an added body be needed.
Offensive line
Lock: Trent Williams, Jake Brendel, Dominic Puni, Colton McKivitz, Brett Toth, Robert Jones, Vederian Lowe
Strong bubble: Connor Colby, Brandon Parker, Austen Pleasants, Enrique Cruz Jr.*, Carver Willis*
Weak bubble: Drake Nugent, Nick Zakelj
Long shot: None
Four of the five O-line starters are set with left guard seemingly the only unknown. If we assume Toth, Jones and Lowe all make the cut, given each has a guaranteed salary north of $1 million each, that'd likely leave just one more spot on the depth chart.
It'd mean picking one from the three incumbents -- Colby, Parker and Pleasants -- and the two rookies, Cruz and Willis.
Defensive line
Lock: Nick Bosa, Alfred Collins, Osa Odighizuwa, Sam Okuayinonu, C.J. West, Romello Height*
Strong bubble: Cameron Sample, Keion White, Mykel Williams, Gracen Halton*
Weak bubble: Evan Anderson, William Bradley-King, Sebastian Valdez, Mikail Kamara*
Long shot: Andrew Farmer II, Bryson Eason*, James Thompson*
It'll be interesting to see how far along both Bosa and Williams are in their respective ACL recoveries, and it wouldn't be a shock to see the latter start on a PUP list to begin the year, given his injury occured much later in 2025.
Fortunately, the offseason trade for Odighizuwa adds some additional thump that can't be overlooked.
Drafting both Height and Halton reinforce both the interior and exterior of the depth chart; the former serving as a third-down specialist, while Halton would have to flame out during camp not to make the cut -- a possibility, albeit unlikely.
Perhaps the 49ers give up on White, though, since he has zero in guaranteed cash for 2026.
Linebacker
Lock: Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Luke Gifford
Strong bubble: Tatum Bethune, Nick Martin, Jaden Dugger*
Weak bubble: Jalen Graham, Garret Wallow
Long shot: Milo Eifler
Trading Dee Winters after re-signing Greenlaw is probably the best news for the embattled Martin, whose rookie year was nothing short of a disappointment. He could still be an odd man out, though, particularly if Dugger takes on the walk-down rusher in coordinator Raheem Morris' five-man fronts.
Gifford, whom the Niners brought back, has $1.35 million in guaranteed cash, all but securing him a spot, primarily as a special teams ace.
Secondary
Lock: Nate Hobbs, Deommodore Lenoir, Upton Stout, Ji'Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, Marques Sigle
Strong bubble: Renardo Green, Siran Neal, Ephesians Prysock*
Weak bubble: Eli Apple, Jack Jones, Darrell Luter Jr., Jakob Robinson, Derrick Canteen, Jalen Stroman*
Long shot: Darrick Forrest, Patrick McMorris
It was a bit of a surprise not to see San Francisco add a safety in the draft, although the undrafted Stroman could make some waves and be considered for a role, particulalry if Brown, Mustapha and Sigle automatically comprise the top three of four.
Green seemed to fall out of favor in the playoffs last January, but unless the 49ers seek a trade to get some value out of his services, he should be OK.
Prysock will be fun to watch, effectively pushing Luter off the depth chart, should things go well enough for the rookie.
Special teams
Lock: Eddy Piñeiro, Jon Weeks
Strong bubble: Corliss Waitman
Weak bubble: Jack Bouwmeester*
Long shot: None
Perhaps the Niners have slight buyer's remorse on Waitman after adding Bouwmeester as an undrafted free agent.
That's the only logical conclusion just beyond taking an extended offseason look at a specialist.
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