The San Francisco 49ers are heading into the new league year in the NFL with high hopes of putting some pieces together to remain competitive in 2026 after having some unfortunate injuries derail their 2025 campaign.
Longtime 49ers general manager John Lynch will have his work cut out for him during the NFL offseason, as he and the team’s front office try to figure out what moves need to be made to get the San Francisco franchise back on track ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
49ers WR Jauan Jennings Likely on the Move
One notable free agent for the 49ers that seems to have an uncertain future moving forward is wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who is set to hit NFL free agency next week.
According to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, the most likely scenario is that Jennings heads elsewhere as a free agent, even though the team would like to keep him in San Francisco.
FA most likely on the move: WR Jauan Jennings. The Niners would like to keep Jennings, but the two sides didn’t come close to figuring out a long-term deal last summer, and Jennings didn’t have a big enough season to budge them. In what figures to be a competitive market for productive receivers, Jennings is likely to get a more lucrative deal elsewhere, making a return difficult to envision.
Despite there being a few talented wide receivers on the open market as of March 11, with Mike Evans, Alec Pierce, Romeo Doubs, Rashid Shaheed, Christian Kirk, Wan’Dale Robinson and former 49ers star Deebo Samuel all available, Jennings will throw his hat in the ring, looking for a lucrative long-term contract.
If Jennings does move on as predicted, it’ll be interesting to see whether San Francisco explores a reunion with Samuel to replace him or any of the other talented wide receivers on this list of free agents at the position.
Surprising Prediction on 49ers Star Trent Williams
Perhaps the one situation in San Francisco that has grabbed the most headlines lately is what the future holds for five-time All-Pro Trent Williams, who is still one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL, even though he’ll turn 38 in July.
Although some have speculated that it’s only a matter of time before Williams heads elsewhere, Wagoner believes the 49ers will rework his contract to keep him in San Francisco.
What do you expect to happen: Sign OT Trent Williams to a reworked contract. The Niners and Williams have again struggled to find common ground on a deal that would lower his nearly $39 million cap figure for 2026. But the 49ers don’t have an obvious replacement in-house and could still carry Williams on the roster at that number without feeling much of a cap crunch. If they traded him, they’d have to eat more than $34 million in dead money with a cap savings of less than $5 million. Williams’ age (he’ll be 38 in July) makes this tricky, but there is no good football or financial reason for the Niners to move on from him, which is why they’ll figure it out.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Williams stays put and what Jennings ends up doing once he’s officially a free agent.
