The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the quietest teams in free agency, seeing a good number of players depart in free agency, while not electing to bring in much competition to add to their roster at key positions.
Key free agents such as Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga, Aaron Banks, Javon Hargrave, and Jaylon Moore have found lucrative multi-year deals elsewhere, while San Francisco’s biggest free agent addition thus far has been Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Luke Farrell on a three-year deal worth up to $20.5 million.
The offseason strategy has raised significant questions about the 49ers plan for the 2025 season and whether they’ll still look to be competitors after missing out on the playoffs in 2024.
At the moment, it seems like the organization is resetting financially before pushing their chips forward with their young players, with the focus on returning to being a potential contender in 2026.
One aspect that is going their way as a result of this offseason’s free agency is the compensatory picks that San Francisco is projected to receive in next year’s draft.
The 49ers got the maximum of four compensatory picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, receiving one in the third round, one in the fourth round, and two in the seventh round.
The third-rounder was from the loss of DeMeco Ryans and Ran Carthon. The other three were due to the loss of free agents during the 2024 cycle.
Where are the 49ers projected to land compensatory picks in 2026?
Currently, Over The Cap projects San Francisco to have three compensatory picks in the 2026 NFL Draft: two fourth-rounders and a fifth-rounder.
The fourth-rounders come from the losses of Aaron Banks and Charvarius Ward. Banks signed a four-year, $77 million deal with the Green Bay Packers this offseason, while Ward signed a three-year, $54 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
The fifth-rounder comes from Talanoa Hufanga, who signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Denver Broncos.
San Francisco could be eligible for more, but currently, the signings of Luke Farrell, Mac Jones, and DeMarcus Robinson cancel out the losses of Jaylon Moore, Dre Greenlaw, and Joshua Dobbs in OverTheCap’s compensatory formula.
Remember, departures such as Maliek Collins and Javon Hargrave do not factor towards the compensatory formula because they were released.
This projection could very well change heading into next offseason, depending on playing time and how the remainder of the offseason shapes out, but San Francisco has constantly been a leader in compensatory picks, both because of their coaching losses and choosing to build through the draft.
That seems to be the case once again in 2025, as the 49ers have elected to make minimal moves in free agency, while seeing a large contingent of key free agents walk. That sets up a crucial draft next month where San Francisco is currently projected to have 11 picks.
In that group, six picks are within the first four rounds, with four being within the top 100. Those selections will be crucial to filling holes, as the 49ers may need rookies to play more than ever in 2025.
