The 49ers’ quiet free agency period is no accident. San Francisco’s likely approach on the open market was laid out before the new league year began, and the franchise has stuck to a commitment to avoiding paying out large contracts this offseason.

Yet the 49ers are set to head into the draft still with 18 spots on the roster to fill. Even with 11 picks in the draft, it seems unlikely they will fill all of those holes with rookies.

San Francisco, despite some financial limitations that are a consequence of the contract extension the 49ers are set to hand Brock Purdy this offseason, has some room for maneuver in free agency.

But it seems set in stone at this point that the 49ers are largely focused on younger players who will not break the bank both in terms of cap hit and cash outlay.

At this point in the calendar, most free agents still on the market are players who will probably have to sign team-friendly, one-year deals, and the 49ers could still find some difference-makers who can help improve the team in 2025 and perhaps beyond without putting them in a financially difficult position. Here are three such players who have yet to find new homes.

DL Jesse Luketa

Luketa isn’t a well-known quantity, but he had a significant impact on the 49ers’ 2024 season going sideways.

The former seventh-round pick was the man who forced a crucial red-zone fumble from Jordan Mason in the 49ers’ Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, a play emblematic of his main strength, run defense.

Improving stopping the run is top priority for the 49ers on defense in 2025. Last season, Luketa had the fifth-highest PFF run defense grade among edge defenders with a minimum of 50 snaps against the rush. His run stop rate of 10.4 percent ranked seventh.

That his tally of three sacks last season represented a career-high for Luketa speaks to a lack of pass-rush upside. However, he is an edge who could eat up snaps on base downs and allow Yetur Gross-Matos and Sam Okuayinonu to kick inside more often.

San Francisco would still benefit from finding a potential long-term starter at defensive end across from Nick Bosa, but the 49ers also need reliable depth. Still only 26, Luketa is a player who can provide that and would likely come at a very affordable cost.

The 49ers signing a player the Cardinals elected not to tender as a restricted free agent might not sound very appealing, but it could be an astute move.

OT Jedrick Wills

Having once again dealt with an injury apocalypse coming off a Super Bowl loss, the 49ers have strong reason to be very reluctant to sign players with checkered histories in terms of staying on the field.

Wills’ injury history is very checkered. He has played a full regular season just once in his career and last year featured in only five games as he was benched for Dawand Jones. His 2023 campaign was ended by a torn MCL that cost him the final nine games.

But Wills does have first-round pedigree, previous history of excelling at the highest level with an All-Rookie season under his belt in 2020, and experience of playing both right and left tackle in his career.

Such is the potential emphasis on the defensive line, that the 49ers might not be able to add potential difference-makers on the offensive side of the trenches in this year’s draft.

For a team whose right tackle is an average starter at best and is in need of a long-term successor to Trent Williams on the left side, a bet on a 25-year-old reclamation project would be a smart one to take.

RB J.K. Dobbins

Do the 49ers still have Christian McCaffrey? Yes. Did they trade up for a running back last year in Isaac Guerendo? Yes. Do they already have four backs on the roster? Yes. Are they likely to select a back from this year’s loaded draft class? Yes.

Is any of that a reason to believe Kyle Shanahan won’t sign another free agent back he likes? Absolutely not.

Dobbins enjoyed his best season since his rookie campaign of 2020 last year, going for 1,058 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns for the Los Angeles Chargers.

An MCL sprain ended Dobbins’ 2024 season early, a continuation of a theme in a career defined by injury struggles. Yet his durability issues will likely keep the cost of signing Dobbins low, and there was plenty in Dobbins’ performances last season to suggest he would thrive in the 49er offense.

Per Sumer Sports, Dobbins’ explosive run rate of 12.3% ranked sixth among running backs with at least 100 rushes.

A deeper dive into the numbers reveals a back well-suited for a ground attack still built on a foundation of zone runs.

Indeed, Dobbins ranked fifth in Expected Points Added per rush among backs with at least 50 attempts on zone runs. His explosive play rate of 13.8% on such runs ranked second.

Dobbins was not as efficient on gap scheme runs, but he thrived on duo runs, which the 49ers called sparingly but executed effectively in 2024. Jordan Mason led the NFL (min. 20 duo rushes) with an explosive play rate of 21.7% on such rushes. Mason was also first in yards per carry (7.48) and EPA per rush (0.4), with Dobbins seventh (5.18) and eighth (0.15) in those categories.

While Dobbins would be a downgrade from the 49ers’ former second-string back in that regard, he would be a significant upgrade in terms of pass protection. Among the 35 running backs with at least 50 pass block snaps last year, Dobbins ranked third in PFF pass block grade. Mason only played 24 pass block snaps across the entirety of the year.

Signing Dobbins wouldn’t preclude the 49ers from adding another back in the draft, or stop them from keeping at least one of Taylor or Abanikanda on the practice squad. What it would do is give the 49ers a productive backup who is reliable in pass protection, providing them with a player they can trust to take some of the load off Christian McCaffrey.

Dobbins is a free agent who brings obvious inherent risk but, at the likely opportunity cost, it could be one worth taking.