It has not been surprising with general manager John Lynch having teased a reduction in cash spending this offseason, but the San Francisco 49ers have done very little in free agency amid a notable exodus of talent.
The secondary waves of free agency stand to offer some bargains the Niners would consider. Multi-year contracts are patently unlikely, but some stopgaps to fortify things around what's lined up to be a large incoming draft class should generally be on the radar.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell named three team fits for some of the best remaining NFL free agents. It would be difficult to tab the 49ers as a great fit for very many available players at this point, but Barnwell did so with a notable veteran cornerback.
Barnwell listed the 49ers, Eagles and Seahawks as ideal landing spots for veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
"Gilmore is the rare cornerback capable of playing man-to-man at a high level into his 30s. Between the Patriots, Cowboys and Vikings, he has played in some of the league's most aggressive defenses. And while he occasionally gets beaten, the now 34-year-old has held his own. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he allowed an 87.5 passer rating and slightly negative EPA as the nearest defender in coverage last season. Doing that as part of a defense that often asked him to cover on an island is an impressive feat."
"The Vikings only signed Gilmore last offseason after they seemed to realize they didn't have enough at cornerback. He was more than worth their $7 million investment. I wouldn't be surprised if the same scenario happened this year, where a team that looks thin at cornerback and doesn't love what it sees from some of its young guys in camp goes after Gilmore as a plug-and-play solution over the summer."
As Barnwell noted, Gilmore has become well-traveled in recent years. Unless he ends up going back to the Vikings, he'll be on his sixth team in as many seasons in 2025. And while his Defensive Player of the Year campaign was a while ago (2019), being unable to find a "consistent home" (Barnwell's words) isn't because he can't play as he has gotten into his 30s.
At the right price, like a one-year deal for less than $10 million, Gilmore could make some level of sense for the 49ers. But if he wants to chase a second Super Bowl ring before his career is done, San Francisco is not the place to do it next season.
The possible fit for the 49ers and Gilmore would also boil down to what his options are, and the timing of when he signs somewhere (he didn't sign with the Vikings until August last year).
But even those considerations are a stretch to try to match a player and a team that just don't look like a good fit for each other.
