49ers don’t need to ‘win the offseason’ to be a factor in 2022

Free agency hasn’t necessarily been slow for the 49ers, but their lack of splash moves is glaring in an offseason defined by the movement of big-time talent. San Francisco’s operation in free agency doesn’t underscore a lack of faith in its roster to contend, or a lack of cap flexibility. Instead it highlights the reliance the team will have on its stars that are already in the building.

The 49ers were at their best this season when their stars played like stars. Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk and Trent Williams all headline a roster that should be ready to contend for Super Bowls. Warner, Kittle, Juszczyk and Williams all have deals that put them at or near the top of the market. Pending extensions for Samuel and Bosa should also put them with the elite at their position. There aren’t many teams that have that much top-end talent on their roster, and that doesn’t even get into running back Elijah Mitchell who had a terrific rookie season in 2021.

With five All-Pro-caliber players are already in the building it gives a team some leeway when it comes to adding stars. The 49ers would’ve loved to add Chandler Jones, Allen Robinson or another top free agent, but the absence of urgency from the front office when it came to landing a star shows their belief in the players they’ve acquired over the last five years.

Instead of making major waves, the 49ers added cornerback Charvarius Ward to a relatively modest deal. He’ll help a cornerback group that struggled with depth a year ago.

They also set out to improve their dreadful special teams units and did so with linebacker Oren Burks and safety Geroge Odum – both special teams aces for their former teams.

Arden Key is coming off a career year, but instead of paying him the bigger money he’ll get in the open market, the 49ers brought back 2020 sack leader Kerry Hyder to fill that void.

By the time the dust settles the 49ers will have the core of their roster that went to the NFC championship game and carried a two-score lead into the fourth quarter. Minor tweaks might actually improve the team top-to-bottom, even if they didn’t grab any offseason NFL headlines.

There are still question marks under center that will play a major role in how far this iteration of the 49ers goes, but those are largely unanswerable until the games start. Ultimately as long as their stars shine, the 49ers will be a factor in 2022 even if they didn’t ‘win’ the offseason.