The NFL free agency window is about to swing open this week and the San Francisco 49ers will have quite a few holes to fill.
One intriguing name, though not at a position of glaring need, is Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham Jr. was initially believed to be on track to return last season, but his torn ACL in the Super Bowl made a recovery difficult, especially when teams reportedly wanted him to play in the regular season. He was reportedly close to signing with the Cowboys until a concerning physical and a declined workout ended those talks.
In the end, Beckham Jr. didn’t sign anywhere, and has had a tumultuous offseason in which he was escorted off a plane in a viral video from police body cam footage.
But he should return this year, and held a workout in Arizona on Friday. Per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, the 49ers were among 12 teams (the Jets were the only ones not mentioned in the tweet below).
Could San Francisco sign him? It’s not impossible, and they’ve expressed interest in the past, including 2021, when he signed with the Rams. But you’d imagine other teams are more desperate for receiving help, and the 49ers have more pressing needs elsewhere, like on both lines, safety and generally filling out the roster with improved depth at places like tight end and even linebacker.
As it stands, the 49ers have about $6.65 million in cap space, per OverTheCap. They can open a substantial amount of cap space with restructures of their major contracts, like with Trent Williams, George Kittle, Arik Armstead, etc., but it’s unclear how much they will choose to alter.
When they almost certainly extend Nick Bosa this offseason, his first-year cap number will drop massively and create additional cap space.
On Thursday, the league doled out a record-high seven compensatory draft picks, giving San Francisco 11 overall. In a year when they may be cap strapped, those picks will be massive. They may opt to seek receiving help for cheap in that avenue as opposed to free agents.
On the list of priorities, receivers are fairly low, with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud and Danny Gray all under contract for next season. That said, cap space can always be amended, and discounting possibilities is unwise in the offseason.
