General manager John Lynch and the rest of San Francisco’s front office has quite the to-do list in order to retool the 49ers into a Super Bowl-caliber roster once again.
Apart from the obvious, quarterback-branded questions, San Francisco has several key players hitting the open market to think about. Among them: guard Laken Tomlinson, defensive backs K’Waun Williams and Jaquiski Tartt, defensive tackle D.J. Jones and defensive end Arden Key.
Tomlinson may be priority No. 1 among those players. The 49ers traded a fifth-round draft pick to Detroit for the guard in 2017, and he’s been a strong presence on the line ever since. But Tomlinson’s three-year, $16.5 million deal is expiring, bringing uncertainty to San Francisco’s offensive line — one of the team’s strongest units.
In his exit interview Monday, Tomlinson told reporters that the lack of clarity he’s facing didn’t affect the sour feeling of the NFC Championship loss. He said he focused on not devoting energy to thinking about his free agency during the season.
“I love it here,” Tomlinson said. “Kind of, like, watching myself develop into the man, player, husband and the father, the character I have today, it all started with getting traded here to the 49ers. I owe a lot of thank-yous to a lot of people who had faith in me here. I would love to stay. But I know it’s a business. We’ll see what happens. But I love it here, I’ve always loved it here, everyone’s been great to me here.”
SF’s o-line ranked third in the NFL in 2021, according to Pro Football Focus. Left tackle Trent Williams, who set up one spot next to Tomlinson, recorded the highest PFF grade (98.3) of any player at any position. Tomlinson earned a 75.9 grade, third-highest among SF’s blockers.
“Obviously Laken is a free agent,” Williams said. “And he’s one guy that me, myself, probably more than anybody in the organization would definitely want back. Definitely know that we need him back. He’s an instrumental piece to this offense. So it’s one of those things, the business of it, we’ll see how free agency plays out. But whatever he gets, he deserves tenfold. He’s a guy that we can’t do it without. So hopefully he’s back.”
Tom Compton, who started seven games on the offensive line, will also be an unrestricted free agent.
Also on the interior — albeit on the other side of the ball — D.J. Jones is set to hit the open market. The DT tallied a career-high 56 total tackles, including 10 for loss.
“As far as the offseason goes, I’m a spiritual man,” Jones said Monday. “So I don’t think too much about what’s not in my hands.”
Along with Jones, Arden Key is another playmaker on the defensive line who will become an unrestricted free agent. Key finished second on the team in sacks, behind only Nick Bosa, with 6.5. He graded out at 69.5, per PFF.
If San Francisco is able to trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, as expected, that could clear up cap space to re-sign Tomlinson, Compton, Jones, Key and others.
The secondary is also an area with particular question marks. K’Waun Williams and Jaquiski Tartt, plus veterans Jason Verrett, Dontae Johnson and Josh Norman, could each leave in free agency.
More notable unrestricted free agents include Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Marcell Harris, and Maurice Hurst. A comprehensive list can be found on Spotrac.
“Each year, the team’s going to change,” DB Jimmie Ward said. “There’s going to be either somebody who’s going to go to another team — and that could be a heartbreaker. It’s always a heartbreaker. Like when we lost (DeForest) Buckner. He was a great teammate, phenomenal leader, great family man. You see how he helped changed the culture over there. So the same thing’s going to happen. I trust in John and Kyle. I feel like whatever guys — they’re probably going to offer some of the guys, who they want, who they feel like can help us win a ring this 2022-23 season.”