The 49ers’ selection of wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in Round 1 of the 2024 draft made plenty of waves regarding the future of San Francisco’s receiving corps. While speculation swirled about where he fit in the near and long-term, the 49ers made another addition to their receiving corps when they selected WR Jacob Cowing with the final pick of the fourth round. Cowing’s 5-8, 168-pound frame is a big reason he slid, but it didn’t deter Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar from calling him the 49ers’ best sleeper in a list of underrated picks in this year’s draft. Despite his frame, Farrar’s praise for ..read more

There’s not a more fascinating position group for the 49ers this season than cornerback. They have a clear top two CBs, but in the modern NFL where nickel packages are so prevalent, a third quality CB is necessary given how often three or more of them are on the field at a time. Shoring up that third CB spot was a clear priority for San Francisco this offseason, but in true 49ers fashion where CB play is prioritized below defensive line play, they invested more in quantity than quality. The result is a position group where several players will enter training camp with equal chance to either s ..read more

There aren’t that many worlds where the 49ers can salvage the trade up in the draft for quarterback Trey Lance. Safety Malik Mustapha, a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, gives San Francisco at least a slim chance to do it. Regardless of the reason the Lance trade didn’t work for the 49ers it’s impossible to call it a success. They dealt three first-round picks and a third-round pick to move up for a player they traded before that player’s third season began. That’s a mess no matter how many ways it gets sliced. Last year San Francisco sent Lance to the Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-r ..read more

There’s a small free agency wave that comes in the NFL after the draft ends and free agents no longer factor into the compensatory pick formula. This is where teams can help the margins of their roster with quality, if not elite, talent still available. We identified seven free agents the 49ers should kick tires on, and now two of them have agreed to deals with new clubs that are most certainly not the 49ers. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. made our list (mostly as a joke since he’s been connected to the 49ers seemingly every offseason for the last six years), but he is set to join the Miami D ..read more

In case there was any additional concern about the 49ers trading wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk ahead of the 2024 season, odds released from Bet Arizona lean heavily toward the Second-Team All-Pro staying with San Francisco. When Aiyuk wasn’t dealt during the first half of the first round of the NFL draft it was pretty clear the 49ers would be hanging onto their star receiver. Then general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan relayed to reporters after Day 1 of the draft that Aiyuk sent them a complimentary text message about the team’s selection of Florida WR Ricky Pearsall. When not ..read more

The 2024 NFL draft is in the books, and it was certainly a memorable one kicking off with a chaotic first round that featured an historic run on quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive tackles, along with trades galore and some surprising picks. While it’s far too early to evaluate these draft classes in full — considering they haven’t yet along played an NFL game — there’s been plenty of reaction to these 2024 rookie classes. There were several teams that were clear winners while others had some questionable moves that garnered early criticism. But we truly won’t know who won or lost this ..read more

The largest portion of the 49ers’ offseason is over with the major free agency waves subsided and the NFL draft over with. Now we can turn our attention toward rookie minicamp, OTAs, training camp and the preseason. With the clock officially ticking down toward the season opener in September, we can start our 53-man roster projections. Here’s how things shake out before any real offseason work begins (rookies are indicated by italics ..read more

Offensive tackle was often circled as the 49ers’ most glaring need heading into the NFL draft. We speculated here at Niners Wire that they might even trade up to find an upgrade at right tackle who could conceivably switch to the left side whenever Trent Williams decided to retire. Not only did San Francisco not trade up, they didn’t appear to draft an offensive tackle at all. However, former 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan believes one of their two selections on the offensive line could actually succeed Williams. The 49ers didn’t address their offensive line in either the first or secon ..read more

The 49ers did it again. Not only did they draft a running back before the sixth round, but they traded two fifth-round picks to get into the back end of Round 4 to draft a running back. That selection was a bit of a head-scratcher with Christian McCaffrey firmly planted atop the RB depth chart. It may signal a pretty dramatic change to a 49ers RB room that’s been largely steady over the last couple of seasons. Let’s take a look at how the depth chart shakes out immediately following the draft and how things might change in the lead up to the regular season ..read more

No major splashes in the NFL draft? No problem. The 49ers still sit at No. 2 behind the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL media post-draft power rankings. It makes sense that San Francisco would be there given that they’re returning virtually all of their starters on both sides of the ball. There’ll be a couple changes on defense after defensive lineman Arik Armstead’s departure and with safety Ji’Ayir Brown stepping into a larger role alongside Talanoa Hufanga. There may also be some movement at cornerback, but that’s more about finding the team’s best three CBs and their top two at that spot wil ..read more