San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers entered 2025 with warranted Super Bowl aspirations, won at least 12 games for the fourth time in seven years, ate a playoff W in Philadelphia … and ultimately fizzled out against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks in the Divisional Round. Of course, injuries played a MAJOR role all season long, as this defense was without franchise cornerstones Nick Bosa (14 missed games) and Fred Warner (11) for most of the year.

San Francisco returns the bulk of a roster that has looked capable of operating at an elite level when fully healthy in recent seasons, and they have the league's 12th-most effective cap space to work with. The bad news is that some of the team's longtime key players, like Trent Williams (38 in July), George Kittle (33 in October, coming off a torn Achilles) and Christian McCaffrey (30 in June), are getting older and not guaranteed to still have their best days ahead.

Wide Receiver: Brandon Aiyuk has played his last snap as a 49er, while Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne may be leaving via free agency. Ricky Pearsall has been healthy enough to suit up for only 20 of 34 regular-season games over the past two seasons. Throw in the potential for George Kittle to not be operating at 100% coming off his Achilles tear, and more high-end pass-catching talent NEEDS to be added here.

Secondary: San Francisco boasts the league's eighth-cheapest safety room and seventh least-expensive crop of corners entering 2026. It'll be especially important to find superior talent in the secondary with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh out of the picture.