{"id":814303,"date":"2026-03-15T22:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/814303\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T22:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:38:25","slug":"49ers-news-niners-ranked-in-top-5-most-improved-teams-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/814303\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers news: Niners ranked in top 5 most improved teams in free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The San Francisco 49ers haven\u2019t made too many moves so far in free agency, but they\u2019ve made some impactful ones, specifically signing wide receiver Mike Evans on a three-year, $42.4 million deal that is worth up to $60 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Additionally, San Francisco brought back Dre Greenlaw on a one-year deal, reuniting him with former running mate Fred Warner. They\u2019ve also added swing tackle Vederian Lowe, cornerback Nate Hobbs, and punter Corliss Waitman, while re-signing linebacker Luke Gifford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That was enough to convince ESPN\u2019s Aaron Schatz that the 49ers were one of the NFL\u2019s five most improved teams through the early free agency period along with the Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">As expected, Schatz named Mike Evans as the team\u2019s best signing this offseason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cThe 49ers made only one major signing, but it was a really good one,\u201d Schatz wrote. \u201cEvans is exactly the kind of receiver that the 49ers were missing in a couple of ways. He\u2019s a large (6-foot-5, 231-pound) perimeter threat who can win on 50-50 balls, and he\u2019s an experienced veteran who can be an important locker room presence. The injury-riddled 49ers have to hope they are getting the Evans from most of his career (11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons) instead of last year\u2019s Evans (who dealt with hamstring and collarbone injuries and played just eight games).\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">He also named Lowe as the team\u2019s most underrated signing, given the team\u2019s need for a swing tackle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cLowe is not the best player out there; his pass block win rate was 89.2% last season, which is below average, although his run block win rate was an above-average 75.7%,\u201d Schatz. \u201cHowever, he fits well in San Francisco as a swing tackle just in case something happens with Trent Williams\u2019 contract situation or in case 37-year-old Williams comes back but gets hurt during the 2026 season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">San Francisco has also made a trade for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, so they\u2019ve shored up wide receiver, linebacker, defensive line, cornerback, and offensive line depth so far this offseason, with room for more additions. The team should also see an increase in cap space if\/when they extend Trent Williams, whose cap hit is currently nearly $39 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">2026 will be a crucial year for the team, with San Francisco\u2019s stars continuing to get older and multiple key players coming off injuries. We\u2019ll see how much more the team pushes its chips in this offseason for a Super Bowl run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco 49ers haven\u2019t made too many moves so far in free agency, but they\u2019ve made some&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,6,52326,52067,1137],"class_list":{"0":"post-814303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-free-agency","11":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-roster","12":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116235594166259548","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}