The San Francisco 49ers finished 2025 with a 12-5 record and earned an appearance in the NFC Divisional Round. Then the NFC Championship Game dreams crashed and burned within 13 seconds in Seattle.
Even though the record and the playoff victory suggest the 49ers are close, the Seahawks and Rams showed there’s a bit of distance between them and San Francisco. While the 49ers were able to defeat the two teams above them in the NFC West the first go around, Los Angeles and Seattle showed just how far ahead they are of San Francisco in the backhalf of the schedule, sweeping the 49ers in the final three games (including postseason) by a combined score of 96-35.
And that was the case for the 2025 49ers: just good enough to beat teams they’re supposed to, but not good enough to beat teams better than them. The 13 teams the 49ers beat this season (including postseason) finished with a combined winning percentage of .434, while the six teams they lost to combined for a .716 winning percentage.
As well as the 49ers’ record said they did, they have plenty of needs entering the offseason. Let’s rank the needs of the 2026 49ers this offseason, from smallest to biggest need:
6. Tight end
Plenty of injuries complicated the 2025 season for the 49ers, but only one threw a wrench in the plans for 2026. With George Kittle’s 2026 season up in the air with his Achilles injury, the 49ers have a massive hole in a pass-catching group that had its fair share of issues in 2025.
The simple – and easiest – solution would be to bring Jake Tonges back after he put together some decent performances in relief of Kittle through his various injuries. After entering the 2025 season with zero career receptions in two seasons, Tonges recorded four games with at least five receptions and four games with at least 50 receiving yards. Obviously not at a Kittle level, but it’s passable, especially in a temporary role if Kittle returns at some point in 2026.
But what if the 49ers can’t bank on a 33-year-old Kittle to return to his proper level of play after such a devastating injury that is particularly tough to return from, especially on his side of 30?
Maybe the 49ers look to make a splash in free agency or the draft and look at the long-term of the position. The free agency class this year includes players like David Njoku, Kyle Pitts, and Isaiah Likely, all with varying levels of success, and could have an impact for Week 1.
Daniel Jeremiah recently mocked Kenyon Sadiq out of Oregon to the 49ers with the No. 27 pick. If you are tired of San Francisco taking defensive linemen in the first round, that could be a fun selection.
Tight end definitely isn’t a priority, but it’ll be intriguing to see how (if) the 49ers handle the position.
5. Cornerback
While the defense in 2025 was hampered by injuries to Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Mykel Williams, the secondary struggled despite being mostly healthy throughout the season. The cornerbacks were no exception to the issues.
In his first season as exclusively an outside cornerback, Deommodore Lenoir showed some concerns in his new role. He allowed his highest pass rating when targeted since his rookie season (99.8) while doubling his career total of touchdowns allowed with five in 2025. Not to mention, he was called for 10 penalties last season, tied for fifth-most among cornerbacks.
After a promising rookie campaign, Renardo Green showed some concerning signs of regression in coverage, so much so that he was pulled in the Divisional Round in favor of Darrell Luter, who also wasn’t a great option in his career-high 275 snaps played in 2025. Even the brightest spot of the group, rookie Upton Stout, had his fair share of ups and downs in his debut campaign, but with it being his first season, we can be excited about the ups and blame the downs on growing pains.
I wouldn’t fault the 49ers for going into 2026 with Lenoir/Green/Stout as the starters, but they must address the depth at the position. As nice as it would be to imagine the trio taking another step under Raheem Morris, it wouldn’t hurt to get another name or two (maybe Cobie Durant?) to shore up the lackluster position group.
4. Safety
While the corners weren’t exactly great in 2025, the safeties were that much worse.
Just like the cornerbacks, this position group was healthy outside of the five-game wait for Malik Mustapha to recover from an off-season knee injury. There were some struggles at the position, with Jason Pinnock and Marques Sigle getting the starting nod while Mustapha waited, and hopes for a continuation of a solid rookie campaign. Unfortunately, Mustapha hit a hard second-year wall.
There wasn’t too much positive to take away from Mustahpa’s 2025 outside of him recording his first career sack. He saw a 20 percent increase in completion percentage when targeted, a four-and-a-half yard increase in yards per reception allowed, and while he did record 21 run stops, his 16 missed tackles led the team. And not only did the numbers get worse, but his on-field presence was lackluster, as he constantly found himself out of position and allowed big plays throughout the season.
Ji’Ayir Brown was another up-and-down player in 2025. After seemingly falling out of favor after a flat 2024 season, Brown worked his way back into the starting lineup after some impressive work as the third safety in situations that called for one. But outside of his two-interception game against Carolina, Brown failed to find any consistent form.
Just like at cornerback, the 49ers would be well within their rights to stand pat with Mustapha, Brown, and Sigle, all of whom are in their first four seasons. But the position is stuck, and change is warranted.
Also consider that under Morris, the Falcons had Jessie Bates and added Xavier Watts, solidifying the defense’s final line. Maybe Morris looks at the 49ers group and sees room for improvement.
3. Offensive line
The biggest need on the offensive line is a choose-your-own-adventure, and it all surrounds Trent Williams. There’s been no indication yet that Williams is about to step down from his post, and it would make sense for him to return with only one year left on his deal. If he decides that 2025 was his last season, finding a left tackle would be priority 1A. But if he opts to play for a 16th season, the 49ers could put off finding his replacement for another year (or maybe even finding a contingency plan now instead of kicking the can down the road).
Under the assumption that Williams is on the 2026 roster, left guard becomes the 49ers’ most pressing need on the offensive line. Spencer Burford is a free agent and will likely get a significant pay raise on the open market. Ben Bartch will also hit the market, but will likely be a cheaper option if the 49ers want to take that risk again, as Bartch missed 10 games in 2025 with a couple of different injuries.
That leaves Connor Colby, who was less than stellar in his six starts. If the 49ers are priced out on Burford and want to move on from Bartch, Joel Bitonio could be a curious option. Yes, he won’t be a long-term solution, but he’s missed just two games over the last five seasons and has played under Kyle Shanahan when both were with Cleveland in 2014.
Center could also use an upgrade, but Shanahn has admitted his infatuation with Jake Brendel plenty of times, so unless the 49ers go and get an obvious upgrade like Tyler Linderbaum, I would expect Brendel to be your Week 1 center.
The offensive line has been an evergreen issue for San Francisco for a few years now, but at least the right side has a plan for the next few years with Dominick Puni and Colton McKivitz. Now, the 49ers must solidify the left side with so many pieces potentially moving around this offseason.
2. Wide receiver
In 2022, it felt like the 49ers were set at wide receiver for the foreseeable future with Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Jauan Jennings at the helm. Now, just four short years later, the 49ers could be without all three.
Aiyuk has certainly played his last snap with the 49ers after missing the entire 2025 season, but his absence gave Jennings his chance to be receiver No. 1 before hitting free agency this offseason. And while Jennings had a standout 2024 season, 2025 left plenty to be desired for the wide receiver. After a 2024 campaign that saw Jennings set career-highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, the only number he’d surpass in 2025 was the touchdowns, where he finished with nine. The improvement in scores is a positive, but Jennings didn’t take that next step forward that many expected him to make in his new role.
At least Jennings played in 15 games, unlike Ricky Pearsall, who just couldn’t stay healthy, dealing with a lingering knee injury and only playing in nine games in 2025. When he was on the field, he was productive enough, but he was seldom there. His injuries were to the point where Kendrick Bourne finished the season with more receptions and yards, despite not being on the roster at the start of the season and not having more than 50 yards in a game after the 49ers’ Week 6 loss in Tampa Bay.
The good news for the 49ers is that there will be plenty of opportunity to address the position over the offseason. They’ve already been loosely connected to a couple of Vikings receivers via trade interest. Colts’ receiver Alec Pierce hits the open market after the 49ers had flirted with trading for him the past couple of seasons. The draft is relatively deep at the position as well, and the 49ers could find some talent at pick No. 27. Hell, the idea of bringing Deebo Samuel back to the Bay Area can even be floated.
But, no matter how they do it, the wide receiver room needs a new look before the 2026 season starts.
1. Defensive end
Here are the bottom five teams in sacks from the 2025 season:
28. Carolina Panthers – 30
29. Arizona Cardinals – 30
30. Baltimore Ravens – 30
31. New York Jets – 26
32. Myles Garrett – 23
33. San Francisco 49ers – 20
I am not sure which is worse: finishing with fewer sacks than one player had or finishing with fewer sacks than the New York Jets.
Obviously, no Nick Bosa hurt the 49ers’ pass rush, but 20 sacks as a team is an abysmal number. Look at the Cowboys, for example, who shipped their equivalent of Bosa to Green Bay when they traded Micah Parsons before the season started. And even without their top-five pass rusher, the Cowboys nearly doubled the 49ers’ total with 35 sacks on the season.
The return of Bosa and Mykel Williams will help, but the 49ers will have to decide how to build out the rest of the pass rush. Bryce Huff had a disappointing season with only four sacks, matched by Clelin Ferrell, who played only eight games in 2025. Others made some noise in the absence of Bosa and Williams, like Sam Okuayinonu and Keion White, but the 49ers would be better positioned if those two were in a more rotational role instead of getting consistent snaps like they were this past season.
There are a few paths the 49ers could take to address this need, with the biggest swing for the fences being a potential trade for Maxx Crosby. It appears Crosby’s time with the Raiders is nearing a close, and there would be no bigger move the 49ers could make to address the pass rush. If the Crosby price is too much, free agency offers names like Trey Hendrickson and Dre’Mont Jones, both of whom the 49ers have rumored to be interested in in the past.
With all the possibilities the 49ers could go with to address this need, the biggest question of the offseason is which defensive end the will the 49ers take with the 27th overall pick in April’s draft?