Why the 49ers' Offseason Didn't Impress Everyone

Originally posted on San Francisco 49ers on SI
By Parker Hurley | Last updated Jun 7, 2026 11:00 AM ET

The San Francisco 49ers' offseason was not flashy. The team added in areas of need, and while they lost a few pieces, they spent most of their offseason moves replacing the players who left. Because of that, Brett Sobleski of Bleacher Report gave the 49ers a C+ for their final offseason grade.

The San Francisco 49ers' offseason was slightly above average

The two positions where San Francisco improved most were the defensive line and the wide receiver corps. The defensive line saw a massive upgrade, going from Kalia Davis and Jordan Elliott to Osa Odighizuwa and Gracen Halton. Halton is just a rookie, but does not have a high bar to climb. Meanwhile, Odighizuwa outproduced the 49ers duo by himself last year.

At wide receiver, Jauan Jennings, and on paper, they are not going to have Brandon Aiyuk. Still, they did not have Aiyuk on the field last year, and they replaced Jennings with De’Zhaun Stribling and Aiyuk with Mike Evans. If Stribling takes time, the upgrade of Evans, plus the depth of an addition like Christian Kirk, makes the room much better.

Speaking of depth, they are much deeper at cornerback, even if they did not add a surefire starter. They did add three players who can push the current starters.

At running back, they lost Brian Robinson Jr. but replaced him with Kaelon Black. They also lost Bryce Huff at edge rusher and replaced him with Romello Height. These rooms could be considered slightly worse in the short term, but the team got younger and saved money to improve the potential in the long term.

They are a bit thinner at tight end and safety, and they have yet to figure out what will happen at left guard, so it is hard to give them the highest grade possible. The team is not leaps and bounds better, and while they did improve in key areas, they took steps back in a few others.

Still, the 49ers were not a team that was a massive change away from the Super Bowl. If they can get the star talent on their roster healthy, they already have the big names that are needed to make a run. The team needed to get deeper, younger, and they needed to make sure the supporting cast did not fall off.

A C+ is fair because of the minimal upgrade, but the 49ers are probably thinking they executed the plan to perfection.

This article first appeared on San Francisco 49ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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