As the 49ers’ season was going up in flames on Saturday evening in Seattle, I started to already pivot to 2026 and thinking ahead to all the improvements that the 49ers need to make in order to position themselves as a Super Bowl contender.
This was a successful season as part of a multi-year retool that the 49ers embarked on. I likened this team to the 2023 Rams’ team who had to reset their cap, utilize draft capital to get younger and retool the roster around some of their stalwart players.
The 49ers did the same, releasing aging veterans from last year’s team, taking on large amounts of dead cap money, utilizing half their draft picks to rebuilding the defensive line and defensive backfield.
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The expectation was for the 49ers to make the playoffs and see if their team can be improved as the year went on. They did exactly that, with injuries to Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle, Brock Purdy, amongst others. Winning 12 games and a road playoff game against the defending Super Bowl champions is an incredible accomplishment. While it stings that the season over, 49ers’ fans should be proud of the product that their team put forth on the field this season.
Here are some areas that I’d like to see them improve this offseason – through the draft and free agency – to position themselves as a strong Super Bowl contender going into next season.
Speed, speed and more speed
This was the most glaring difference on Saturday between the 49ers and Seahawks. The 49ers didn’t have any speed with their playmakers on the field. Their fastest receiver this season was Ricky Pearsall, but he by no means is field-stretching threat that puts fear in the heart of defenders. Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins – who were true speedsters – couldn’t be found on the field this season.
They also lacked speed in the defensive secondary. Marques Sigle brought that element, but he wasn’t disciplined enough to stay on the field this season and was benched after Week 5.
The 49ers are going to have to get younger and add speed on offense for the skill players and also in the secondary.
Improve the defensive line and pass rush
The 49ers were dead last in the NFL in sacks and pressure rate this season. It was a personnel issue coming into the season and that flaw was exposed after the loss of Nick Bosa. They didn’t have enough bodies to consistently generate pass rush and pressure with four and that was a huge flaw as the season went on.
If your defense can’t generate pressure consistently with your front four, it’s going to be hard to be a stout defense.
Solve the health crisis
This is the big unknown and will require the most resources this offseason. The 49ers continue to be one of the more injured teams under Kyle Shanahan and it’s hindering their high-end ceiling each season.
This offseason, the 49ers have to dedicate a lot of resources to solving the injury problem. Whether that’s changing out their athletic training staff, improving their offseason workout regimen or changing their practice schedule/habits, Shanahan and John Lynch need to solve this problem.
There’s plenty of physical, tough teams in the NFL that find a way to stay healthy during the season and the 49ers consistently lead the NFL in soft-tissue injuries and that’s going to be the most important problem to solve this spring.
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