Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports spoke to one top NFL executive about this year's free agent class. "On paper, it's the worst group of free agents I've seen since I've been doing this," that executive told La Canfora.
That is not good news for the San Francisco 49ers, who currently rank third among NFL teams when it comes to salary cap space, according to OverTheCap.com.
Former NFL scout, podcaster, and contributor for The Athletic, John Middlekauff, agrees with La Canfora's assessment. He spoke with Al Sacco and Zain Naqvi this week on the "No Huddle" podcast and was asked how he sees the 49ers approaching free agency.
"I just texted some of my buddies on different teams, and they think [this year's free agent class] stinks too," Middlekauff said. "Like, the best player hitting the market is Ziggy Ansah. And I talked to a buddy that I kind of lean on who is really good. He thinks Ziggy's best days are kind of behind him. Even though he had 12-and-a-half sacks, he didn't think he looked as good this year, kind of stiff.
"Obviously, he's battled injuries. He did have 12-and-a-half sacks, and pass rushers get paid but do I want to pay that guy 12 or 13 million dollars a year?"
There is a good chance that wide receiver Allen Robinson gets hit with the franchise tag by the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Dolphins have already tagged Jarvis Landry, who Middlekauff didn't see as a good fit for the 49ers anyway. However, he does like the idea of the 49ers finding an offensive lineman in free agency.
"Now, you could always sign offensive linemen in free agency, even if you have to overpay," he said. "The Raiders are a good example. If you get the top one and you overpay, you're not going to miss very often because they're typically plug-and-play positions.
"I don't think the corner group is that great. There's not like an A.J. Bouye-type corner on the open market so I'd expect the 49ers -- and I think this is why they signed [Daniel] Kilgore -- you do stuff like that when there's really not other guys to sign. You look at the center market, and you go, 'Well, our guy's solid, and there's no one to upgrade, and the draft's not great.'
"So I think you've got to balance who you're going to draft and what the market is. And the market is not good. Plus, a lot of teams have money. So that means the average guys that hit free agency get even more money than they typically get."
You can listen to the entire interview with Middlekauff below, from our dedicated podcast page, on iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud.