The San Francisco 49ers were one of the more aggressive teams in free agency last year. For years, free agency was a rather dull time for the Niner Faithful, who had gotten used to relatively uneventful starts of the new league year.
Seeing the 49ers spending money on free agents rather than relying purely on the draft was a welcome change for fans given how the previous regimes operated. San Francisco will once again be among the top teams in available salary cap money when free agency hits.
On Tuesday, during a joint press conference with the media, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed the 49ers' offseason plan.
"We'll be having a ton of conversations," Lynch said. "We have a good idea of where we want to go and how we want to do it. I do know that we're both encouraged. We've got a lot of resources both in terms of cap money but also in terms of draft capital, in terms of draft choices, that we have a great opportunity.
"Now again, that opportunity is only what you make of it. One thing you know, last year, we studied all these great players. Most of those guys get taken care of by the franchise tag or whatever. So, we'll continue to study, continue to try to improve, and we'll have a plan that's complete, and thorough, and well thought out."
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Lynch went on to state the 49ers' volume of free agents last year was pretty high due to the need to fill holes in the roster. That roster from the previous regime was considered to be among the league's worst. The plan last year was to fill as many needs as possible so the 49ers could use the draft to select who they felt were the best players available.
"Kyle and I both agree in being aggressive, but also you don't do things just because you have all this money," Lynch continued. "We have an ownership group that we're very thankful for. When we don't spend the cap, they don't put that in their pocket and say, 'Okay, thanks guys.' They roll it over to the next year.
"We'll be patient but also aggressive. If there's an opportunity to go get someone who can really improve us, we'll certainly take that opportunity."
Shanahan believes fans can continue to expect excitement from the 49ers when free agency rolls around in future years.
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"I think we'll always be aggressive," Shanahan said. "I think we were aggressive last year. Don't take that the wrong way in what you guys think that means. I think being aggressive is you've got to look at what your options are and what you believe is the right way to go. Whatever you decide on that, being aggressive is going out and getting those guys.
"That's exactly what we did last year. Maybe not a lot of high guys that seemed like it, but we went and got all the guys that we wanted to, that we targeted from the beginning, and I didn't feel like did lose on anybody. We'll go into this year the same way.
"You don't know what's going to be available in free agency. You don't know what's going to be there in the draft. I think the worst thing you can ever do is say, 'Hey, we have this much money, and we need whatever this is -- one of those guys you said,' and you don't see that guy. And then you go get the best available because you need that guy and he isn't that guy. That's how mistakes happen.
"You might not always get every ideal situation, but you just keep improving your team. If you don't have your idea situation at whatever position that is, then you get better at another position, and you lean on that side and work around that other way schematically."
