Alec Pierce-WR

Not sure how feasible this is, if at all but considering that one of the 49ers major deficiencies on the offensive side is lack of a true deep threat, one of the best deep threats in football is about to become a free agent. Pierce has evolved into a much more complete receiver, a better all around route runner and is capable of being a weapon all over the field. I don't think he'll end up with the 49ers but with the situation with Aiyuk, the possibility of Jennings walk and Pearsall's injury issues, its something worth considering.

If not Pierce than they badly need someone similar that can be a reliable field stretcher to keep defenses honest.

We need some help on offense this year and can't wait for rookies to develop enough for us to play them. We need a X with speed to stretch the field. It would be nice to have someone with height and speed for a change plus being able to block.
He's improved roue running like you said. Bad part is he won't be cheap.
We need to be in on him unless we try to trade for a bigger prize like Jefferson that ESPN mentioned.

This is my top free agent. I would to see he and Jennings out wide. Maybe Slide Jennings to the slot with Pearsall and Pierce outside?

I can't envision the 49ers giving out another big contract to a WR anytime soon.

Originally posted by Kolohe:
This is my top free agent. I would to see he and Jennings out wide. Maybe Slide Jennings to the slot with Pearsall and Pierce outside?

Quite literally 0% chance the 49ers retain Jennings and sign Pierce. In fact, it's unlikely they even retain Jennings. Last I saw, the 49ers still have $30m in dead money on the books. Based on what Silver and Kawakami reported last year, the Yorks want most of that cleared before giving out another big contract again.

Originally posted by Heroism:
Quite literally 0% chance the 49ers retain Jennings and sign Pierce. In fact, it's unlikely they even retain Jennings. Last I saw, the 49ers still have $30m in dead money on the books. Based on what Silver and Kawakami reported last year, the Yorks want most of that cleared before giving out another big contract again.

They ate most of that dead money last year, over $100 mil. They have $20 something million for this year and then they are in the clear.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/san-francisco-49ers

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by Heroism:

Quite literally 0% chance the 49ers retain Jennings and sign Pierce. In fact, it's unlikely they even retain Jennings. Last I saw, the 49ers still have $30m in dead money on the books. Based on what Silver and Kawakami reported last year, the Yorks want most of that cleared before giving out another big contract again.

They ate most of that dead money last year, over $100 mil. They have $20 something million for this year and then they are in the clear.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/san-francisco-49ers

They can retain Jennings and sign Pierce. We'll have $50M-ish in cap space. Jennings has about $8M on the books as part of a void deal. However, if they retain him, that would count towards his new contract. So assuming $20M/yr contact, the impact is $12M vs the cap.

Pierce will likely average $25M annually. 49ers can easily do some contract creativity here to reduce the initial cap hit.

Lastly, they can restructure Trent Williams contract, which would free up another $12M.

So the cap space isn't an issue. The bigger issue is the distribution of your money. Pierce has missed multiple games due to injury. And then signing Jennings means you are paying a lot of big dollars for older aging players including high priced vets coming back from significant injuries - Kittle, Bosa, Warner

Originally posted by Heroism:
I can't envision the 49ers giving out another big contract to a WR anytime soon.

They should because they for sure as hell don't envision using their drafted WRs until year 2. So whatever wr they draft will be stuck on the bench meaning another wasted pick that should be contributing

Originally posted by GEEK:
They can retain Jennings and sign Pierce. We'll have $50M-ish in cap space. Jennings has about $8M on the books as part of a void deal. However, if they retain him, that would count towards his new contract. So assuming $20M/yr contact, the impact is $12M vs the cap.

Pierce will likely average $25M annually. 49ers can easily do some contract creativity here to reduce the initial cap hit.

Lastly, they can restructure Trent Williams contract, which would free up another $12M.

So the cap space isn't an issue. The bigger issue is the distribution of your money. Pierce has missed multiple games due to injury. And then signing Jennings means you are paying a lot of big dollars for older aging players including high priced vets coming back from significant injuries - Kittle, Bosa, Warner

yes, this isn't a cap issue. It's a CASH issue. There's still a lot of dead money next year. Do not expect any sexy signings. The Yorks want the books cleared. Until then, they're cutting back on cash spending.

people need to stop focusing on the cap

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by GEEK:
They can retain Jennings and sign Pierce. We'll have $50M-ish in cap space. Jennings has about $8M on the books as part of a void deal. However, if they retain him, that would count towards his new contract. So assuming $20M/yr contact, the impact is $12M vs the cap.

Pierce will likely average $25M annually. 49ers can easily do some contract creativity here to reduce the initial cap hit.

Lastly, they can restructure Trent Williams contract, which would free up another $12M.

So the cap space isn't an issue. The bigger issue is the distribution of your money. Pierce has missed multiple games due to injury. And then signing Jennings means you are paying a lot of big dollars for older aging players including high priced vets coming back from significant injuries - Kittle, Bosa, Warner

yes, this isn't a cap issue. It's a CASH issue. There's still a lot of dead money next year. Do not expect any sexy signings. The Yorks want the books cleared. Until then, they're cutting back on cash spending.

people need to stop focusing on the cap

The Yorks have tons of money. They make about $140M in PROFIT annually from the 49ers. This isn't about what they do or don't have in their checking accounts.

It's about what they WANT to pay out. It's not about the cap. It's about cash spending. And they are cutting that down. https://t.co/B3G71Zo8WZ

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 11, 2025

Yes…this was last year and why they cut ties with a bunch of those guys and their contracts. He has also said he expects them now to make splash if it makes sense. Again they are not going to go spend like drunken sailors, but I do ex pi ext them to be active in FA and/or trades

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:
Yes…this was last year and why they cut ties with a bunch of those guys and their contracts. He has also said he expects them now to make splash if it makes sense. Again they are not going to go spend like drunken sailors, but I do ex pi ext them to be active in FA and/or trades

As things are right now, I'd love to see them go in to get Likely, Pierce or Linderbaum as their major splash addition. Likely wants a bigger role at TE and he'd be TE1 on this team with Kittle very likely to miss all of next season. Pierce could come in and be a legitimate deep threat from the very first game and help keep defenses back. Linderbaum is the least likely addition because I don't see anyway that Baltimore allows a 25 year old three time Pro Bowl center to walk but if by some strange accident he did hit FA, 49ers would be well justified in spending whatever it took to get him.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:
Yes…this was last year and why they cut ties with a bunch of those guys and their contracts. He has also said he expects them now to make splash if it makes sense. Again they are not going to go spend like drunken sailors, but I do ex pi ext them to be active in FA and/or trades

As things are right now, I'd love to see them go in to get Likely, Pierce or Linderbaum as their major splash addition. Likely wants a bigger role at TE and he'd be TE1 on this team with Kittle very likely to miss all of next season. Pierce could come in and be a legitimate deep threat from the very first game and help keep defenses back. Linderbaum is the least likely addition because I don't see anyway that Baltimore allows a 25 year old three time Pro Bowl center to walk but if by some strange accident he did hit FA, 49ers would be well justified in spending whatever it took to get him.

Agreed

I would prefer R Shaheed over Pierce. Still a deep threat but more explosive . Also adds ST returns

Originally posted by tommyncal:
I would prefer R Shaheed over Pierce. Still a deep threat but more explosive . Also adds ST returns

Shaheed isn't the same level of receiver that Pierce is. He's mostly a gadget guy that can make a few plays here and there but primarily a special teamer.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by tommyncal:
I would prefer R Shaheed over Pierce. Still a deep threat but more explosive . Also adds ST returns

Shaheed isn't the same level of receiver that Pierce is. He's mostly a gadget guy that can make a few plays here and there but primarily a special teamer.

Agree that Pierce is a more talented receiver but I think Shaheed is more than a 'gadget guy' . In their careers, they have similar receptions and Pierce has a bit more yardage. Shaheed more explosive, more versatility and cheaper.