Why 49ers likely won’t use franchise tag on their 2025 free agents

The window now is open for NFL teams to designate their franchise players.And, again, it does not appear to be a realistic option for the 49ers to use their tag to retain any of their scheduled free agents on a one-year contract.The 49ers' top free agents are linebacker Dre Greenlaw, cornerback Charvarius Ward, safety Talanoa Hufanga and guard Aaron Banks.The cost of the non-exclusive franchise tag is the average of the top five salaries at a player's position over the past five years or 120 percent of the player's previous salary, whichever is greater.And in each case, the price is expected to be too steep for the 49ers to use the franchise tag.The cost to retain Greenlaw would be a one-year deal worth $27.745 million. The other numbers are $20.89 million for Ward, $20.13 million for Hufanga and $25.8 million for Banks.The 49ers only have used the franchise tag once during general manager John Lynch's tenure. In 2019, they placed the designation on kicker Robbie Gould. The sides eventually agreed on a four-year contract extension, so Gould never played under the franchise contract.The 49ers head into the offseason with an estimated $50.6 million in cap space, per the latest...