The deadline for NFL teams to designate their franchise tag players is today at 1 PM Pacific. The San Francisco 49ers are not expected to use the franchise tag on any of their pending free agents, nor should they when you consider cost, age, and/or relative talent.
Since its introduction in 1993, the 49ers have used the franchise tag designation just six times on five different players. The tag, which teams can only use once a year, binds a player to that team for an additional year. It guarantees the player a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player's position or 120 percent of the player's previous salary. Whichever is greater.
The following are the 49ers players that are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on March 9.
WR Anquan Boldin
G Alex Boone
RB Reggie Bush
K Phil Dawson
NT Ian Williams
Below are this year's franchise tag numbers for each position, per ESPN.
| Francise Tag | Comparable Player | Transition Tag | Comparable Player | |
| QB | $19.953M | Drew Brees ($20M) | $17.696M | Matthew Stafford ($17.7M) |
| RB | $11.789M | Jamaal Charles ($9.1M) | $9.647M | Arian Foster ($8.7M) |
| WR | $14.599M | Julio Jones ($14.3M) | $12.368M | Mike Wallace ($12.0M) |
| TE | $9.118M | Rob Gronkowski ($9.0M) | $7.714M | Charles Clay ($7.6M) |
| OL | $13.706M | Trent Williams ($13.2M) | $11.902M | Joe Thomas ($11.5M) |
| DE | $15.701M | J.J. Watt ($16.7M) | $12.734M | Charles Johnson ($12.7M) |
| DT | $13.651M | Gerald McCoy ($13.6M) | $10.875M | Geno Atkins ($10.7M) |
| LB | $14.129M | Clay Matthews ($13.2M) | $11.925M | Luke Kuechly ($12.4M) |
| CB | $13.952M | Richard Sherman ($14.0M) | $11.913M | Byron Maxwell ($10.5M) |
| S | $10.806M | Earl Thomas ($10.0M) | $9.116M | Jairus Byrd ($9.0M) |
| K/P | $4.572M | Stephen Gostkowski ($4.2M) | $4.123M | Britton Colquitt ($3.9M) |
The following are the past players that the 49ers have used the franchise tag on, per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area.
Steve Young (1993)
Terrell Owens (1999)
Julian Peterson (2004, 2005)
Aubrayo Franklin (2010)
Dashon Goldson (2012)