Starter Jimmie Ward will be an unrestricted free agent on March 18 and the 49ers may not re-sign him, even though he played well in 2019. Ward became a key member of a great defense, which the 49ers would love to keep together, but they have only $13 million in cap space. Meaning they may not have the funds to re-sign everyone.
“Year one, we brought 14 free agents up here,” general manager John Lynch said. “Those days aren’t happening anymore. We can’t go to the grocery store and say, ‘I’ll have that, I’ll have that, I’ll have that.