49ers should be a prime destination for free agents in 2018

The San Francisco 49ers run of success the past month has fans excited about the future. Jimmy Garoppolo is looking like the answer at quarterback, and it seems like he is lifting everybody up around him. The 49ers won’t make the playoffs this year, but barring anything unexpected with Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract status, they will be a hot prediction for the playoffs next summer.

But while fans are plenty excited, there’s a good chance free agents will be excited about the prospect of joining the 49ers. We don’t even know for certain who will hit free agency, but recent NFL beat writer Kevin Jones got an interesting text today.

Jones has covered the 49ers, Browns, and Washington during his career, and has seemed to have some pretty good connections. But regardless of this tweet, it’s obvious that the 49ers will be a team that could draw in players.

Money is a big reason with expected cap space of over $100 million. Money talks, but teams like the Cleveland Browns have plenty of cap space, and might not be able to draw in as many high caliber free agents. The 49ers have built buzz with Jimmy Garoppolo’s emergence, and we are hearing nothing but good things about the approach John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan take to free agency.

I don’t expect the 49ers to go out and sign every big name free agent that fits their system, and call it a day. There are other good teams with sizable cap space and holes to fill. But, it’s hard not to see the 49ers being quite competitive if they want to make a splash for some big names.