Golden Nuggets: Which 2020 free agents should the 49ers try to keep?

With the lack of draft picks in 2020 and the need to extend George Kittle and DeForest Buckner, the way the 49ers approach free agency is going to be key to their continued success. I won’t go into who is scheduled to become a RFA or ERFA, but here’s the full list of the 49ers’ 2020 Unrestricted Free Agents: Emmanuel Sanders, Jimmie Ward, Jason Verrett, Garrett Celek, Arik Armstead, Shon Coleman, Ben Garland, Levine Toilolo, Damontre Moore, Antone Exum, Jordan Matthews, Dontae Johnson, Sheldon Day, and Ronald Blair III.

Of those players, I think they need to keep Armstead, Sanders, and Blair. Ward has had a great season and would be great to keep, but sacrifices need to be made to keep Armstead around and the 49ers need to give Tarvarius Moore a good look so that they know what they have in him. Coleman, Garland, and D. Moore are also worth keeping because you can never have enough offensive line/pass rush depth and they should be fairly cheap. The only other significant name I can think of is Celek. He’s done some good things for this team, but with his injuries and Ross Dwelley stepping up, I think it’s time to move on. Who do you want the 49ers to keep around? Are there any other free agents that you want the 49ers to bring in?

On to those links...

49ers can’t get Nick Bosa off field after early durability concerns (Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports)

49ers’ Richard Sherman to return after 1 game out for hamstring injury (Nick Wagoner, ESPN)

Source: 49ers’ Dee Ford not expected to return during regular season (Dalton Johnson, NBC Sports)

Five Key Matchups: 49ers vs. Rams in the Levi’s® Stadium Regular Season Finale (Matthew Asher, 49ers.com)

Jimmy Garoppolo’s improved ball security good sign for playoff-bound 49ers (Nick Wagoner, ESPN)

How ‘GMFB’ crew believes 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo stacks up to playoff QBs (Chelena Goldman, NBC Sports)

Kyle Shanahan’s former QB Matt Ryan explains what makes coach special (Chelena Goldman, NBC Sports)

City of Santa Clara to 49ers: ‘Terrible off the field’ (Amber Lee, KTVU.com)

49ers have NFL Defensive Rookie, Executive of the Year per GM survey (Brian Witt, NBC Sports)

NFC playoff race: 49ers, Seahawks strong No. 1 seed contenders (Cynthia Frelund, NFL.com)

Around the league...

NFL execs pick awards: Who’s MVP? DPOY? Coach of the Year? (Tom Pelissero, NFL.com)

Jaguars fire Tom Coughlin as VP of football operations (Grant Gordon, NFL.com)

Pete Prisco’s NFL Week 16 picks: Eagles beat Cowboys to take NFC East lead, Titans upset Saints (Pete Prisco, CBS Sports)

NFL helmets go high-tech amid concussion concerns (Frank Miles, Fox News)

RB Index, Week 16: Four prime candidates for offseason trades (Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL.com)

2020 NFL Mock Draft: Bills add needed size at wide receiver, two quarterbacks go in the top three (Chris Trapasso, CBS Sports)