The San Francisco 49ers were surprisingly not very active in free agency last month, despite seeing multiple players from last year’s squad leave the team for new opportunities. The 49ers have signed 12 players, including re-signing Kyle Juszczyk, Patrick Taylor, and Kevin Givens.
Among the external free agents the 49ers signed, veteran tight end Luke Farrell received the most attention. San Francisco signed the veteran to a three-year, $15.75 million deal, which was eye-opening as Farrell has predominantly been more of a blocking tight end to start his career.
Farrell had the third-highest value among free agent tight ends this offseason. Only Juwan Johnson (three-year, $30.7 million deal with the New Orleans Saints) and Evan Engram (two-year, $23 million deal with the Denver Broncos) received larger deals.
However, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan believes that Farrell was a must-add to the roster, especially with backup tight end Eric Saubert being an unrestricted free agent. Saubert signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
"We really needed a No. 2 blocking tight end, Shanahan said at the NFL Owners Meetings (h/t Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area). Losing Charlie, we thought we haven’t been able to replace him yet. Eric came in and did some good things for us last year, but for Luke to be available where we got him price-wise, I thought we got one of the better blockers in this league and someone who can also bring something in the pass game also."
For four seasons, the 49ers head coach could depend on Woerner to be that TE2 and blocking tight end to help out in pass protection and run blocking. However, Woerner signed a three-year, $12 million deal in free agency last year with the Atlanta Falcons.
The 49ers tried to remedy the issue with Saubert, who had a solid run-blocking grade (63.3), but he wasn’t the best in pass pro (31.8), per PFF. Therefore, the 49ers, who didn’t give Woerner the three-year deal, now want to put all their eggs into Farrell’s basket.
The 27-year-old Farrell spent his last three years with the Jaguars, blocking on over 70 percent of offensive snaps.
Last season in Jacksonville, the veteran tight end blocked on 73.6 percent of his offensive snaps (390). According to Pro Football Focus, Farrell possessed a 61.9 run-blocking grade on 238 run-blocking plays and a stellar 82.6 pass-blocking grade on 49 pass plays.
49ers fans weren’t exactly pleased with the Niners handing out that much cash to a backup tight end, given their other needs on defense. However, Shanahan believes Farrell will be a big part of their offensive scheme and will ultimately help out George Kittle, who could see an increase in targets with veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel traded.