Kyle Juszczyk, Dre Greenlaw out: Inside the 49ers’ ruthless start to free agency

Regardless of what happens moving forward, even if the future is quickly filled with massive wins and that elusive sixth Super Bowl trophy, March 10 will not be remembered as a cheerful day in 49ers’ history.

The franchise, dead set on its ruthless efficiency reset, parted ways with several of its fixtures. That included fullback Kyle Juszczyk, the longest-tenured 49er, and similarly beloved linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

The 49ers informed Juszczyk, who joined the team as part of the first free agency class under coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017, of their plan to release him when the new league year begins Wednesday. That leaves tight end George Kittle, who joined the team as a rookie about two months after Juszczyk, as the longest-tenured player.

About an hour before that, Greenlaw — a ferocious defender who helped spark the franchise’s epic 2019 turnaround — agreed to leave in free agency for the Denver Broncos.

Those were the final pieces of news on a day of brutal attrition for the 49ers. And while most — if not all — of the moves could’ve been expected, little could be done to soothe the pain of separation that engulfed the 49ers’ longstanding players and their fans.

Again, this is all consistent with the primary theme of this 49ers’ offseason. The team, which spent a whopping $334 million in 2024 alone, is aggressively trimming roster fat as it negotiates what figures to be a massive extension for Brock Purdy.

Shanahan is also simultaneously tailoring the offense around the young star quarterback. It’s a tectonic shift in strategy that has led to the departures of Juszczyk and fellow fixture Deebo Samuel — a receiver who was also emblematic of the team’s “bully-ball” approach — over the first few days of this month (Samuel’s trade to the Washington Commanders will be finalized when the new league year opens on Wednesday).

The departure of left guard Aaron Banks, who agreed to terms on Monday with the Green Bay Packers for a deal worth up to $77 million, topped the list of other departures. Cornerback Charvarius Ward, safety Talanoa Hufanga, offensive lineman Jaylon Moore, and running back Elijah Mitchell all signed lucrative deals with other teams.

A look at Banks’ payday helps explain the 49ers’ reasoning. Banks commanded that money even after ranking 32nd out of 54 qualifying NFL guards in Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking efficiency this past season. He alone allowed 25 pressures. Green Bay’s offer, worth $19.2 million annually, illustrated just how expensive free agency is. The 49ers have opted for a much cheaper option: Veteran Ben Bartch, who scored better than Banks over 65 snaps last season, recently signed a deal worth just over $1 million.

As difficult as it was in the case of Greenlaw, who agreed to a three-year deal with Denver worth up to $35 million, the 49ers restrained themselves. They avoided doling out big cash to a player who managed only 35 snaps in 2024 after returning from the Achilles tear.

Meanwhile, Lynch’s team was relatively quiet when it came to adding players to open Monday’s legal tampering window. The 49ers agreed to a three-year deal with tight end Luke Farrell, who spent the past four years with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as their opening salvo.

Farrell is a blocking specialist who’ll help replace Juszczyk, a player tasked with critically difficult run blocks over his eight seasons with the team. The 49ers faced unusual struggles on the ground in 2024, ranking No. 20 in first-down run efficiency and No. 31 in short-yardage rushing situations in large part due to auxiliary blocking issues opposite Kittle. Farrell, who’s set to make roughly $6.5 million annually, will likely be asked to fill that gap while also helping usher the offense away from its “21” (two running backs, one tight end) base package with Juszczyk to a “12” (one running back, two tight ends) base package that better suits Purdy’s skillset.

The 49ers also re-signed running back Patrick Taylor Jr. to a one-year contract. He provides necessary depth for a unit that must decide on next steps for pending restricted free agent Jordan Mason by Wednesday. They later re-signed defensive tackle Kevin Givens, who’s been a depth piece on the interior line since 2019 — during defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s first stint with the team.

But some of the 49ers’ loudest moves were the ones they didn’t make.

Ward, who revived the team’s pass defense upon joining in 2022, plans to sign on with the Indianapolis Colts for up to $60 million — $20 million annually — to become the NFL’s seventh-highest paid cornerback. Hufanga, an All-Pro in 2022 whose tenure was derailed by a 2023 ACL tear, agreed to sign with the Denver Broncos for three years and up to $45 million. Even Moore, a backup 49ers’ offensive lineman over the past four season, cashed in: He will protect QB Patrick Mahomes’ blindside as the starting left tackle in Kansas City, a job that’ll pay $15 million annually.

The 49ers have already developed replacements for most of the big-money players on that list — Dominick Puni for Banks, Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green for Ward and Malik Mustapha for Hufanga — so it’s fair to say those departures are a built-in part of the 49ers’ formula. The one exception is Greenlaw, whom the 49ers hoped to retain — but not at the price Denver offered.

The larger strategy involves a calculated pullback in spending this offseason and has long featured a focus on accumulating compensatory picks in the NFL Draft. The league awards those based on a formula that tallies contracts lost and gained during free agency.

Before six hours had even elapsed on Monday, the list of 49ers’ departures above — even with the addition of Farrell considered — already translated into a projection of four compensatory draft picks for the team in the 2026 draft. That’s the maximum allowed through player departures in a single season.

The 49ers, therefore, are on track to net 25 compensatory draft picks over a five-year stretch (the team has also attained picks through the departures of minority coaches and executives for promotions), the most in the NFL. Since draft picks are cost-controlled by the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s rookie wage scale, this haul is an instrumental pillar in the 49ers’ efforts to build a younger roster that fits in a time of rising costs.

“You look at the well-run organizations,” Lynch said in 2023. “Some of the people play this [comp-pick] game and play it really well. Baltimore was always one that did it extremely well. New England was doing it. We felt like once we could get to a position, we’d love to figure it out. And we had a lot of smart people who we felt could help us figure it out and figure out how to do it well.”

The 49ers have certainly mastered that piece of the puzzle. But there’s much more work to do, and that’ll eventually require drafting effectively with the extra selections that they have accumulated. The team has a total of 11 picks in the 2025 draft, four of which are compensatory selections.

But the draft isn’t until late April, and it seems light years away on this dark night in March — which saw much more painful subtraction than joyous addition. The 49ers are following their plan, but it’s a painful one.

As free agency continues, the focus will shift to bringing on veterans to begin the re-solidification of a roster that’s currently filled with holes. The 49ers will certainly scour the market for linebackers moving forward. Perhaps recently released defensive tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Larry Ogunjobi will pique their interest. And they’ll also continue waiting on pass rusher Joey Bosa, the brother of 49ers’ star Nick Bosa.

Both the 49ers and Miami Dolphins have offered a contract to Joey, who grew up in nearby Fort Lauderdale (Bosa’s dad, John Bosa, played for the Dolphins). But the courtship is in a holding pattern until the 29-year-old decides his move.

It’s a state of limbo that’s emblematic of where the 49ers are as a franchise after this callous day of attrition. Memories of the past — like Juszczyk’s flattening of a hapless Pittsburgh safety in 2019 or Greenlaw’s epic stand at the goal line in Seattle to close that season — have flooded back, but not in a particularly happy way, at least not yet.

The separation is too fresh, the nostalgia is too strong, and any relieving sense of renewal hasn’t yet arrived. The 49ers’ recent past has been ripped from their present, and — entering Day 2 of free agency — their future is up in the air.