Just before NFL free agency began, the San Francisco 49ers had a little north of $10 million available in salary cap space.
Combined with the need to try re-signing some key pending free agents, along with long-term needs to extend others, it didn’t seem likely general manager John Lynch and Co. would be major players on the open market.
Yet free agency played a role for the Niners anyway. Lynch was able to re-sign two key players, defensive end Arik Armstead and safety Jimmie Ward. But this came at the cost of trading away defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the No.