A report surfaced from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that Aaron Banks could make anywhere between $18 and $20 million in free agency
One week from today, the free agency signing period officially begins. The new league year starts on March 12, 1 p.m. PT. On Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweeted that teams were notified that Javon Hargrave would be healthy after coming off his tricep injury. Hargrave will have a new team in a week. But he’s not the only free agent on the San Francisco 49ers expected to cash in.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero wrote an article about potential free agents who could “make more money than you think,” and left guard Aaron Banks was second on the list.
After the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Trey Smith, Banks became one of the top guards — if not the position’s headliner — on the free-agent market. A second-round pick (No. 48 overall) out of Notre Dame in 2021, Banks allowed just one sack on 471 pass-blocking snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus’ charting, while posting a career-high 67.2 PFF grade in 13 starts for the 49ers. Last March, the Panthers signed free-agent guard Robert Hunt to a whopping five-year, $100 million deal. If the market is right, Banks could land a contract in a similar range of $18 million to $20 million per season.
Currently, six guards in the NFL make at least $18 million annually.
The 49ers would love everything about Banks to sign a contract above market. Paying him like a top-six guard would mean the 49ers come away with a quality compensatory pick. Watching Banks last year, he was close to the top of the leaderboard in blown blocks in pass protection; you would never have thought he’d be viewed as a top guard.
However, in free agency, teams always overpay and are rarely satisfied when they do a couple of years down the line. Let’s take the 49ers offensive linemen as an example. Laken Tomlinson walked a few years ago in free agency. He’s been on two different teams since 2021.
Mike McGlinchey was much better in Year 2 with the Denver Broncos, but his first season was a disaster statistically. The point is the 49ers scheme does wonders for linemen, and the league likely hasn’t figured that out yet.
The Niners could get the same production Banks gave them from a guard already on the roster at roughly 90 percent of the cost while receiving a comp pick. That sounds like a no-brainer decision if you’re San Francisco.