The 49ers won’t place a tender on Kalia Davis, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent

According to Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, the San Francisco 49ers will not place a tender on Kalia Davis, allowing the would-be restricted free agent to become an unrestricted free agent.

From the personnel side of things, the 49ers should be thrilled they were able to get 17 starts this past season from the 42nd pick of the sixth round. Davis flashed early in the season and allowed the rookie defensive tackles to come along slowly.

By the end of the season, despite starting the games, second-round pick Alfred Collins and fourth-round pick CJ West ended up out-snapping Davis and veteran Jordan Elliott. That was likely the plan all along, while the rookies got used to playing in the NFL.

There are three restricted free agency tenders. The first-round tender in 2026 cost a little more than $8 million. The second-round tender is roughly $5.7 million. The Right of First Refusal tag is the cheapest this offseason, coming in at $3.52 million.

That’s the 49ers telling us they want to move on from Davis, as his skill set is redundant to that of Collins and West. Davis becomes the odd man out, being the lowest-draft pick of the run-stuffing interior defensive linemen on the roster.

Raheem Morris will likely want to complement Collins and West with more of a pass-rushing threat. Perhaps Morris wants to bring veteran defensive tackle David Onyemata with him from Atlanta. Onyemata started 17 games for the Falcons in 2025, but he recorded only 1 sack and will be 34 next year.

The 49ers have been linked to Broncos defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, who has plenty of pass-rushing upside and would be the best interior rusher on the roster.