The San Francisco 49ers' first free agency move was perhaps their easiest.
According to Over the Cap, exclusive rights free agent Austen Pleasants was given his exclusive rights free agent tender of $1.075 million.
ERFAs are a little different from restricted free agents because they have fewer options. The ERFA tender means Pleasants' free agency is over. He can either play on the one-year tender or work out a long-term deal with the 49ers. Had the 49ers not offered him the one-year ERFA tender he would've become an unrestricted free agent.
An ERFA tender is mostly a formality given its low cost and the type of player that typically reaches the criteria for exclusive rights free agency.
The difference between ERFAs and RFAs is that once an RFA receives a tender, they can explore the free agency market and still sign an offer sheet with another club. San Francisco would then have a chance to match that offer sheet.
There's no such path for Pleasants who will now return to the 49ers presumably as the leading candidate to be their swing tackle for a second consecutive season. The 28-year-old played in a career-high 15 games this season, including the first start of his career in Week 18 when left tackle Trent Williams was on the sideline with a hamstring injury.
Prior to the 2025 season Pleasants had only five games and 77 offensive snaps in the NFL under his belt. In 2025 he played 125 offensive snaps, including 71 in Week 17 when Williams got hurt, and another 42 the following week as a starter.
Williams is still entrenched at left tackle with Colton McKivitz holding down the right side. Pleasants showed enough in limited action to warrant another look as a quality depth piece along San Francisco's offensive front.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers free agency: OL Austen Pleasants given ERFA tender