49ers predicted to land current Dolphins starter to address 'biggest weakness'

In the National Football League, every team has nits to pick. Even the defending conference champions.

The San Francisco 49ers got their season off on the right foot with a 32-19 drubbing of the New York Jets, and they did so without star running back Christian McCaffrey. It was a clear sign to the rest of the league that San Francisco is still on top of the NFC.

However, the 49ers also know their roster is going to be difficult to keep together beyond this season, with star quarterback Brock Purdy in the final year of his impossibly cheap rookie contract.

Guard is already a problem position for the 49ers, with a rookie starter in Domenick Puni and a veteran on injured reserve in Jon Feliciano. The 49ers will need to add depth there in 2025, possibly even a starter, and they'll have to do so on the cheap.

On Tuesday, Bleacher Report's Scouting Department predicted that the 49ers will sign Miami Dolphins guard Robert Jones, who will be a free agent after the season, to a relatively affordable deal that would address the team's "biggest weakness."

"With Aaron Banks playing in a contract year and not living up to the billing as a second-round pick so far, San Francisco will likely be looking for some guard help in the offseason," the authors said.

"John Lynch will need to find some cost-effective solutions, and Jones has been a solid but not great player so far to help keep his price tag down. Also, the Dolphin has been playing in a similar system over the last two years since Mike McDaniel is a Kyle Shanahan protégé."

Jones, 25, looks to be a full-time starter in Miami this year after playing 100% of the team's snaps in their Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his fourth season,

Over his first three years, Jones had just a 2.2% blown block rate in passing situations and committed just two penalties in 32 games, per Sports Info Solutions.

Because the rest of the 49ers roster is getting so expensive, a cost-controlled guard is exactly what San Francisco needs to keep its hopes at title contention alive into future seasons.

They just have to hope Jones doesn't play so well in 2024 that he ends up becoming not-so-affordable.

More NFL: 49ers predicted to add former Super Bowl champ to add much-needed line help