Report: 49ers looking at free-agent linebackers Briggs, Foster

With a once-strong linebacker corps now very much filled with uncertainty, the San Francisco 49ers are weighing their options on the free-agent market.

Veterans Lance Briggs and Mason Foster are among those the team has reportedly held discussions about signing, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

Briggs has spent his entire 12-year career with the Chicago Bears, earning seven trips to the Pro Bowl and performing as one of the NFL's most productive linebackers.

Though he's now 34 years old and was thought to have been contemplating retirement in seasons past, he'd certainly provide a solid veteran presence at the position.

Foster, a four-year veteran and just 26, has played his entire career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after joining the team as a third-round draft selection in 2011.

Foster almost certainly represents the more desirable option for the 49ers given the fairly significant age difference between he and Briggs, but the team targeting both players wouldn't come as much of a surprise given the talent the 49ers lost at the position in recent weeks.

With both Patrick Willis and Chris Borland opting for early retirement shortly after the offseason got underway, and the continued uncertainty surrounding NaVorro Bowman's recovery from a knee injury, the 49ers could stand to upgrade both the starting and backup spots at inside linebacker heading into 2015.