For a team that came close to winning a Super Bowl two seasons ago, the San Francisco 49ers have undergone remarkable personnel changes.
Due to the salary cap and free agency, there is attrition every year. But this type of purge has been especially noteworthy.
Goodbye, Deebo Samuel, Charvarius Ward, Dre Greenlaw, and others. Almost half of the players who started Super Bowl LVIII are gone.
That’s not all. Brandon Aiyuk, who signed a large contract extension last year, could be traded, though that is reportedly unlikely.
San Francisco general manager John Lynch has called it a roster “reset.”
Call it what you want. Forget about reaching the NFC Championship. After last year’s injury-riddled collapse, there are questions about whether San Francisco can win its division.
Lynch downplayed the offseason losses, saying: “We’ve got this thing called the draft, and we’ve got a lot of picks. And I think the thing the fans should know is we have a plan. And we’re gonna execute that plan. And we’re excited about the opportunity.”
In recent years, the Niners have been very fortunate. They got lucky when Brock Purdy went from Mr. Irrelevant to a star. The most valuable thing you can have in this salary-cap sport is to have a young quarterback on a cheap rookie deal. That allows management to have the flexibility to spend money on other areas of need. But with Purdy due for a contract extension, San Francisco will no longer enjoy that luxury. Quarterbacks are expensive and eat up a significant portion of the financial pie.
If Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan want to remain competitive this fall, they must nail the 2025 NFL Draft. The Niners are tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the most picks with 11.
While Shanahan might be the best playcaller in the league, there are limits to his genius as last year’s slump proved. He can’t just plug anybody into his system and get winning results. Defenses make adjustments. Understudies are not stars. Replenishing the roster is the best way for the 49ers to regain offensive dominance.
In recent years, the 49ers have been one of the better teams at drafting. Stars such as Fred Warner, Samuel, Greenlaw, and Purdy were not first-round picks. Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked San Francisco’s 2024 rookie class as the seventh-best. That’s especially noteworthy since first-round selection Ricky Pearsall (31 catches, 400 yards, three touchdowns) was limited to 11 games after being shot in the chest in an alleged armed robbery attempt. He’s expected to have a larger role with the departure of Samuel.
As PFF noted, the 49ers had the best overall roster in the league for years. Now, they don’t even have the top roster in the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams have overtaken them with their young defense and key acquisitions. San Francisco can close the gap with a successful draft. However, the draft can be wildly unpredictable. If NFL teams were reliable at talent evaluation, Purdy would have never lasted until the final pick of the 2022 draft.
San Francisco doesn’t have the luxury of making mistakes. Several rookies must become contributors if they hope to be a contender again. That’s why this draft is so important.
