Tag: 49ers free agency

It may be time for 49ers to part with superstar playmaker in offseason

It might be time…

It appears the San Francisco 49ers are headed toward an offseason full of difficult decisions.

The salary cap and quarterback Brock Purdy’s impending contract extension were always going to make the 2025 offseason a rough one, but the team’s sluggish 5-5 start to the 2024 campaign is an indicator that significant changes need to be made to their roster.

One of those changes may be parting ways with wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

It’s nigh impossible to envision the Kyle Shanahan 49ers without Samuel. His rookie season was in 2019, the year the club turned around a sustained run of mediocrity and catapulted to the Super Bowl. In that year we saw glimpses of what eventually made him an All-Pro in 2021.

He is a unique play maker whose 1,405 receiving yards, 365 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021 may be a stat line we never see again from a wide receiver.

Samuel was also a consistent offensive spark for San Francisco, and Shanahan wasn’t afraid to lean on him when the team needed to generate offense.

It appears this season that version of Samuel may not be there anymore for the 49ers. In nine games he’s produced 33 receptions, 490 yards and one touchdown on 52 targets. He’s also carried 27 times for just 79 yards and one touchdown. Of his 27 carries, only two have generated either a touchdown or a first down, and his longest run of the season is just 12 yards.

In Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks where the 49ers didn’t have tight end George Kittle, there was a prime opportunity for Samuel to have a major impact. Instead he hauled in four balls for 22 yards and lost one yard on his only carry of the game.

Samuel’s yards after catch per reception are a career-low 7.7 so far this season. His yards-per-route run of 1.98 are the second-lowest mark of his career. He’s also forced only eight missed tackles on 33 receptions after forcing 40 on 73 catches last year. That trend continues in the run game where he has eight missed tackles forced on 27 carries this year, down from 22 missed tackles forced 43 carries a season ago per Pro Football Focus.

The explosiveness that made Samuel the NFL’s most dangerous playmaker through the early portion of his career seems to have evaded him. It’s hard to blame him given the physicality that defined his playmaking ability.

However, the 49ers need to start devising new ways to create offense, and parting ways with Samuel is starting to look like more of a necessity if they want to turn the page to the next chapter of football in San Francisco.

If they make Samuel a post-June 1 designation, they’ll have a $10,751,753 dead cap hit while saving $5,206,105 against the cap per Over the Cap.

With the type of high-priced contracts the 49ers are holding, that extra $5 million in room would be helpful, and Samuel would be able to find a new opportunity with a team that can differently maximize him.

It also opens the door for players like Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing and Jauan Jennings to be more involved in whatever the next evolution of the 49ers’ offense looks like.

Parting ways with the 2021 All-Pro wouldn’t be easy, and it would be perhaps the single biggest move the 49ers could make to signal that a new era has arrived. It may be a necessity though given everything we know after 11 weeks of the 2024 season.

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49ers free agency prediction: Former All-Pro walks for big contract

The 49ers have telegraphed their plans at safety.

The San Francisco 49ers have been telegraphing their plans in the back end of their secondary since the 2023 draft, and those plans don’t involve bringing back former All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga.

In the 2023 draft they weren’t slated to pick until late in Round 3, but they traded up to the No. 87 overall pick where they selected safety Ji’Ayir Brown. His versatile skill set made him an easy fit in the 49ers defense, and they needed to get younger at that position.

They affirmed their commitment to their plans in the 2024 draft when they used a fourth-round pick to select safety Malik Mustapha. That choice confirmed Hufanga’s time in San Francisco wouldn’t likely last beyond his rookie contract, which is up after the 2024 season.

Choosing to move on from Hufanga isn’t because he hasn’t had a strong four seasons with the 49ers. He was a quality special teams contributor as a rookie, then earned a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2022 in his first season as a starter on defense.

Injuries cut his 2023 season short and may cost him a majority of the 2024 campaign, but he’s still a quality player who will likely earn a contract in free agency north of what the 49ers can afford.

At some point the 49ers have to decide where they’re going to trim their roster financially, and the two safety spots are an easy choice given the other talent they’ve paid on the defensive side of the ball. That they used two draft picks at the position was confirmation they’d be going with rookie contracts at the two safety spots.

There’s always a chance Hufanga’s market is muted and he returns to the 49ers, which gives San Francisco a good problem on their depth chart. However, his penchant for generating turnovers and creating big plays for a defense should make him a valuable asset on the free agent market. If there’s even a handful of teams interested, his value will quickly sail above what the 49ers can realistically afford.

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Did Kyle Shanahan hint that 49ers plan to keep pending free agent CB?

Deommodore Lenoir has been awesome this season.

There aren’t many players on the San Francisco 49ers playing better than cornerback Deommodore Lenoir through the first eight weeks.

Lenoir, a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft, is entering the final year of his contract and appears to be on track for a sizable payday in the offseason. The 49ers have some financial constraints ahead considering the lucrative contract extension quarterback Brock Purdy figures to fetch this offseason, but Lenoir may be another player they prioritize.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday was asked about Lenoir’s terrific start to the 2024 campaign. In his answer he made an interesting comment about Lenoir’s playing style that may signal the team’s intent to pay him in free agency.

“Yeah, DMo’s been a stud,” Shanahan said. “He is exactly what you want a 49er to play like. He came in his first rookie camp and stood out, got me fined for illegally jamming people too hard and putting on the internet. So, I always mess with him for that. But he started out real well, made a couple mistakes early on as a rookie and lost his confidence just a little bit I thought his rookie year. Then that second season, the way he came back in the offseason, kind of just possessed to get that job back and he’s kind of owned it ever since. He’s been a stud for a while to me and he gets better each year. He’s having a hell of a year.”

It’s not a slam dunk that the 49ers will keep a player just because the head coach said “he is exactly what you want a 49er to play like,” but it’s an indication of how highly regarded Lenoir is in the team’s building.

He has the versatility to play in the slot or outside, and he’s steadily improved over his four years to become the most reliable member of a very good secondary.

Lenoir figures to get a big-time contract in free agency, and his market may dictate that he’s owed more than the 49ers can or will spend at corner.

However, his importance to their team is growing and Shanahan’s quote on him is indicative of that.

If the 49ers’ pass rush continues to struggle and their secondary continues playing well, we may see a shift in philosophy where the 49ers prioritize a very good coverage corner like Lenoir, then see if they can go bargain hunting to fill in their pass rush instead of the other way around.

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Why 49ers adding QB Josh Dobbs makes sense

Here’s why the #49ers signed another veteran quarterback:

The 49ers are set to sign veteran signal caller Josh Dobbs to a one-year contract. Dobbs’ agent announced the agreement on Twitter Monday afternoon.

Dobbs is the second quarterback the 49ers have signed this offseason. He’ll join Brandon Allen and Brock Purdy in San Francisco’s QB room.

It looked like the 49ers might be content with Allen as their QB2 and a draft pick sitting as the emergency third signal caller. Instead they brought in Dobbs to presumably compete for the backup QB job, leaving Allen to potentially work in as the emergency third QB on game days. That opens the door for a rookie to work out with the practice squad assuming he doesn’t pull a Purdy and beat out one of the veterans for a roster spot out of camp.

Dobbs is an intriguing addition though with plenty of upside. His Cinderella run with the Vikings fell flat after just a couple of weeks, but Dobbs showed during his 12 starts last year with the Cardinals and Vikings that he’s a capable starting QB in the NFL.

There are warts to his game, to be sure. Sometimes he has too much faith in his arm and his accuracy can be erratic, but he’s a mobile QB with enough upside that he’s a viable backup for a team like the 49ers. And backup QB is an extremely important position in San Francisco.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dobbs will earn $2.25 million fully guaranteed with up to $750,000 in playing time incentives.

Purdy made it easy to forget the 49ers’ recent history with injuries under center. His healthy 2023 campaign though will unlikely erase the scars left by all the previous seasons the 49ers saw derailed because of an injury to the starting QB. They may have confidence that Allen can go win a few games if he’s pushed into a starting role, but he’s hardly done enough as a pro to warrant that level of confidence out of camp.

Now instead of competing with a rookie, he’ll be competing with a bonafide NFL QB who’ll either be better or force Allen to earn the all-important QB2 job.

Adding another quarterback didn’t appear to be super high on the 49ers’ list of offseason needs, but they were able to find a third at an affordable price that should ultimately improve their QB room regardless of whether he winds up as QB2 or QB3.

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49ers OT Trent Williams pegged as ‘perfect’ free-agent fit for Chargers

Should the Los Angeles Chargers go all in for offensive tackle Trent Williams this offseason?

At general manager Tom Telesco’s end-of-season press conference, he said that there’s a lot of improvement that needs to be made with the offensive line.

If Telesco sticks to his guns by bringing in a veteran to help with the reconstruction of the line, one possibility that ESPN’s Seth Galina likes is 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams.

Here is what Galina said about the potential pairing:

The Chargers continue to forget that offensive linemen play football, and it’s a mistake that has had a severe effect on their quarterback play over the last decade-plus. It’s finally time to end that with the signing of Trent Williams, who just so happened to be the highest-graded tackle in the league last season.

Williams sat out of the 2019 season because of ongoing disputes with the Washington Football Team, and many wondered if that would cause his play to slip a bit. It didn’t. His 91.9 grade in 2020 proves that he would instantly make the Chargers’ makeshift offensive line a real-life professional unit.

Williams was one the best offensive players for the 49ers in an injury-ravaged season. The 32-year old, who sat out all of 2019 due to a dispute with The Football Team, regained his All-Pro form with San Francisco.

Williams, the eight-time Pro Bowl selection, earned a 91.9-grade this past season, the highest of any tackle in the NFL among 93 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

The Chargers currently have the ninth-most cap space available. Spotrac projects Williams could sign a three-year, $54,780,141 deal that carries an average annual salary of $18.2 million.

Even though he will be 33 years old during the upcoming season, he’s still proven to play the position at a high level, and he would be the answer Los Angeles has been needing at left tackle for the next few seasons.

49ers officially sign TE Jordan Reed

The 49ers made the Jordan Reed signing official on Sunday.

The 49ers on Sunday made the signing of tight end Jordan Reed official. An announcement came about a week after general manager John Lynch said in his pre-season press conference that the team was going to acquire the free-agent tight end. The signing gives San Francisco 79 players on their training camp roster.

Talent and fit aren’t really pressing questions with this acquisition. The 49ers need a better pass-catching option behind George Kittle, and Reed is an elite athlete with explosive play-making ability as a receiver. He’s not a great blocker, but he can effectively line up as a big-bodied receiver and generate mismatches through his versatility. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has experience with Reed from their time together in Washington. Reed was a third-round pick in the 2013 draft, which was Shanahan’s final year as Washington’s offensive coordinator.

In their lone season together Reed posted 499 yards and three touchdowns on 45 receptions in nine games. That’s a 16-game pace of 80 receptions, 887 yards and five touchdowns.

What sticks out in the lone season Shanahan and Reed were together is his nine games. Injuries, and specifically concussions, have been a problem for the tight end. He’s played 65 games since getting drafted seven years ago. He’s yet to play 16 games and he’s only gone beyond 12 games twice.

The 49ers don’t incur much risk with the signing. He’s a potential game-changer for their offense. There is risk involved though for Reed. He missed all of last season after getting diagnosed with the seventh concussion of his career following a hit in a preseason game. He was eager to get back in the league though and found a fit with an offensive coordinator who can maximize his skill set.

Reed probably won’t play a ton of snaps for San Francisco if he is able to put together a healthy season. Blocking isn’t his strong suit and the 49ers have a glut of capable blocking tight ends. Where he’ll help is providing another reliable target on third downs and in the red zone. He’ll also help Shanahan devise new ways to stress defenses to create holes for explosive plays. The injury questions are going to loom as long as he’s on the field, but Reed has the potential to be one of the NFL’s most important offseason signings.

Report: 49ers to sign veteran WR

The 49ers added a much-needed veteran to their receiving corps with former Chargers WR Travis Benajmin.

The 49ers on Tuesday added some veteran depth to their young receiving corps. They’re due to sign former Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin to a one-year deal.

Benjamin, 30, was a fourth-round pick of the Browns in 2012, and was there in 2014 when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. He had moderate success his first three years, but exploded in 2015 with 68 catches for 966 yards and five touchdowns.

He spent the next four years of his career with the Chargers, but never replicated the success of his 2015 campaign. In four seasons with Los Angeles, he posted 93 catches for 1,430 yards and nine touchdowns in 42 games.

His 2019 season was limited to just five games after a quad injury landed him on injured reserve.

Benjamin’s experience in Shanahan’s offense could pay dividends if the offseason program is cut short due to ongoing shutdowns for COVID-19.

Adding Benjamin doesn’t rule out wide receiver as a need for the 49ers moving forward. They still need a No. 1 type of receiver on the outside.

Benjamin doesn’t fit that mold. He’s 5-9,180 pounds and ran a blistering 4.36 40 at the combine in 2012. That’s the kind of speed the 49ers miss when Marquise Goodwin is out, and given the cap savings San Francisco can create by trading or releasing Goodwin, it stands to reason they may be looking for a player who can fill that role.

He also has a ton of experience as a punt returner, with 109 returns in his career. Benjamin won’t be guaranteed a roster spot going into the season, but his ability to play multiple roles makes him an enticing option heading into next season.