The San Francisco 49ers have received their fair share of flack this offseason. General manager John Lynch made it clear that the team would not be shelling out money in free agency the way the team spent $334.5 million in cash on the 2024 roster. Per Over the Cap, that figure is down to $223.3 million in 2025.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer believes the 49ers are doing more of a roster churn than a complete teardown:
While a good chunk of the core of the 2023 Super Bowl team is gone now, the Niners did get ahead of a few potential losses, signing Brandon Aiyuk (four years, $120 million) and Deommodore Lenoir (five years, $88.9 million) to long-term contracts, and Jauan Jennings (two years, $15.4 million) and Colton McKivitz (1 year, $5.85 million) to shorter-term deals. That’s with Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey intact as All-Pro foundation pieces to build around, and with a big contract for Brock Purdy coming.
The bottom line: If they hit on draft picks and get good coaching, such as those Rams and Bills did, the Niners will be just fine.
The last couple of lines seem to be a convenient comparison in recent weeks for the 49ers. Breer said, “I’ve used the 2023 Los Angeles Rams and the 2024 Buffalo Bills as examples over the past few years of perennial winners who consciously decided to take a bunch of their medicine after rolling up cap debt chasing championships.”
If only the 49ers had a Hall of Fame defensive tackle to rely on the way the Rams did in 2023. In his final season as a pro, Donald was still among, if not the best defensive player in the NFL. Los Angeles also got nearly a 1,500-yard season from rookie Puka Nacua, not to mention elite quarterback play, despite a middling supporting cast — Cooper Kupp has not been the same wideout in years.
There are some positions where you can glean information from statistics to measure how a player plays, and quarterback is not one of those. From running out of sacks to making throws on time or out of structure, it’s clear as day what Stafford means to the Rams.
It should go without saying, but how would Stafford's perception of himself have been if he had been with the 2023 Niners? They may not have lost a game.
And speaking of high-level quarterback play, the reason the Bills could afford the roster purge was because Josh Allen had been carrying them for years, and there was little reason to think that would change in 2024. It did not, as Allen lit the league on fire with 28 passing touchdowns, 12 rushing touchdowns, and an MVP performance.
So, are we putting Purdy in the same company as Stafford and Allen? Last season felt more realistic than 2023, in the sense that you’re more likely to suffer multiple injuries than go an entire season of being at full strength. When that was the case, Brock wasn’t an MVP candidate. That’s not to say he was a slouch, because he wasn’t, but when the team needed their signal-caller to step up and create on his own without the luxury of his best weapons, Purdy did not.
While many focus on the number Purdy will get in his contract extension, I’m fascinated by the potential structure. The 49ers will tell us how they view Purdy in the short and long term, and the same could be said for Kyle Shanahan's leash, to an extent.
But using the Rams and the Bills as a comparison to what the 49ers are doing isn’t apples to apples because San Francisco hasn’t built their team around a quarterback. It’s been vice versa. That could change, but we’d need to see the results before comparing the Niners to success stories.