PALM BEACH -- The 49ers are one of the wealthiest franchises in American Sports. And yet, they've spent very little money on players this offseason while other teams have gone hog wild.
On Monday, general manager John Lynch explained why the 49ers are being so frugal all of a sudden.
Q: The cash spending obviously is way down. Are the expectations as well? Last year, you talked about going all-in for a Super Bowl run. So now, are the expectations reflective of the less money you're spending?
LYNCH: "I'd say the cash spending is down but the year isn't over. We're trying to do our quarterback. When and if we get our quarterback done, we'll probably be a top two or three spending team in terms of cash. You have to account for those things. We're trying to make this thing sustainable for now into the future.
"I look at our roster, and while we've seen a lot of great players leave, and that's hard to watch, we still have a lot of Hall of Fame-worthy players. There are some guys who will be staring that in the face when they're done. There's a lot of them on this roster. There's a tremendous core that we can go be competitive with and add some young players and I think it will be exciting and necessary."
ME: They say you're either getting better or worse and that you never stay the same. Do you feel the roster got better this offseason?
LYNCH: "It's not done yet. We don't really tee it off until August. We lost great players. To see a Dre Greenlaw leave the building -- that's a guy we drafted, we take a lot of pride in identifying him, it was a tough case because he had been oft-injured. There's no doubt that he's a game-changer when he's out there.
"We took a shot on Javon Hargrave a couple years ago. It's a shame because I thought he was about to have a tremendous year last year when his triceps injury happened. There are decisions you have to make and it's about the long-term viability and sustainability. We want something that gives us an opportunity to compete.
"The one thing I think people should know, since we've been here we've been a top-five spending team. Our ownership has been tremendous. They've given us every resource that we need. And that's not stopping. We're going to continue to be aggressive. At the end of this, I would surmise that we're going to be a top-five spending team again.
"I know it's hard to watch. Believe me, it was hard to execute. I like being aggressive. I would say that subtly we like the players we brought in. We think they'll add to our team. And we're ready to roll.
MY TAKE: Lynch makes some cogent points, but spending tons of money to extend players who were on last season's 6-11 team doesn't inspire tons of confidence. The 49ers could give all the money in the world to Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Fred Warner, but if Christian McCaffrey doesn't bounce back to the player he was in 2023 and stay healthy for most of the season, the 49ers will be bad again.