2024 Off-Season

[wco81]

After seeing a breakdown of how poorly Shanahan did with play calling vs. Spagnolo’s adjustments in the second half, you wonder if anyone among the coaching staff held Kyle accountable when they looked at film of the game.

It would be very difficult to do since not only is he the HC, he’s pretty much in charge of all football operations for the franchise.

Yet I’m thinking that someone like McDaniel, who had a long tenure with Shanahan, would have spoken up — McDaniel has his own self-examination to do this offseason.

Probably won’t happen but it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have another voice in the building about the offensive side. And it can’t be some younger guy who’d be a protege but someone who’s been successful as an OC or HC himself.

But does Kyle have that kind of self-awareness or humility to admit that he might not always have all the answers?

Unlikely, unfortunately.

[49er4life1979]

So far the Niners are making very different noises about the Aiyuk situation than they made about Deebo or Bosa. Now especially during the Bosa thing they took a lot of heat for maybe over optimism, so this could just be a lesson learned, but I think it’s pretty clear something is different.

I just hope and pray they don't choose Deebo over Aiyuk. Aiyuk runs great routes, is the better receiver and not just a gadget player. Hes also 2 years younger.

[Pattersonca65]

https://www.49erswebzone.com/articles/178773-breer-steve-already-ground-heading/

[CrimsonCrew]

So far the Niners are making very different noises about the Aiyuk situation than they made about Deebo or Bosa. Now especially during the Bosa thing they took a lot of heat for maybe over optimism, so this could just be a lesson learned, but I think it’s pretty clear something is different.

I just hope and pray they don't choose Deebo over Aiyuk. Aiyuk runs great routes, is the better receiver and not just a gadget player. Hes also 2 years younger.

Yeah, Deebo is a pretty special player who has been essential to this offense, but with Purdy at QB, we're in position to move away from him and still have long-term success. I think there's a very strong argument for Aiyuk over Deebo. Deebo is very injury prone due to his physical style of play. He isn't nearly the route runner Aiyuk is, struggling to get off press/man. He dogs it, particularly in terms of blocking and running routes when he doesn't think the ball is coming to him. He simply could not get open against the Chiefs.

People will point to our struggles when Deebo goes out, but that's in large part because we don't have a great #2. Jennings is phenomenal in his role, but he's more of a #3 (I expect someone to pay him like a #2 next offseason). If we could put two excellent route-runners on there with Purdy throwing to them, I think this offense could continue to hum without Deebo. That said, it may be easier to trade Aiyuk.

At any rate, I would be pretty bummed if they parted ways with Aiyuk. To me, that would indicate that we added Hargrave over him, in essence, and that would be a real frustration to me given their respective performances this year. I was pretty vocal about that danger when they added Hargrave last year. Aiyuk will presumably get a fair bit more money, but if we end of parting ways, it will be because the Hargrave contract made our cap situation too tight to manage. That would be pretty devastating. Not to mention we likely would have an additional third-round comp pick this year if we hadn't signed Hargrave.

The last consideration is that it's relatively easy - respective to other positions - to find a really good WR. It's quite common to find impact players in the third, fourth, or fifth round. But outside of Aiyuk and Deebo, we haven't exactly crushed that position under Shanahan.

[CrimsonCrew]

After seeing a breakdown of how poorly Shanahan did with play calling vs. Spagnolo’s adjustments in the second half, you wonder if anyone among the coaching staff held Kyle accountable when they looked at film of the game.

It would be very difficult to do since not only is he the HC, he’s pretty much in charge of all football operations for the franchise.

Yet I’m thinking that someone like McDaniel, who had a long tenure with Shanahan, would have spoken up — McDaniel has his own self-examination to do this offseason.

Probably won’t happen but it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have another voice in the building about the offensive side. And it can’t be some younger guy who’d be a protege but someone who’s been successful as an OC or HC himself.

But does Kyle have that kind of self-awareness or humility to admit that he might not always have all the answers?

Unlikely, unfortunately.

That's the most compelling thing for me. Shanahan is a really good coach, but he has some pretty glaring blind spots that he just doesn't seem to be addressing. I don't think that he's humble enough to acknowledge his own faults, though hopefully he does see them, especially this year when they were quite glaring in the biggest game.

I was going to post this in the Purdy thread, but I'll say it here, too: if Shanahan is not going to give Purdy more control at the LOS - for instance, audibling on that devastating failed 3rd and 4 coming out of the two-minute warning - then I think there's a strong argument that you can't pay a guy like Purdy an elite QB salary. That's depriving him of one of the things that could make him special, and given the physical limitations, you can't afford to do that. If he's the guy, Shanahan needs to trust him to be the guy with more pre-snap discretion.

[GS Warriors 1]

Curious as to why you would want to outright cut McKivitz?

While he's far from ideal, and we would all love to see an upgrade at RT, dude is a serviceable player while being cheap labor. at $2.5 mil His cap figure is 27th highest for right tackles, and of course there are only 32 starters. At the very least he's a cheap depth piece/insurance policy.

To give some context on cost, Mike McGlinchey is making $18.5 mil/season. So short of a draft pick, and we all know Kyle's reluctance to lean on rookies, it will be pretty tough to get an upgrade at RT for anything remotely close to Colt's cost.

While I don't have high hopes for him, there is also a decent chance we haven't seen McKivitz's ceiling. He only had around 400 snaps under his belt coming into this season, which was his first as a regular player let alone a starter. So with experience gained this season, we could see some natural growth and maturation as a player. Having said that, next year will be his age 28 season so he may not have much upside left in him.

I don't think much of him and it's a contract that is certainly built to move on from quite easily if it didn't work out. I think they're going to invest in OL, I'd be surprised if they ran it back with the same crew on the right side. I'd rather have Moore as the backup tackle because he's on a rookie contract and McKivitz is not, and I don't think the talent gap between the two is that vast. I think him and Oliver are obvious cut candidates.

[arich35]

Rumors out there we might be close to announcing our DC

[49er4life1979]

Curious as to why you would want to outright cut McKivitz?

While he's far from ideal, and we would all love to see an upgrade at RT, dude is a serviceable player while being cheap labor. at $2.5 mil His cap figure is 27th highest for right tackles, and of course there are only 32 starters. At the very least he's a cheap depth piece/insurance policy.

To give some context on cost, Mike McGlinchey is making $18.5 mil/season. So short of a draft pick, and we all know Kyle's reluctance to lean on rookies, it will be pretty tough to get an upgrade at RT for anything remotely close to Colt's cost.

While I don't have high hopes for him, there is also a decent chance we haven't seen McKivitz's ceiling. He only had around 400 snaps under his belt coming into this season, which was his first as a regular player let alone a starter. So with experience gained this season, we could see some natural growth and maturation as a player. Having said that, next year will be his age 28 season so he may not have much upside left in him.

I don't think much of him and it's a contract that is certainly built to move on from quite easily if it didn't work out. I think they're going to invest in OL, I'd be surprised if they ran it back with the same crew on the right side. I'd rather have Moore as the backup tackle because he's on a rookie contract and McKivitz is not, and I don't think the talent gap between the two is that vast. I think him and Oliver are obvious cut candidates.

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

[CrimsonCrew]

Curious as to why you would want to outright cut McKivitz?

While he's far from ideal, and we would all love to see an upgrade at RT, dude is a serviceable player while being cheap labor. at $2.5 mil His cap figure is 27th highest for right tackles, and of course there are only 32 starters. At the very least he's a cheap depth piece/insurance policy.

To give some context on cost, Mike McGlinchey is making $18.5 mil/season. So short of a draft pick, and we all know Kyle's reluctance to lean on rookies, it will be pretty tough to get an upgrade at RT for anything remotely close to Colt's cost.

While I don't have high hopes for him, there is also a decent chance we haven't seen McKivitz's ceiling. He only had around 400 snaps under his belt coming into this season, which was his first as a regular player let alone a starter. So with experience gained this season, we could see some natural growth and maturation as a player. Having said that, next year will be his age 28 season so he may not have much upside left in him.

I don't think much of him and it's a contract that is certainly built to move on from quite easily if it didn't work out. I think they're going to invest in OL, I'd be surprised if they ran it back with the same crew on the right side. I'd rather have Moore as the backup tackle because he's on a rookie contract and McKivitz is not, and I don't think the talent gap between the two is that vast. I think him and Oliver are obvious cut candidates.

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

I love Juszczyk, but he can't come back at his current cap number. And I wouldn't be willing to do a restructure that extends him and/or kicks money into the future. If he would come back at $3.5 million or thereabouts, I would strongly consider that, but we can't pay him $7.5 million in this cap situation.

[Samurai]

Curious as to why you would want to outright cut McKivitz?

While he's far from ideal, and we would all love to see an upgrade at RT, dude is a serviceable player while being cheap labor. at $2.5 mil His cap figure is 27th highest for right tackles, and of course there are only 32 starters. At the very least he's a cheap depth piece/insurance policy.

To give some context on cost, Mike McGlinchey is making $18.5 mil/season. So short of a draft pick, and we all know Kyle's reluctance to lean on rookies, it will be pretty tough to get an upgrade at RT for anything remotely close to Colt's cost.

While I don't have high hopes for him, there is also a decent chance we haven't seen McKivitz's ceiling. He only had around 400 snaps under his belt coming into this season, which was his first as a regular player let alone a starter. So with experience gained this season, we could see some natural growth and maturation as a player. Having said that, next year will be his age 28 season so he may not have much upside left in him.

I don't think much of him and it's a contract that is certainly built to move on from quite easily if it didn't work out. I think they're going to invest in OL, I'd be surprised if they ran it back with the same crew on the right side. I'd rather have Moore as the backup tackle because he's on a rookie contract and McKivitz is not, and I don't think the talent gap between the two is that vast. I think him and Oliver are obvious cut candidates.

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

Salary aside, McKivitz strikes me as a solid insurance policy guy to have around in case of injury but not a starting T on a Super Bowl team. Since he started for the NFC champs this season, I'm sure he sees himself as a clear starter but I don't think he is a "move the needle" guy for us. Then again, we also need to upgrade RG and possibly C (Brendel is a cut candidate) so being able to find improvements at C, G, and T given our lack of cap space seems unrealistic.

I think/hope Juice could be a restructure candidate rather than a cut candidate. His blocking seemed to go down this year and he makes a ton of money for his position.

[CrimsonCrew]

I don't think much of him and it's a contract that is certainly built to move on from quite easily if it didn't work out. I think they're going to invest in OL, I'd be surprised if they ran it back with the same crew on the right side. I'd rather have Moore as the backup tackle because he's on a rookie contract and McKivitz is not, and I don't think the talent gap between the two is that vast. I think him and Oliver are obvious cut candidates.

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

Salary aside, McKivitz strikes me as a solid insurance policy guy to have around in case of injury but not a starting T on a Super Bowl team. Since he started for the NFC champs this season, I'm sure he sees himself as a clear starter but I don't think he is a "move the needle" guy for us. Then again, we also need to upgrade RG and possibly C (Brendel is a cut candidate) so being able to find improvements at C, G, and T given our lack of cap space seems unrealistic.

I think/hope Juice could be a restructure candidate rather than a cut candidate. His blocking seemed to go down this year and he makes a ton of money for his position.

I don't think it makes any sense at all to cut McKivitz at $2.5 million. He wasn't stellar, but he wasn't the problem with our OL performance this season, IMO. Particularly if we can shore up the guard spot next to him, which may make him look better. I think OT is arguably our biggest priority this offseason, and I would not mind at all if we took one - or even traded up for one, which is typically something I do not favor - in the first round to start at RT in year one and then kick to the left to replace Trent. But even in that scenario, it would be crazy to boot McKivitz. It is hard to find even competent OT play.

[49er4life1979]

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

Salary aside, McKivitz strikes me as a solid insurance policy guy to have around in case of injury but not a starting T on a Super Bowl team. Since he started for the NFC champs this season, I'm sure he sees himself as a clear starter but I don't think he is a "move the needle" guy for us. Then again, we also need to upgrade RG and possibly C (Brendel is a cut candidate) so being able to find improvements at C, G, and T given our lack of cap space seems unrealistic.

I think/hope Juice could be a restructure candidate rather than a cut candidate. His blocking seemed to go down this year and he makes a ton of money for his position.

I don't think it makes any sense at all to cut McKivitz at $2.5 million. He wasn't stellar, but he wasn't the problem with our OL performance this season, IMO. Particularly if we can shore up the guard spot next to him, which may make him look better. I think OT is arguably our biggest priority this offseason, and I would not mind at all if we took one - or even traded up for one, which is typically something I do not favor - in the first round to start at RT in year one and then kick to the left to replace Trent. But even in that scenario, it would be crazy to boot McKivitz. It is hard to find even competent OT play.

The one player I really like in free agency is Robert Hunt from the Dolphins. He would be very good for us at RG where we really need the upgrade. And honestly, if it saves cap room I cut Brendel who is 32 and look to get younger in the draft with a C.

[CrimsonCrew]

Salary aside, McKivitz strikes me as a solid insurance policy guy to have around in case of injury but not a starting T on a Super Bowl team. Since he started for the NFC champs this season, I'm sure he sees himself as a clear starter but I don't think he is a "move the needle" guy for us. Then again, we also need to upgrade RG and possibly C (Brendel is a cut candidate) so being able to find improvements at C, G, and T given our lack of cap space seems unrealistic.

I think/hope Juice could be a restructure candidate rather than a cut candidate. His blocking seemed to go down this year and he makes a ton of money for his position.

I don't think it makes any sense at all to cut McKivitz at $2.5 million. He wasn't stellar, but he wasn't the problem with our OL performance this season, IMO. Particularly if we can shore up the guard spot next to him, which may make him look better. I think OT is arguably our biggest priority this offseason, and I would not mind at all if we took one - or even traded up for one, which is typically something I do not favor - in the first round to start at RT in year one and then kick to the left to replace Trent. But even in that scenario, it would be crazy to boot McKivitz. It is hard to find even competent OT play.

The one player I really like in free agency is Robert Hunt from the Dolphins. He would be very good for us at RG where we really need the upgrade. And honestly, if it saves cap room I cut Brendel who is 32 and look to get younger in the draft with a C.

We only save about $1.4 million by cutting Brendel. That's not nothing, but we'd need to draft someone and see how they look before making that move, I think. Brendel isn't young, but he doesn't have a ton of mileage on him. Definitely a guy we can upgrade, but our bigger issues this year were at the guard spots. I'm hoping Banks' terrible season was a result of nagging injuries, but he was trash down the stretch. And Burford was trash all year.

[CrimsonCrew]

Re: Hunt, I can't see it. A good guard could be looking at $15 million/year pretty easily. We don't have that. Can't justify giving that to a guard and not re-signing Aiyuk. I think the OL will have to be addressed through budget-conscious moves and a ideally a moderately high draft pick or two.

[49er4life1979]

Re: Hunt, I can't see it. A good guard could be looking at $15 million/year pretty easily. We don't have that. Can't justify giving that to a guard and not re-signing Aiyuk. I think the OL will have to be addressed through budget-conscious moves and a ideally a moderately high draft pick or two.

Yea let's see what moves they make to create cap room. There's talk that the cap could be set closer to $250 million instead of the original number thrown out which was $243 million. That $7 million for us is big. And yes backloading contracts sucks, but they will definitely do that with Aiyuk to keep the SB window open as long as possible. So hopefully they can pick up a RG in free agency and then draft an OT.

[Jikkle]

Rumors out there we might be close to announcing our DC

The feeling around the league is that it'll be an in-house hire which I tend to agree with.

Though with as secretive as the process has been I do think some phone calls and talks have been made with some of the various pie-in-the-sky candidates at least.

Because if they simply had an in-house guy in mind from the start I doubt this process will have taken as long as it has. Usually those announcements comes pretty quickly in those cases so it seems they are at least likely talking to other people and an in-house guy could be what they end up circling back to.

Not that I excited for an in house candidate because the thing I was excited with Wilks was the fact that he was from the outside and could open the window and bring in some fresh air so to speak but it turns out everyone wanted to keep that window closed still.

I'd just rather not see another year of this same style of defense that's easily figured out and completely dependant on the talent performing. Another year of dreading 3rd downs regardless of the distance because the DBs are going to play soft coverage and give up easy catches in front of them that result in easy conversions and we might bother to actually stop the offense when they are well within FG range.

I'm probably sounding like some ignorant fan but give me some creative blitzes, move guys around on the line, some stunts, and other things that make it hard for the QB to figure out what we're doing instead of our entire defense boiling down to hoping the pass rush gets home.

[Pattersonca65]

Hate to say it, but Juszczyk is a cut candidate too.

Salary aside, McKivitz strikes me as a solid insurance policy guy to have around in case of injury but not a starting T on a Super Bowl team. Since he started for the NFC champs this season, I'm sure he sees himself as a clear starter but I don't think he is a "move the needle" guy for us. Then again, we also need to upgrade RG and possibly C (Brendel is a cut candidate) so being able to find improvements at C, G, and T given our lack of cap space seems unrealistic.

I think/hope Juice could be a restructure candidate rather than a cut candidate. His blocking seemed to go down this year and he makes a ton of money for his position.

I don't think it makes any sense at all to cut McKivitz at $2.5 million. He wasn't stellar, but he wasn't the problem with our OL performance this season, IMO. Particularly if we can shore up the guard spot next to him, which may make him look better. I think OT is arguably our biggest priority this offseason, and I would not mind at all if we took one - or even traded up for one, which is typically something I do not favor - in the first round to start at RT in year one and then kick to the left to replace Trent. But even in that scenario, it would be crazy to boot McKivitz. It is hard to find even competent OT play.

Getting rid of McKivitz doesn't make sense at this point unless one of the backups is better and right now that doesn't appear to be the case. Good free agent Olineman are in short supply and are expensive and that really isn't an option right now. The 49ers don't have that option right now. Anyone the 49ers could afford to pickup in FA is not going to be any better than McKivitz and could cost more. The 49ers need to use one of their high round picks on a olineman and hit on the pick. It is the only way they are going to upgrade the line.

[49er4life1979]

It was just announced that the salary cap will bet set at $255.4 million. Much higher than the $243 million and certainly better than $250 million. That now puts us about $872K in cap space. Pair that with some cuts and restructures and we should be good with some room to maneuver.

[CrimsonCrew]

It was just announced that the salary cap will bet set at $255.4 million. Much higher than the $243 million and certainly better than $250 million. That now puts us about $872K in cap space. Pair that with some cuts and restructures and we should be good with some room to maneuver.

We should have like $37 million in cap space to roll over into this year. Is that accounted for at this point?

[SK21209]

It was just announced that the salary cap will bet set at $255.4 million. Much higher than the $243 million and certainly better than $250 million. That now puts us about $872K in cap space. Pair that with some cuts and restructures and we should be good with some room to maneuver.

Yup. This is why I don't get where any of this "choose between Aiyuk or Deebo" or "cut Juice or Armstead" stuff is coming from. We are not in salary cap trouble this year at all. I expect to see restructures to get us enough cap space to add an impact guy or two. Will pushing money into the future bring some pain down the road? For sure. But we're at the doorstep of winning the Super Bowl, I don't care about two seasons from now. Plus guess what, when we do have to re-tool in the next few years Purdy/Aiyuk/Warner/Bosa/Hufanga/Lenoir are all young enough to lead us through a couple of leaner years and be core pieces of the next great Niners team.

This one might be controversial, but we have an out from Greenlaw's contract this summer. $2.8 million dead cap. I'd explore the possibility of cutting him and bringing Al-Shaair back to replace him.