The San Francisco 49ers are 5-7 after a 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills and to summarize the 2024 49ers season in a couple of words – well – it has not been their year. Not at all. They opened the 2024 season with a 32-19 win over the Jets on Monday Night and looked good in that game. They had over 400 yards of offense, Jordan Mason ran for over 140 yards, and they forced multiple turnovers and sure – Christian McCaffrey, Dre Greenlaw, and Talanoa Hufunga didn’t play in that game – but it was fine because they won by double digits and they were eventually going to be back and be the same old 49ers. They would eventually be the team that’s been to the NFC championship game in 4 of the past 5 years. But that never happened. They would lose the following week in Minnesota, and then lose to the Rams in week 3 and were 1-2 before they knew it. They would go on to beat the Jacoby Brissett led Patriots in week 4, then lost to the Cardinals by a single point in week 5 to fall to 2-3 and that’s been the story of the 49ers season. A day late and a dollar short. Recently, it’s gotten a lot worse but the 49ers were starting to fall a part before the Packers game in week 12 in which they lost 38-10. And the 49ers have been one of the most successful franchises over the past few years – but the inevitable downfall of the San Francisco 49ers is here. And in today’s video we’re going to break down how they got here, what the next steps are, and what they can realistically do moving forward. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by discussing what the main problem for the 2024 49ers is and it’s without a doubt – injuries. Obviously everyone knows about the Christian McCaffrey injury – or injuries he’s dealt with in 2024 – but it hasn’t been just him. Not even close. Brandon Aiyuk held out for a lot of the offseason looking for a new contract and there’s a reason he was looking for a new contract – and it’s because the NFL doesn’t just stand for – the national football league – it also stands for Not For Long. And Aiyuk signed a 4 year $120 million dollar contract extension with the 49ers in August – and less than two months later – tore both his ACL and MCL against the Chiefs and was done for the year. The 49ers also had one of the bigger free agent signings of the 2023 offseason when they signed interior defensive lineman Javon Hargrave to a 4 year $84 million dollar contract. He was coming off of a 2022 season in which he had over 50 pressures with the Eagles, and even had 11 sacks and signing with the 49ers was a great move for both sides. Hargrave could play next to a defensive player of the year edge in Nick Bosa, and still be a disruptor along the interior and both players would benefit. And he made the pro bowl last year but in week 3 of the 2024 season – Hargrave tore his triceps and was done for the year.
Pretty quickly you get the point as to how the 49ers season has progressively gotten worse. They are coming off of back to back 25+ point losses and I think the 28 point loss in Green Bay was arguably the lowest point because they were out so many guys entering that game and the best they could do was hope to keep it close. And for reference – they were out Aiyuk and Hargrave of course, and also didn’t have quarterback Brock Purdy, a hall of fame left tackle in Trent Williams, as well as Nick Bosa and Talanoa Hufunga and Dre Greenlaw too. Being down a third of your starters in any game is obviously tough – and that’s a tremendous understatement in itself – but the 49ers were having a down year prior to the last two games and I thought 2023 was their best chance to win a Super Bowl and they came up short. And it happens. It’s part of sports. One team wins and one team loses. But the problem with the 49ers after Super Bowl 58 and entering the 2024 season was that their roster is getting old – and expensive for that matter too. Trent Williams is 36 and obviously won’t play forever and he has a cap hit of $21.9 million dollars in 2025 – and this is per over the cap dot com of course.
The 49ers have been in a very fortunate position over the past few years because of the selection of Brock Purdy. And by having Brock Purdy on a very cheap contract – they were able to pay players they wouldn’t have been able to if Brock was already paid. So for the 2025 season – the 49ers have several cap hits north of $20 million dollars which include guys like Trent Williams, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle, and Javon Hargrave. And paying players is fine – because at the end of the day you have to pay for talent. You can’t let a guy walk out the door because you simply didn’t want to pay him. At least – good winning organizations don’t do that. But Trent will be 37 next year, George Kittle will be 32 next year, Javon Hargrave will be 32 coming off of a season ending injury, and while we did not mention Deebo Samuel – he has a cap hit of $15.9 million dollars – so you might as well say $16 million dollars – and he will be 29 years old at the start of the 2025 season.
Trent is in a very unique situation because he is Trent Williams and he is ancient for his position – so I would say just ride it out while you can with Trent – and leave him there – but George Kittle and Deebo – and specifically Deebo are two interesting players to watch to see what the 49ers are going to do with them. And Deebo more so than George. The initial thought may be – well Deebo is a 29 year old receiver so what’s the deal? And the thing with Deebo and why this is a big deal is because Deebo is not a normal 29 year old receiver. Even back in 2021 which was Deebo’s best year as a pro – he didn’t win as a receiver from a crisp route running standpoint the way you see a guy like Justin Jefferson – or even Brandon Aiyuk do when healthy. Deebo has always been a physical player and in turn – that’s naturally going to limit the back end of his career – especially with the carries he gets too. The 49ers can save $5 million by designating Deebo as a post June 1st cut next year, and they can save $15 million by designating George Kittle as a post June 1st cut next year. Now Deebo is an interesting player because there’s not a lot of Deebo’s and I would argue he is one of the more difficult players to replace in the NFL – despite him not being a top 2 or 3 player at the position. But when you factor in his age, the wear and tear on his body, and what the 49ers will want to do moving forward – I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Deebo Samuel is not a 49er next year.
The 49ers are also in a difficult situation because they’re going to have to pay Brock Purdy soon and with that – trades, or flat out releases will come. This is a very complex situation and we break it all down with the video below and discuss why the inevitable downfall of the 49ers is here. I hope you enjoyed reading today’s article and hope you have a great day!
