The NFL offseason is nearly over. As OTAs and other offseason workouts approach, teams all around the NFL are putting the offseason in the rearview mirror and looking ahead to the fall. For some teams, the offseason was a success– bringing increased expectations as those franchises look to enter championship contention. But for others, a rough offseason could mean a rough 2025 campaign.
For the San Francisco 49ers, this was a very up and down offseason. While they were able to lock in key pieces for the foreseeable future– handing out lucrative multi-year extensions to Brock Purdy, Fred Warner and George Kittle, they also lost a lot of key players and have a lot of questions still unanswered. And because of the whirlwind offseason, the 49ers received a very low grade– particularly from Pro Football Network.
San Francisco’s Low Grade
Pro Football Network believes that the 49ers offseason was about as bad as it gets– giving them a ‘D’ grade. While signing Purdy, Warner and Kittle certainly helped, the number of players that left compared to who the Niners got to replace them leaves them with a lot of holes still left to fill.
“Locking up their quarterback long term was one of the few bright spots for San Francisco,” the PFN article said. “The front office allowed a lot of veteran talent to leave through free agency and trades, including Deebo Samuel Sr., Charvarius Ward, and Dre Greenlaw. With so many holes to fill, the Niners didn’t come away from free agency with nearly enough, Tre Brown and Demarcus Robinson being the highlights.”
“The 49ers’ 2025 draft class had its highs and lows,” PFN added. “Mykel Williams was a polarizing prospect as he possesses elite physical traits, but his college production didn’t match. C.J. West and Alfred Collins could help fill the void left by Maliek Collins and Javon Hargrave, but they’ll have their work cut out to improve a defense that ranked 28th in EPA per rush and 25th in run defense success rate. San Francisco did bring back Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator, which could be a positive. Unfortunately, he won’t have the same level of talent across the board as when he was last there.”
Assessing the Grade
It makes sense why the 49ers received such a low grade. Two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, the team is just a shell of what it was during its 2023 Super Bowl run, with the players remaining older and more hurt. Brandon Aiyuk, who had a career season that year and was a central contributor to the 49ers run, injured his knee in Week 7 of last season, making his return unknown at this point. And then there is Christian McCaffrey, who after a stellar 2023 that saw him take home the Offensive Player of the Year Award, missed almost all of last season with injuries.
But the 49ers can squash all doubts with a resurgent season. Finishing last in the NFC West last year, the 49ers face a relatively favorable schedule, going up against other last place teams. It is these types of seasons that can prove exactly what type of team– rebuilding or not– the 49ers are.
