The energy of adding 11 new players to the roster last week left one rather large detail fly under the radar down in Santa Clara.
Hardly any of the players John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan released are getting traction from other NFL teams. Niners Nation compiled the full group.
QB Colin Kaepernick
QB Blaine Gabbert
QB Christian Ponder
QB Thad Lewis
RB Shaun Draughn
RB DuJuan Harris
WR Quinton Patton
WR Rod Streater
TE Jim Dray
OG Andrew Tiller
OL Andrew Gardner
DT Glenn Dorsey
DT Tony Jerod-Eddie
DL Chris Jones
LB Nick Bellore
LB Michael Wilhoite
LB Gerald Hodges
CB Chris Davis
DB Marcus Cromartie
What a staggering list. We all understood Trent Baalke built a fatally flawed football team Chip Kelly couldn’t win with, but apparently the 49ers were the NFL’s version of a D-League team in 2016. There are several football careers that will die because of a nightmare 2-14 season, many others will be recycled in annual August cuts. The league has sent a pretty sharp message to these former 49ers: The film was just as empty as the record. No disrespect to these hard working professionals, but this is a dog-eat-dog league.
Lynch and Shanahan are the victors of fortunate timing. Not only did Trent Baalke leave them more than $100 million of cap room to play with, an unusual amount of role players were coming off the books. All four quarterbacks? Underachieving wide receivers in the middle rounds of the draft? You name it, Baalke collected it. San Francisco’s new regime decided only Jeremy Kerley was worth a contract extension and even bit the bullet on cutting established veterans Torrey Smith and Antoine Bethea. So far, the duo isn’t shying away from tough decisions.
Gutting a 53-man roster can take up to three seasons but the 49ers have gotten a legitimate head start on the process. Lynch, Shanahan and many other candidates who interviewed with Jed York and Paraag Marathe in January said the blank canvass was an appealing aspect of the job. Shanahan was immediately able to bring in nearly a dozen of players he’s built relationships with, many who have had career years under his coaching.
So, what does this all mean? It’s too early to set a record in stone, but if the 49ers ace the NFL Draft, you could be talking about a football team who is closer to 8-8 than they are 4-12. Anything 6-10 or above in Year 1 of a rebuild would be considered a massive step in the right direction. Shanahan’s been dealt crappier hands in Washington and Cleveland and produced. When you sprinkle this veteran-laden free agent class with the young core players on the roster — a concept that could’ve kept Baalke and Kelly their jobs — the days of feeling completely outmatched on the football field appear to be in their final chapters.
Do the math: 11 new free agents + 10 draft picks + 10 undrafted players – 19 players still un-signed – Smith, Bethea, Phil Dawson and Marcus Martin. This will feel like an entirely different team in 2017 and that’s fantastic.
The limitations are crystal clear, certainly. Brian Hoyer has a ceiling. The Cardinals and Seahawks are both due for resurgent seasons. There are always hiccups installing an offense in Year 1, whether Shanahan is pulling the strings or not. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is a complete unknown. Hopefully, many rookies will be starting by mid-season.
To be fair to Baalke, he didn’t leave the cupboards completely empty. Carlos Hyde, DeForest Buckner, NaVorro Bowman, Jimmie Ward and Eric Reid can be impact players on a playoff team. If Pierre Garcon, Kyle Juszczyk and Marquise Goodwin are immediate impact players on offense — like Shanahan will expect them to be — you’ll see this team score 30 points or more regularly. Last year’s team did not score over 30 once and the only two wins came against the Los Angeles Rams. Last year’s team was an utter embarrassment to the Bay Area.
Baalke’s legacy is a spider web tied to many aspects of the franchise’s history. His manipulation over York regarding Jim Harbaugh’s dismissal will never fully fade away. Replacing him with Jim Tomsula was just as asinine. Baalke’s consistently rocky relationship with Colin Kaepernick obviously did not help the 49ers in any way or form. Of course there was a Super Bowl run and some big playoff wins tucked in between all the drama.
The biggest surprise of it all? Baalke’s final act as the GM of the 49ers may ultimately end up steering San Francisco in the right direction sooner than the new brass thought.