2022 Offseason thread

[CrimsonCrew]

The true last hope is hoping a starting QB for a contender slips in the shower and tears up his knee. They then kneel before Lynch and offer up everything they have and beg Lynch to not laugh at them for passing up on Jimmy earlier.

OK, guess we might as well just release him now and start focusing on other free agents with the Jimmy money.

I don't think we can be aggressive in FA at this point, even if we cut Jimmy tomorrow. We now have some seriously backloaded contracts, between Kittle, Armstead, and Ward. If we want to re-sign our own players, we need to start being frugal. Maybe we add some OL and DL depth on the cheap, but otherwise, I think we've got to look to the draft to reload.

[CrimsonCrew]

Carolina isn't a good trade partner because they already have a ton of money that is locked up in Darnold. It's a fifth-year option, so that money is guaranteed.

As Samurai said, at this point, I think we have to sit on him until close to the start of the season and see if anyone gets desperate. Of course, most of the contenders don't have the cap space to add him. Other than limiting our FA options, there isn't a real drawback to holding onto him for a while at this point.

[Samurai]

The true last hope is hoping a starting QB for a contender slips in the shower and tears up his knee. They then kneel before Lynch and offer up everything they have and beg Lynch to not laugh at them for passing up on Jimmy earlier.

OK, guess we might as well just release him now and start focusing on other free agents with the Jimmy money.

I don't think we can be aggressive in FA at this point, even if we cut Jimmy tomorrow. We now have some seriously backloaded contracts, between Kittle, Armstead, and Ward. If we want to re-sign our own players, we need to start being frugal. Maybe we add some OL and DL depth on the cheap, but otherwise, I think we've got to look to the draft to reload.

While I understand the need to be frugal, if we were to go the extra buck somewhere I think it has to be our O-line. Unless Shanahan is convinced that Aaron Banks and Jaylon Moore will be taking HUGE leaps forward, virtually every position has some question marks. Williams is a true stud but he's not getting younger. Who will replace Tomlinson? Will Mack return and how much is left in his tank (he turns 37 in November)? Brunskill is better suited as a versatile insurance policy rather than a starting G. How effective will McGlinchey be after his injury? Based on how much (how little) we got from Banks and Moore last season, it doesn't seem prudent to expect that we will magically find our two starting guards, an apprentice at center and a potential replacement at RT in the latter rounds of this draft.

[Dodub]

I no longer care about the 5th round pick or even the $7 million injury settlement. Let’s cut this dude today and be done with it

[CrimsonCrew]

Yeah, OL is the one place I would make an exception as it's a fairly glaring need, I just don't know that there's much out there in terms of starting-caliber talent at this point. We've got some young guys hanging around who might be able to contribute. McKivitz played alright in spot duty at LT last yeat, though he also couldn't beat Compton out at RT. And Skule should return from injury. Banks needs to start at LG this year. It's why we drafted him (though last year I would have said we added him to play at RG), and he was a very high pick at the position. Moore is probably still very raw, but hopefully he's coming along.

We need to throw a bunch of draft capital at the OL this year, though hopefully we can get away with using picks in the third, fourth, and/or sixth instead of having to use another second rounder.

Have I ever mentioned that they should have taken Wirfs instead of Kinlaw?

[Jikkle]

The offensive line needs to be a major focus in the draft and I wouldn't have an issue if they used their 1st 3 picks on it.

The only other position I'd consider above it is finding another edge rusher to play the opposite side of Bosa. Armstead just works so much better inside than he does outside so we need someone that can keep him inside and dual-pass rushers are what you're going to see more of to curb high powered passing attacks.

Offensive line is really the only group that's a glaring weakness on this team. All the other position groups at the very least are solid and the weakest phase Special Teams was upgraded and addressed.

[CrimsonCrew]

I know I'm obsessing (it's kind of what I do...), but I just can't believe that they couldn't have moved Jimmy to Washington or Indy for a third-rounder and probably more. Wentz was just dumped after one year by the coach who had been his biggest advocate, and I don't think anyone even really knew Ryan was available until the Deshaun Watson trade. The Niners should have been proactively trying to move Jimmy to Indy while Watson was negotiating, as he clearly wasn't an option for Indy.

Instead, the FO was deluded into believing they could get two second rounders or even a first (lord knows why they would believe that), and kept waiting for the market to dry up so they would be in a position of bargaining power. Well, now the market has dried up, but instead of putting them in the driver's seat, instead every logical spot for Jimmy found another solution to their QB problem. They're the last girl at the dance, and there aren't any partners left.

As I've said, it's possible the surgery played some part, but it seems unlikely that they couldn't have swung something the way this market has shaken out. And now they're almost certainly going to have to cut a valuable asset and get nothing in return. The only way this could get worse is if they keep him next year - which I'm somewhat afraid they are just dumb enough to do.

[Samurai]

I know I'm obsessing (it's kind of what I do...), but I just can't believe that they couldn't have moved Jimmy to Washington or Indy for a third-rounder and probably more. Wentz was just dumped after one year by the coach who had been his biggest advocate, and I don't think anyone even really knew Ryan was available until the Deshaun Watson trade. The Niners should have been proactively trying to move Jimmy to Indy while Watson was negotiating, as he clearly wasn't an option for Indy.

Instead, the FO was deluded into believing they could get two second rounders or even a first (lord knows why they would believe that), and kept waiting for the market to dry up so they would be in a position of bargaining power. Well, now the market has dried up, but instead of putting them in the driver's seat, instead every logical spot for Jimmy found another solution to their QB problem. They're the last girl at the dance, and there aren't any partners left.

As I've said, it's possible the surgery played some part, but it seems unlikely that they couldn't have swung something the way this market has shaken out. And now they're almost certainly going to have to cut a valuable asset and get nothing in return. The only way this could get worse is if they keep him next year - which I'm somewhat afraid they are just dumb enough to do.

We don't know any of this for certain. Matt Maioco stated that he does not believe the Niners received any offers for Jimmy (2nd round, 3rd round, or otherwise). Any reports of the team having "an offer" for a 2nd round pick, much less two 2nd round picks, could just be a) noise from the team to get someone/anyone to make them any type of offer or b) not actually attributed to an official team spokesperson. It is very possible that with Brady unretiring, Rodgers returning to Green Bay, and Watson suddenly becoming available, teams just didn't want to take a chance on an injury-prone QB that can't throw a pass until this summer who is physically limited even on the rare days he is healthy. If no one wanted to dance with Lynch, there's not much he can do to force teams to take Jimmy.

[CrimsonCrew]

I know I'm obsessing (it's kind of what I do...), but I just can't believe that they couldn't have moved Jimmy to Washington or Indy for a third-rounder and probably more. Wentz was just dumped after one year by the coach who had been his biggest advocate, and I don't think anyone even really knew Ryan was available until the Deshaun Watson trade. The Niners should have been proactively trying to move Jimmy to Indy while Watson was negotiating, as he clearly wasn't an option for Indy.

Instead, the FO was deluded into believing they could get two second rounders or even a first (lord knows why they would believe that), and kept waiting for the market to dry up so they would be in a position of bargaining power. Well, now the market has dried up, but instead of putting them in the driver's seat, instead every logical spot for Jimmy found another solution to their QB problem. They're the last girl at the dance, and there aren't any partners left.

As I've said, it's possible the surgery played some part, but it seems unlikely that they couldn't have swung something the way this market has shaken out. And now they're almost certainly going to have to cut a valuable asset and get nothing in return. The only way this could get worse is if they keep him next year - which I'm somewhat afraid they are just dumb enough to do.

We don't know any of this for certain. Matt Maioco stated that he does not believe the Niners received any offers for Jimmy (2nd round, 3rd round, or otherwise). Any reports of the team having "an offer" for a 2nd round pick, much less two 2nd round picks, could just be a) noise from the team to get someone/anyone to make them any type of offer or b) not actually attributed to an official team spokesperson. It is very possible that with Brady unretiring, Rodgers returning to Green Bay, and Watson suddenly becoming available, teams just didn't want to take a chance on an injury-prone QB that can't throw a pass until this summer who is physically limited even on the rare days he is healthy. If no one wanted to dance with Lynch, there's not much he can do to force teams to take Jimmy.

Yeah, but Maiocco is likely getting his info from Niners insiders, who have at least some incentive to shade things so the team doesn't look inept. As said, I'm sure the injury played some part in this, but I also think the team could have moved him for something if they were willing to come down on their expectations. Ultimately we'll never know. For now, he's probably on the team until he's cleared. I guess the benefit is that it won't cost us anything more to hold him that long, and if Lance looks awful or has some freak injury, Jimmy could start again. But that would be a longterm disaster.

[CrimsonCrew]

Peter King floating a Garoppolo trade for Darnold. I mean...why? Why would we even want Darnold? He's a garbage QB who costs almost $19 million. At that point, we'd almost be better off to keep Jimmy. There's only an additional $7 million cap hit, and at least he's familiar with the offense. And we'd recoup a better comp pick for him next year, assuming he garners more of a contract than Darnold.

But we need to move on from Jimmy if we can't trade him. Got to cut him. We absolutely cannot eat up that much cap space on a backup QB. Half the reason you go with a rookie QB is for the cap savings. If we traded all that draft capital and still shell out $67 million on the QB position in Lance's first two years, it would basically be a disaster.

[CrimsonCrew]

Either Lynch is an absolute magician or he is using the media to lie for him in one last act of desperation.

It’s reported that a team is offering 2 second rounders which I have a really hard time believing.

Pretty hard to believe. If someone offered us two second rounders, we should take it IMMEDIATELY. I would jump at a single second-round pick at this point.

I just can't make sense out of this on several fronts. If it's true, why haven't they accepted it? And if it's just a negotiating ploy, I don't understand the thought process in saying it's two second rounders. Beating two second rounders would take a first rounder, and there just isn't a team out there at this point (or maybe any point) that is going to do that. If this is a ruse to stir up the market, he would have been better off saying they had an offer for a third. Then maybe someone offers a second. With this purported offer, there isn't anywhere realistic to go.

I've come around a bit to the idea that circumstances have just been pretty F-ed in regards to their efforts to move him, rather than gross mismanagement (though I'm definitely still open to that view). The injury/surgery threw a wrench in things, and this QB market has been the most active we've seen in a LONG time (ever, so far as I can remember). But this sort of rumor, if started by the team, could just blow up in their face and make them look silly. If they cut him after putting out that there was an offer of two seconds, they just look inept. And only slightly less so if they trade him for, say, a fourth (which would still be a good move at this point, IMO, if that's all we can get).

Real head-scratcher, but let's hope there's some truth to it and they're closing in on a trade.

I was listening to Haberman and Middlekauff yesterday, and although they didn't say this, per se, if made me reflect on a possible explanation for this rumor: Atlanta or some other team trying to move their QB actually started the rumor. That would make a lot more sense than it coming from the Niners. Atlanta, looking to move Matt Ryan, would actually stand to benefit from a rumor that the Niners are asking way too much for Garoppolo. By comparison, a third for Ryan looks like a relative steal. Not at all saying this is true, just that it's possible and would make more sense than the Niners airing that.

The other thought is that Florio is something of a moron, and hasn't really ever gotten something right about the Niners, and this is just so much more hot air.

[Pattersonca65]

Either Lynch is an absolute magician or he is using the media to lie for him in one last act of desperation.

It’s reported that a team is offering 2 second rounders which I have a really hard time believing.

Pretty hard to believe. If someone offered us two second rounders, we should take it IMMEDIATELY. I would jump at a single second-round pick at this point.

I just can't make sense out of this on several fronts. If it's true, why haven't they accepted it? And if it's just a negotiating ploy, I don't understand the thought process in saying it's two second rounders. Beating two second rounders would take a first rounder, and there just isn't a team out there at this point (or maybe any point) that is going to do that. If this is a ruse to stir up the market, he would have been better off saying they had an offer for a third. Then maybe someone offers a second. With this purported offer, there isn't anywhere realistic to go.

I've come around a bit to the idea that circumstances have just been pretty F-ed in regards to their efforts to move him, rather than gross mismanagement (though I'm definitely still open to that view). The injury/surgery threw a wrench in things, and this QB market has been the most active we've seen in a LONG time (ever, so far as I can remember). But this sort of rumor, if started by the team, could just blow up in their face and make them look silly. If they cut him after putting out that there was an offer of two seconds, they just look inept. And only slightly less so if they trade him for, say, a fourth (which would still be a good move at this point, IMO, if that's all we can get).

Real head-scratcher, but let's hope there's some truth to it and they're closing in on a trade.

I was listening to Haberman and Middlekauff yesterday, and although they didn't say this, per se, if made me reflect on a possible explanation for this rumor: Atlanta or some other team trying to move their QB actually started the rumor. That would make a lot more sense than it coming from the Niners. Atlanta, looking to move Matt Ryan, would actually stand to benefit from a rumor that the Niners are asking way too much for Garoppolo. By comparison, a third for Ryan looks like a relative steal. Not at all saying this is true, just that it's possible and would make more sense than the Niners airing that.

The other thought is that Florio is something of a moron, and hasn't really ever gotten something right about the Niners, and this is just so much more hot air.

There is alot of info out there but I believe if the FO was reasonable in its trade demands they would have been able to trade him. Jimmy G is an average QB. He isn't a bad QB and there are teams that would be willing to trade for him for reasonable compensation. The one factor that might hinder this is trying to accomodate Jimmy by giving him a say on where he will be traded to. The 49ers gave up second round pick for him and got had him for several years so even just a single 2nd round or 3rd round pick is good enough. Atlanta got a 3rd and while Ryan was a better QB in his prime than Jimmy G he isn't any better at this stage of his career.

[Pattersonca65]

I know I'm obsessing (it's kind of what I do...), but I just can't believe that they couldn't have moved Jimmy to Washington or Indy for a third-rounder and probably more. Wentz was just dumped after one year by the coach who had been his biggest advocate, and I don't think anyone even really knew Ryan was available until the Deshaun Watson trade. The Niners should have been proactively trying to move Jimmy to Indy while Watson was negotiating, as he clearly wasn't an option for Indy.

Instead, the FO was deluded into believing they could get two second rounders or even a first (lord knows why they would believe that), and kept waiting for the market to dry up so they would be in a position of bargaining power. Well, now the market has dried up, but instead of putting them in the driver's seat, instead every logical spot for Jimmy found another solution to their QB problem. They're the last girl at the dance, and there aren't any partners left.

As I've said, it's possible the surgery played some part, but it seems unlikely that they couldn't have swung something the way this market has shaken out. And now they're almost certainly going to have to cut a valuable asset and get nothing in return. The only way this could get worse is if they keep him next year - which I'm somewhat afraid they are just dumb enough to do.

We don't know any of this for certain. Matt Maioco stated that he does not believe the Niners received any offers for Jimmy (2nd round, 3rd round, or otherwise). Any reports of the team having "an offer" for a 2nd round pick, much less two 2nd round picks, could just be a) noise from the team to get someone/anyone to make them any type of offer or b) not actually attributed to an official team spokesperson. It is very possible that with Brady unretiring, Rodgers returning to Green Bay, and Watson suddenly becoming available, teams just didn't want to take a chance on an injury-prone QB that can't throw a pass until this summer who is physically limited even on the rare days he is healthy. If no one wanted to dance with Lynch, there's not much he can do to force teams to take Jimmy.

Yeah, but Maiocco is likely getting his info from Niners insiders, who have at least some incentive to shade things so the team doesn't look inept. As said, I'm sure the injury played some part in this, but I also think the team could have moved him for something if they were willing to come down on their expectations. Ultimately we'll never know. For now, he's probably on the team until he's cleared. I guess the benefit is that it won't cost us anything more to hold him that long, and if Lance looks awful or has some freak injury, Jimmy could start again. But that would be a longterm disaster.

I don't think they should bring Jimmy back under any circumstances. They invested three firsts in Lance so they just have to move forward. If there are still serious enough questions about Lance that they want to bring in another potential starter that would be a red flag with Lance. But it isn't fair if Lance is going to start to have Jimmy over his shoulder. Lance doesn't need to hear the calls for Jimmy to start if he has a couple of bad games or the team is struggling. The 49ers invested heavily in this kid and now they are going to just have to see how it plays out.

[CrimsonCrew]

My read is that the FO figured the Colts were stuck, and they played hardball. There apparently wasn't another viable starter on the table who was available to the Colts (no way the Texans would trade Watson in the division), so the Niners figured they could leverage some legit draft capital in a trade.

And in a vacuum, that wasn't a bad strategy. But the Colts didn't have to just sit there and take it. They were free to look elsewhere. It was pretty unforeseeable that Atlanta would eat a $40 million cap hit to move off of Matt Ryan, but the Niners should have lowered their demands a little bit and seen if they could move Jimmy for a single two or even a three when it was clear he wasn't going to drum up the interest they hoped he would (around the time the Steelers signed Trubisky and Washington traded for Wentz), which I think likely would have been on the table prior to the Watson trade. That would have been the prudent move, but it feels like they got greedy and, in a classic case, overestimated the value of their own asset.

[CrimsonCrew]

Well the offseason is a success. Dontae "The Barnacle" Johnson has re-signed.

In slightly more positive news, Jordan Willis also returning, as I figured he might. Adds another depth piece at DE, and a guy who still has a bit of upside with elite physical tools. And, of course, two of the biggest STs plays in franchise history.

No word on contracts that I've seen, but I'm assuming they're both near the minimum.

[wco81]

The whole Jimmy thing may be another big blunder by this regime.

It isn't getting any better.

[CrimsonCrew]

Jeff Wilson also returning. Some pretty standard retention of lower-level FAs. Works for me, again, assuming the price tag is low for all of these guys.

[Pattersonca65]

Well the offseason is a success. Dontae "The Barnacle" Johnson has re-signed.

In slightly more positive news, Jordan Willis also returning, as I figured he might. Adds another depth piece at DE, and a guy who still has a bit of upside with elite physical tools. And, of course, two of the biggest STs plays in franchise history.

No word on contracts that I've seen, but I'm assuming they're both near the minimum.

I would like to see Key back if it is possible

[GS Warriors 1]

Deebo Samuel got a little bit richer this offseason with those deals given to Adams and Hill. Total value wise, probably in the range of 18-22M more. 4/96-100 is likely the new market for a Samuel extension.

[Samurai]

Well the offseason is a success. Dontae "The Barnacle" Johnson has re-signed.

In slightly more positive news, Jordan Willis also returning, as I figured he might. Adds another depth piece at DE, and a guy who still has a bit of upside with elite physical tools. And, of course, two of the biggest STs plays in franchise history.

No word on contracts that I've seen, but I'm assuming they're both near the minimum.

I would like to see Key back if it is possible

I would too but the fact that he has met with the Lions and the Jaguars indicates that they have interest in him. If there is a bidding war, the Niners don't have a lot in the piggy bank to compete. They may feel that they can find a cheaper DE in the draft.