Are they giving up?

Will the 49ers bounce back or stay down in 2025?

The San Francisco 49ers have yo-yo’d a little bit during Kyle Shanahan’s tenure as head coach, but will they come back up this time or can the rest of the NFC West already write them off for 2025? The 49ers have had to dismantle parts of their roster this year, trading players, cutting players, and losing them in free agency, all because of the extraordinary financial commitments that San Francisco made to players who were not very good last season.

Are the 49ers going to be a major threat or a losing bet?

Two months ago, I wrote that the 49ers had a major advantage in the division because of the fourth-place opponents on their schedule compared to the first place L.A. Rams.

That’s all still true.

However, the 49ers might not win enough common games compared to the other three NFC West teams (including the Cardinals) for it to matter. Though San Francisco still have several first-team All-Pro candidates on the roster (Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, Trent Williams, George Kittle, Nick Bosa), is that enough to overcome the holes on the team?

Players Gone

LG Aaron Banks (signed with Packers, 4 years, $77m)

WR Deebo Samuel (traded to Washington)

FB Kyle Juszczyk (released)

T Jaylon Moore (signed with Chiefs, 2 years, $30m)

S Talanoa Hufanga (signed with Broncos, 3 years, $45m)

LB Dre Greenlaw (signed with Broncos, 3 years, $35m)

DT Maliek Collins (signed with Browns, 2 years, $20m)

CB Charvarius Ward (signed with Colts, 3 years, $42.5m)

OLB Leonard Floyd (released)

DT Javon Hargrave (released)

CB Isaac Yiadom (signed with Saints, 3 years, $9m)

Many of the players going out were not necessarily helping the team a lot (which is only part of the reason they aren’t 49ers anymore), but they aren’t necessarily being replaced by proven talents either.

Consider the rest of the non-Trent 49ers offensive line right now:

• LG Ben Bartch
• C Jake Brendel
• RG Dominick Puni
• RT Colton McKivitz

Trent Williams is 37. Is this the offensive line that can make Brock Purdy look like Joe Montana? What about the receiver room?

• Brandon Aiyuk
• Ricky Pearsall
• Jauan Jennings
• Demarcus Robinson (free agent from Rams)
• Jacob Cowing

Jennings led the team in every receiving category last season. The team is supposedly open to trading Aiyuk because he has a $22 million roster bonus due on April 1st, a move that will save cash but force the 49ers to lose $7.5 million in cap space.

Pearsall, the team’s first round pick in 2024, returned from a gunshot to gain 400 yards in 11 games.

If the 49ers trade Aiyuk, they’ll be left with Pearsall, Jennings, and Robinson.

Kyle Shanahan can be the best playcaller in history, it won’t matter if the 49ers leave Purdy this vulnerable because the supporting cast is gone.

It seems as though the worst thing the 49ers could do is extend Purdy because if they do go 3-14 next season, obviously the reaction would be to draft a quarterback in 2026.

49ers defense

Once their real strength, the defense has the following players who could be listed first on the depth chart right now:

• DE Nick Bosa
• DT Jordan Elliott
• DT Evan Anderson
• DE Yetur Gross-Matos
• LB Fred Warner
• OLB Dee Winters
• CB Renardo Green
• CB Darrell Luter
• NB Deommodore Lenoir
• S Malik Mustapha
• S Ji’Ayir Brown

So combined with the offensive depth chart, could this be a playoff team?

It appears that the 49ers have accepted their fate of a team that won’t compete for a Super Bowl, so instead they need to save cash and open the books for 2026 and 2027. The 49ers have over $70 million in cap space dedicated just to void years in the next two years after this one.

And many of their best players are near or over 30:

• Fred Warner, 29
• George Kittle, 32
• Trent Williams, 37
• Nick Bosa, 28
• Christian McCaffrey, 29

This teardown might not even be close to over.