49ers Resurgence is Coming: Lynch and Shanahan’s 2nd Act Set to Bolster the Team

Let’s start with a mea culpa. I got it wrong: It was, in fact, The Last Dance for that 49ers team.

You can blame many things for that completely errant prediction, but if pushed, I’d put it down to sheer belief and optimism that such a good 49ers team, that gave us all such joy for the last few years, couldn’t possibly walk away empty-handed. Such is the cruelty of sport, however, that they did, and if all things are equal, they ended it quite a long way from their destination. Last season’s putrid 6-11 season will not live long in the memory – unless you like thinking about multiple missed opportunities and late-game heartbreak.

The End Of An Era

For a lot of fans, that pain will have been exacerbated by the 49ers early moves in the new league year, as the 49ers jettisoned several cornerstones of successful seasons past, including, but not limited to, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, running back Jordan Mason, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, cornerback Charvarius Ward, and safety Talanoa Hufanga. Even those who participated in middling seasons weren’t spared either, as defensive linemen Javon Hargrave, Maliek Collins, and Leonard Floyd also got the metaphorical bullet.

It’s easy to understand fans’ unhappiness. The first group of players who will no longer be donning the 49ers jersey are, after all, players who have had significant moments in the team’s recent history – you don’t have to look far into your memory to remember highlight plays from Samuel, for instance. In addition, Dre Greenlaw will likely forever be remembered for his stop at the one-inch line in the division decider against Seattle in 2019, as well as being a heart-and-soul leader next to Fred Warner in the 49ers defense. These players were the face of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s rebuilt 49ers – tough, uncompromising leaders who drove the team forward.

It would therefore be churlish to claim that losing them is not important, or that it wouldn’t hurt. Fandom by its very nature is sentimental, and everyone will have their own memories of the great moments those players provided, or the triumphs they were part of. In some ways, it’s sad that they were never able to bring home a Super Bowl. Most fans will always wonder if it might have been different if Greenlaw had been able to play the full game last February, for instance. So when those players leave to whom such emotional attachment is based around, and you look at the team’s current roster and still see glaring holes at (among others), defensive end, defensive tackle, and cornerback, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the team has entered a rebuild. After coming so close to topping the mountain, no one wants to see that.

Difficult Truths

Whether that’s the reality or not, however, is debatable. Of the losses, in my opinion, only Greenlaw could be considered a net positive on the field for the 49ers moving forward relative to his likely price, and even that’s hard to quantify, given his lack of field time in 2024. Regardless, he’s been the heart and soul, along with Fred Warner, of a great defense for most of the last five years, so that’s a loss. It will fall on John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan to find a replacement, whether that’s internally – Dee Winters or perhaps a fully rehabilitated Curtis Robinson could have the inside track there – or in the draft. The organization’s history of finding contributors in the NFL draft should probably make one feel better about that.

Outside of Greenlaw, pretty much everything else has an explanation. Deebo Samuel, while a tone-setter and a fantastic playmaker – no one should ever forget his 2021 run which was borderline MVP-level play – has never been the same player since leveraging his disgruntlement in the NFL media into a huge extension from the team. In terms of return on investment, that contract was a disaster for the 49ers. It would’ve been nice to see him have a redemption run, but you sense that both the team and player just tired of their surroundings. A fresh start likely helps both sides, and while a fifth-round pick doesn’t mean much to most teams, it has been a spot where the 49ers have found multiple contributors in years past.

Jordan Mason, while a good player, is dwarfed in value by Christian McCaffrey, and had more value to other teams, primarily due to his receiving deficiencies. Charvarius Ward had his own reasons for not coming back to the Bay Area, and given what he went through, no one can blame the team for letting him walk, particularly since Deommodore Lenoir has already been paid at his position and Renardo Green is developing nicely. Perhaps the only other slight surprise departure was Talanoa Hufanga, given the inconsistency of the 49ers safety play in the last few seasons. That said, it was hard to determine his value to the team – even the fanbase can’t quite agree on whether he’s a dynamic playmaker or an inconsistent flashy player (I’m more in the latter camp). Even so, given the combination of his injury history and Malik Mustapha’s development, it wasn’t a surprise to see him move on.

Beyond that, the majority of departures were players who contributed very little while pulling in high money. Javon Hargrave was an odd signing from the beginning, and now comes to represent a disastrous change of signing policy, moving cash from the edge to the interior of the defensive line. That never looked like working out and never did. Leonard Floyd registered good statistics at times that didn’t matter, and never became a true bookend to Nick Bosa. Maliek Collins showed why the Texans were willing to part ways with him so cheaply last offseason, and ‘lead’ a unit that was a consistent, hair-pulling-out-frustrating liability against the running game. Aaron Banks was an average player who leveraged the ridiculousness of NFL free agency and landed a contract far above his talent level. To be honest, paying anyone on the 49ers offensive line outside of Trent Williams and Dominick Puni should be grounds for locking up on the basis of insanity.