SF OFFSEASON MAY NOT BE FAVORABLE
Team sticking with Garoppolo and won’t be after big-time players in free agency
The reality of the 49ers’ 2021 offseason is coming into view and it’s not going to get many folks excited.
That’s not to say that it’s bad. No sir.
It’s only to say that it won’t bring about the kind of intrigue and big names that many fans might be craving after a disappointing season.
Two things stand out above all else ahead of NFL free agency opening on March 17:
1. Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be the 49ers’ starting quarterback in 2021, unless Deshaun Watson becomes available and…2. The Niners’ free agency period is going to be about maintaining players, not adding them.
Perhaps those two truths were evident to you well before this column, but the ramifications of both of those facts are worth exploration.
First, Garoppolo: The 49ers’ brass has backed Garoppolo the past two offseasons, despite looking around at other options. Now, without a clearcut upgrade available, the 49ers are taking that backing to a new level, with Lynch saying on the “Eye Test for Two” podcast that he has no doubt Garoppolo will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2021. There was a caveat, though. “Being available is a big part of this thing,” Lynch said about Garoppolo. “So we … probably as a stated goal … we have to insulate ourselves better. We got to have better options if he’s not there.”
This brings us to the second truth of the 49ers’ offseason: There’s not enough money to go around.
If you’re a Niners fan who hasn’t come to terms with Richard Sherman signing elsewhere this spring, you better get on that as soon as possible.
Sherman won’t be the only key Niner exiting, though.
The 49ers can do some cutting in the coming weeks and months, but heading into free agency, they have roughly $14 million in salary-cap space, per OverTheCap.
So much for adding JJ Watt or Von Miller.
At best, the Niners might be able to bring in center Alex Mack on an extremely discounted deal.
Upgrades? No, the real theme of this offseason is arbitrage.
Sherman is gone. He’s said as much multiple times. All indications are that strong safety Jaquiski Tartt is, too. Ahkello Witherspoon is likely to move on as well, as are plenty of other role players on this team.
Their replacements will have to be cheaper options, coming via the practice squad, the draft, or the bargain bin in free agency.
And it’s still going to be
tight to keep all the guys the Niners would like to keep.
San Francisco used to have so much cap space that they would gladly overpay for top free-agent talent. Now, they’re praying that there’s no bidding war for their guys hitting the open market.
Can the Niners re-sign left tackle Trent Williams (their No. 1 goal) and keep fullback Kyle Juszczyk? What about one defensive back — either K’Waun Williams or Jason Verrett?
It’s going to be a difficult thing to manage.
Of course, the 49ers could extend Garoppolo’s contract to make some serious cap space, but given the fact that they’ve gone quarterback
window shopping the last two seasons, it doesn’t seem as if they’re at all interested in making Garoppolo’s contract less friendly to the team. (Garoppolo can be cut at any point without taking on a significant dead cap hit.)
The cap crunch will, of course, make it tough to add a veteran backup quarterback, if that’s the route Lynch was alluding to in his comments.
Those guys aren’t cheap.
All of this puts even more onus on Lynch and company to draft exceptionally well come April. The Niners can’t afford busts on the first three days this year.
After years of spend, spend, spend, the Niners are in a new phase: hold, hold, hold. And while it might still bring about victories come the fall, it won’t win over too many fans this spring.