Offseason offers lots for 49ers to address
Their best wide receiver broke his foot, their top running back requested a trade, their primary kick returner broke his wrist, their versatile backup defensive back tore his pectoral and their AllPro tight end remains in contractextension limbo.
Yes, the 49ers made far more news than I did during my annual pretraining camp break. (So sorry, readers, the global pandemic kept us close to home this summer, which means I can’t regale you with fascinating family vacation stories).
The 49ers’ slew of offseason injuries, along with the contract status of two offensive standouts, could have significant implications for the season — assuming, you know, the NFL plays games in 2020.
Here’s a review of the major summer stories, with the 49ers scheduled to report to training camp Tuesday:
Deebo Samuel breaks foot
Meet the 49ers’ top wide receiver in Week 1: Kendrick Bourne?
No offense to Bourne, but the undrafted free agent with 88 catches in three seasons projects more as a nice role player than a No. 1.
With Samuel expected to be sidelined for at least the first few games with a Jones fracture, however, Bourne is the leading candidate to headline a position group filled with inexperience (rookie Brandon Aiyuk) and/ or question marks (Dante Pettis, Trent Taylor, Jalen Hurd).
Why can’t Aiyuk, the No. 25 pick, pick up the slack by channeling Samuel’s stellar rookie season from 2019?
To do so by September, he’ll have to be a remarkably quick study at a position that usually has a steep learning curve, particularly in Kyle Shanahan’s complex offense. Due to the pandemic, Aiyuk may not participate in his first padded NFL practice until late August — a few weeks before the season opener.
As far as Samuel, who missed just one game as a rookie, he entered the NFL
with a notable injury history. He missed 20 games in his fouryear college career because of injuries that included a broken leg and multiple hamstring pulls.
Mostert asks for trade
Trade requests are effective when the player demanding a deal has leverage.
And Mostert, 28, possesses little. He plays a devalued position for a head coach with a track record of getting runningback production from turnips, he signed a threeyear extension in 2019 and was known primarily as a welltraveled, fumbleprone, specialteams standout before his impressive lateseason rush into the national spotlight.
Mostert made his trade request, via his agent, Brett Tessler, on July 8. This week, the NFL Network reported Mostert has since spoken with a member of the 49ers’ front office to “clear the air” and “get on the same page.” Tessler declined comment Wednesday.
Mostert is scheduled to earn just over $2.5 million this season and has no guaranteed money left in the final two years of his contract. He’s reportedly seeking a salary on par with teammate Tevin Coleman ($4.55 million this season), the running back he supplanted in 2019.
It’s possible Mostert could be replaced without a huge dropoff. In a divisionalplayoff win over Minnesota, for example, Coleman rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns when Mostert was slowed by a minor injury.
Still, Shanahan prefers a committee backfield approach, and Mostert’s lateseason work strongly suggested he was the team’s most explosive and dynamic back. Mostert led NFL running backs in yards per carry (5.6) in the regular season and, including playoff games, rushed for 1,108 yards and scored 15 touchdowns.
A reasonable expectation: The two sides will compromise, perhaps with incentives and/or guaranteed money added to Mostert’s contract, and he’ll start the season in the leadback role.
Kittle extension in limbo
Kittle is an elite tight end who wants to be compensated more like a highend wide receiver, and it’s unclear how the NFL’s yettobeknown loss of revenue this season will impact the salary cap in 2021 and beyond.
With that in mind, perhaps it’s not surprising that the 49ers, who have about $12 million in salary cap space and plenty of notable players on expiring contracts this season, haven’t worked out an extension for an irreplaceable firstteam AllPro.
Given the situation, it’s not hard to see the impasse continuing, unless Kittle settles for a deal that pays him about $13 million annually as the NFL’s highestcompensated tight end. The league’s highestpaid wideout, Atlanta’s Julio Jones, earns $22 million a year.
Kittle, 26, is scheduled to make about $2.1 million this season, and his body has absorbed tremendous punishment in his first three seasons. He’s had a chipped ankle bone, popped knee capsule, separated shoulder and fractured rib cartilage, and he’s appeared on the injury report with ankle, back, calf, elbow, hamstring and hip issues.
Kittle, who has the only two 1,000yard receiving seasons by a tight end in franchise history, has leverage. And it’s possible he won’t participate in an NFL practice this summer until he has a new deal.
Still, Kittle has suggested he’d be reluctant to hold out.
“Being a captain, I want to be there for my team and I need to show the right leadership skills,” he said earlier this month via NBC Sports Bay Area.
Here’s a guess for Kittle’s extension, whenever it gets done: A fiveyear, $78 million deal with $53 million guaranteed.
James, Reed are injured
James, the team’s top returner last year who could be on the roster bubble, is reportedly expected to return before the season opener after breaking his wrist in midJune.
Reed, who confirmed on July 2 that he’d suffered a torn pectoral, is expected to miss several months.
Reed’s injury could be impactful. The 49ers aren’t teeming with secondary depth and Reed can play outside corner, slot corner and free safety.