San Francisco 49ers: 5 Steps for a Successful 2016 Offseason

Jan 15, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke (L) talks to head coach Jim Tomsula (R) in the locker room after a press conference for the introduction of Tomsula as the head coach at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers should be looking at what they can do in the upcoming 2016 offseason. Here are five steps to ensure it’s successful.

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off a 26-20 overtime victory against the Chicago Bears — notably, the team’s first road win of the season — and are now preparing for yet another away contest against the Cleveland Browns in Week 14.

At 4-8, the 49ers’ 2015 campaign is merely a tale of what went wrong, who left and where the franchise goes from this point forward.

Indeed, San Francisco’s previous offseason was a disaster. The team parted ways with a successful head coach, Jim Harbaugh, one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators, Vic Fangio, and also lost a slew of impact players either through retirement or via free agency.

Hardly any team could survive the whirlwind that took place in Santa Clara last season and still generate positive results.

And the numbers show it.

Through 13 weeks of the 2015 season, San Francisco ranks dead last on offense in both total points and all-purpose yards — 178 and 3,541, respectively. The 49ers defense has a lower-than average rank at No. 19 with 291 points allowed.

There are some positives though.

San Francisco has some good core players. And general manager Trent Baalke will have a good number of draft picks and a large amount of salary cap space with which to work.

The 49ers certainly won’t be going through an offseason like the one the team endured to start 2015. But the franchise needs to do a number of things correctly in order to return to relevance and respectability next year.

Here are five simple steps San Francisco needs to take this offseason.

Next: Coaching Changes