State of the Franchise — San Francisco 49ers
By Jonah Burros
The San Francisco 49ers offseason is in full swing and in the trenches with a new fan accepted and almost celebrated new front office and coaching staff.
The San Francisco 49ers boast a staff that is unproven, unpredictable and yet still respected enough to dominate headlines and ease the angry mob that is the Niners fanbase — a fan base skeptical of the ownership and the priorities of the top brass in all dealings with everything football in the Bay Area, sans Oakland and Stanford.
San Francisco spent the better part of a quarter-century in NFL lore being revered as a dynasty franchise and an example of how to build a legacy in a pro sports league that became the predominantly most observed and profitable in the nation.
Unfortunately, the reality of the change at ownership and the advent of the modern free agency construct set in and the 49ers seemed to concentrate on the business aspect of the franchise and less on the football.
San Francisco 49ers
There were some decent years with former head coaches Steve Mariucci and a great run with Jim Harbaugh. But the fans want their dynasty back.
All the while the corporation, currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 10th most valuable sports franchise in the world, was securing insane stadium deals and marketing contracts that were making boat-loads of money.
The fanbase seems to be generally tame with sporadic achievements, But a title town like San Francisco can be a fickle mistress when it comes to the 49ers.
After four head coaches in four years, the fanbase and media were swarming like vultures and flies to impending death. The 49ers had zero credibility in the free-agent market or with the public. Being constantly referred to as a dumpster fire while fan-funded hate banners flew overhead at nationally televised games.
The barbarians were at the gates and the front office was jettisoned. With a promise to give control over to a new regime and put to rest all the talk of leaks and interference, ownership seemed patient in their effort to bring in a group that the fans and media could get behind.
Right Now
Enter head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. This combo came prepackaged with credibility and swagger that was held in high esteem through the league, regardless of the lack of experience at the positions.
Much still needs to be proven. But at least a years’ worth of confidence building from a large portion of the public and media was leap-frogged just by those two names.
Lynch’s celebrated playing history and silky smooth media presence immediately provided something other than the dumpster fire metaphors, and Shanahan’s prowess and success with mediocre personnel and historical offensive numbers with the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons implied a worthwhile direction.
With around 20 new free agents acquired, a lot of fat trimmed and some talented front office acquisitions, the 49ers seem to have a plan for a foundation. The free agency moves were not flashy but efficient. The talent acquired was budget conscientious and centered on character and scheme depth.
The front office additions added experience where there were questions and the cut players more than made sense. The head coach and general manager were given very friendly six-year deals designed to assure everyone that there would be plenty of time for a full rebuild.
All the moves made so far are promising to the fan base and give the media a lot to write about, keeping them in the headlines in a positive light.
San Francisco has a new-state-of-the-art stadium, a cross-town exodus from the Oakland Raiders and two new Los Angeles rivals to strengthen their fanbase. There have been many attempts at a franchise rebuild by many clubs but, it is hard to compare with the amount of ground covered by San Francisco in the first year before the NFL Draft.
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The prior regime did leave an unprecedented war chest to pull from and that has given an underlying feeling of space and maneuverability with room for error.
After the first two waves of free agency, the 49ers hold the most cap room to play with the rest of this year and going forward. All of this coupled with the second overall draft pick and 10 total equate to quite a bit of currency for a rebuild.
The draft is coming in less than five weeks and the speculations are all over the place as time goes on.
With the Washington Redskins holding onto quarterback Kirk Cousins, and college quarterback prospects deemed outside top-10 or even 20 categories, the acquisitions of QBs Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley seem solid. This year’s draft is one of the deepest on defense and at running back the league has seen in a while, which could mean a lot of different things to a lot of teams.
The 49ers are poised to go in any direction in the draft, whether it be through trades or sitting tight where they are, but that is another article altogether.
All things considered, everything so far seems like the Niners are building a football team and less of a business.
Judging by the reactions, that’s all anybody wants and that’s good for business.
Go figure.
Next: 49ers NFL Draft Positional Preview: Quarterback
There is arguably one thing that is great about all the changes happening; this is the most fascinating offseason in many years compared to any club out there and the public is enjoying it.
Well done.