5 SF 49ers players who’ll be on notice for 2021 season
By Peter Panacy
The SF 49ers roster doesn’t look quite as complete heading into 2021, and some additional question marks mean these five are officially on notice.
Perhaps the easiest SF 49ers player to speculate about right now is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
After missing the bulk of two of his last three years, most recently in 2020 with multiple ankle injuries, Garoppolo’s $26.6 million potential cap hit in 2021 doesn’t exactly seem to be money well spent.
Especially if head coach Kyle Shanahan is mulling the idea of moving on, and there’s no shortage on the rumor mill about that possibly happening.
If Garoppolo stays and is under center this year, he’ll be under the microscope. In 2022, the Niners will face a similar situation as they do now where parting ways with him could free up a massive amount of cap space. But if Garoppolo moves on this offseason, it’s a moot point. He won’t be under San Francisco’s microscope this upcoming season, obviously.
However, considering the SF 49ers’ other areas of need and current state of the roster, these other five players are likely to be on notice and will need to perform accordingly heading into 2021.
No. 5: SF 49ers Right Tackle Mike McGlinchey
Few Niners received more scorn from fans this offseason than right tackle Mike McGlinchey, who still managed to be one of the league’s best run blockers, at least according to Pro Football Focus, who rewarded him with an elite-level 91.3 run-blocking grade in 2020.
That said, McGlinchey wasn’t overly impressive in pass protection, earning a lowly 58.3 PFF grade in this category and seemingly getting bulled over by stronger, faster pass-rushers on a week-to-week basis.
Entering year four of his initial rookie contract, San Francisco could still elect to pick up his fully guaranteed fifth-year option. Or the SF 49ers could decline it, which would officially put McGlinchey on notice with the hopes he improves his overall game and mandates a new contract extension.
Depending on what the Niners do along their offensive line, including with what happens at left tackle with Trent Williams, McGlinchey’s future remains very much in the air, and his 2021 campaign will be critical.