With the 49ers’ 2022 season complete, we can safely say these five players won’t be suiting up for the red and gold any longer.
No matter how well-equipped a team is to prepare for an offseason, it’s virtually impossible to retain last year’s roster into the following season.
Such is the case for the San Francisco 49ers, who now face a tough and potentially tumultuous offseason after falling short against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game.
And while there are plenty of questions for head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, few are going to be as big as what to do under center at quarterback.
Despite suffering an injury in the NFC Championship game, the 2023 campaign seems to be Brock Purdy‘s to lose, while Trey Lance still has a shot to reclaim his starting job at quarterback after suffering a season-ending ankle injury way back in Week 2.
All that means is the Niners are poised to bid farewell to one quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, after failing to do so last offseason.
And Jimmy G leads off our list of players who won’t be back with San Francisco in 2023.
Jimmy Garoppolo has played his final game with 49ers
Garoppolo suffered his own year-ending injury back in Week 13, which led to Purdy being a household name. And despite Jimmy G playing arguably his best football up to that point, there’s little reason for him to return to the 49ers next season.
Especially after how awkward things got with Garoppolo and the Niners, first after they traded up to select Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft and then again last offseason when Garoppolo was the subject of all kinds of trade speculation, only to start the year as Lance’s backup.
From San Francisco’s perspective, it has two quarterbacks on cheap rookie deals in Lance and Purdy, so paying the 31-year-old Garoppolo a contract worth potentially $25 million per year isn’t going to be part of the game plan.
From Garoppolo’s point of view, why would he want to return to the 49ers without any sort of guarantee of being the starter?
Nope, both parties part ways here… finally.
Robbie Gould has played his final game with 49ers
Veteran kicker Robbie Gould is going to leave a complicated legacy in the wake of his tenure with the Niners.
On one hand, he was one of the most reliable specialists in San Francisco team history, and his accolades during the postseason were certainly notable.
However, fans may recall that awkward standoff between Gould and the 49ers back in 2019 that led to him signing a lucrative four-year deal for $19 million with $10.5 million guaranteed.
Insane for all but only the elite of kickers, and even that’s a stretch.
The Niners weren’t exactly burned by that contract, per se, but they’ll need to pinch some pennies to open up the coffers for more important stars like EDGE Nick Bosa.
That’ll ultimately mean the clock on Gould runs out.
Ross Dwelley has played his final game with 49ers
Remember back when All-Pro tight end George Kittle‘s primary backup was the versatile and likable Ross Dwelley?
Yes, Dwelley admirably filled in for Kittle back in 2019 and then again in 2020, but the former ended up taking on less of a role in 2021 after the arrival of Charlie Woerner, who saw an uptick in play over Dwelley that season.
And that continued even further into 2022 with Tyler Kroft in the mix. As a result, Dwelley earned himself a relatively regular spot on the weekly inactive list despite his earlier accolades.
A free agent to be this offseason, there’s little reason for San Francisco to retain Dwelley despite whatever upside he might have offered earlier.
The 49ers need not think about backup tight ends, and Dwelley will be playing elsewhere next season.
Jimmie Ward has played his final game with 49ers
The Niners have little reason to re-sign Jimmy Garoppolo, Ross Dwelley or Robbie Gould, but they could make the argument to re-sign veteran safety Jimmie Ward, their longest-tenured player.
However, after landing on the NFL Top 100 list for the first time in his career, Ward’s trajectory in 2022 took a notably different turn after suffering an early injury and subsequently losing his starting safety job to a late free-agent pickup, Tashaun Gipson.
San Francisco wisely kept Ward’s impact around by putting him at nickel cornerback, but that probably wasn’t the defensive back’s preferred choice.
Turning 32 years old this offseason, Ward is likely looking at what’ll be the final big-number contract of his career. Sure, Gipson isn’t signed beyond this season, but it would make sense for the 49ers to opt for someone both younger and potentially cheaper at the position.
As such, the Niners will have to bid farewell to one of their most versatile and impactful players for the last nine seasons.
Mike McGlinchey has played his final game with 49ers
It’s easy to blame right tackle Mike McGlinchey for any of the offensive line woes San Francisco has had the last few seasons.
Sure, McGlinchey’s pass-protecting abilities were always a bit of a liability. However, despite those shortcomings, the 49ers still enjoyed one of the better run-blocking O-lines in the NFL in recent years.
McGlinchey had a lot to do with that.
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However, the 2018 first-round draft pick who had his fifth-year option already picked up, hasn’t received any sort of extension talks from the Niners at a point when it would have been cheaper to do so. Had San Francisco engaged in those talks during the middle of the season, it would have pointed to McGlinchey sticking around a little longer.
Instead, no such talks materialized. The 49ers made little to no overtures about exploring extension talks, and it appears as if they’ll let him hit the open market.
At least the Niners got five years out of McGlinchey.