The San Francisco 49ers' primary objective during the offseason was to get both younger and cheaper.
But it's also worth arguing they wanted to get healthier, too.
General manager John Lynch and Co. bade farewell to plenty of household names during the offseason, although they probably didn't have too much difficulty saying goodbye to running back Elijah Mitchell, who departing via free agency to join the Kansas City Chiefs on a one-year, $2.5 million contract.
So far, it hasn't exactly been money well spent for the 0-2 Chiefs who have been in desperate need for production on the ground over their first two games.
The Chiefs went into the off-season with RB as a huge need and signed Elijah Mitchell before drafting a guy in the seventh round https://t.co/txknnmdBf4
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) September 15, 2025
Mitchell has yet to play a regular-season snap thus far, declared inactive for K.C.'s opener in Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers. The 27 year old was also inactive for Kansas City's high-profile home showdown against the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, too, suggesting head coach Andy Reid isn't exactly impressed with the former Niner despite his offense failing to produce a single running back who's crested a mere 50 yards over two weeks.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the Chiefs' top rushing threat to date with 123 yards on the ground.
49ers vindicated in decision to let Elijah Mitchell walk in free agency
It's anyone's guess what the exact reason Reid has for inactivating Mitchell over two games.
Yet San Francisco clearly determined its sixth-round investment from the 2021 NFL Draft was expendable. After all, and despite setting a rookie franchise record for rush yards with 963, Mitchell's long history of injury-related absences forced the 49ers to look elsewhere.
And it didn't help his case he missed all of 2024 either.
Granted, $2.5 million isn't an abhorrent amount of cash to spend on a player with modest upside, and there's still plenty of time for Mitchell to get back into Reid's good graces. Especially in light of K.C.'s painfully obvious rushing woes.
For now, however, Mitchell appears to be a sunk cost on the part of Kansas City, and that's no longer the Niners' concern.