It's not quite a rebuild for the 49ers, but it sure feels that way after so many key components are leaving at the start of free agency.
The San Francisco 49ers are no longer Super Bowl contenders. That window is closed now.
In fact, the Niners aren't strong playoff contenders at this point, at least not after a massive exodus of starting-caliber talent, much of which helped keep head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad in Super Bowl contention the last four seasons. If anything, the only reason San Francisco is a fringe playoff contender is due to the weakened NFC West entering 2025.
True, the 49ers want to trim expenses while getting younger overall. But, just combing through the losses thus far, it's hard to see how the new year will produce a team that'll improve upon what was otherwise a disappointing finish to the most recent Super Bowl window that closed in 2024:
- FB Kyle Juszczyk (released)
- WR Deebo Samuel (traded)
- OL Aaron Banks
- DT Javon Hargrave (released)
- DT Maliek Collins (released)
- S Talanoa Hufanga
- LB Dre Greenlaw
- CB Charvarius Ward
- OL Jaylon Moore
- RB Elijah Mitchell
It might not be as dramatic as the mass exodus that signaled the end of head coach Jim Harbaugh's tenure early in 2015, but the current departures and roster depletion sure reminds Niners fans of such.
And it's a painful admission San Francisco is ushering in a new era, one that'll be filled with uncertainty.
49ers have to change their identity after mass roster changes
The 49ers got here for a number of reasons. Whiffs in the 2022 and 2023 drafts didn't help, which forced heavier reliance on older and increasingly expensive players while disallowing the pipeline of younger replacements from working their way into the fray.
Couple that with the Niners' Super Bowl window where general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan went "all in" to win a Lombardi Trophy, and it's not hard to see why the team's price tag skyrocketed.
Now, that expense sheet needs to be trimmed. A lot.
Turnover like this is inevitable and doesn't happen fluidly. There's an ebb and flow to it, but the nature of San Francisco's losses speak measures.
It's one thing to bid farewell to quality players like Hufanga or Ward. But players such as Samuel, Greenlaw and Juszczyk were tone setters who helped establish the 49ers' identity over a lengthy stretch of time. The fact two of those three names alone were forcibly removed from the roster (Samuel via trade and Juszczyk released outright) speaks to the fact the Niners are changing their identity.
San Francisco won't be considered a Super Bowl contender again until it establishes a newfound identity, and that identity likely won't be revealed anytime soon. At least not until the 49ers determine who steps into the voids left by so many of their departing big-impact players.
That might take a while, too. And it's not a truth Niners fans particularly want to hear after being oh-so close for oh-so long.