49ers news: Bleacher Report hates Mike McGlinchey's contract with Broncos

According to Bleacher Report, the 49ers were wise in letting Mike McGlinchey walk via NFL free agency to the Broncos this offseason.

Prior to hitting the open market, former San Francisco 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey explained that it was probably going to be a bit of a long shot for him to return to the Niners in 2023.

McGlinchey, for whatever faults fans had bestowed on him, nevertheless hit NFL free agency this offseason as one of the best offensive linemen available, and it didn't take too long for him to be grabbed by another team, the Denver Broncos.

Denver inked McGlinchey, San Francisco's first-round selection from the 2018 NFL Draft, to a five-year, $87.5 million contract that went public merely hours after the NFL's "legal tampering" period took place on March 13.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the former Notre Dame tackle to find a new home.

Even though the 49ers lost their starting tackle from the last five years, according to Bleacher Report, it's the fact they didn't try to match what Denver gave that makes it a win for the Niners.

Bleacher Report isn't a fan of Broncos contract with Mike McGlinchey... at all

There hasn't yet been a snap of meaningful football for 2023, but that didn't stop Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report from dishing out what he thought were the seven worst offseason choices to date.

While the New York Jets' trade for former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers topped the list, the Broncos' free-agent pickup of McGlinchey was viewed as a massive overpayment.

Ballentine explained why:

"The Broncos handed the former 49ers tackle a five-year, $87.5 million contract, which was the longest of any given to a tackle this offseason. The 28-year-old was ranked 35th out of the 81 tackles that PFF graded last season.

It makes sense that the Broncos were in the market for a tackle. They have to give Russell Wilson every opportunity to make their move to acquire him last season worth it.

But McGlinchey wasn't even an elite pass protector, giving up six sacks and drawing 10 penalties, per PFF."

Read More: Former Niners players who surprisingly remain unsigned

Overpaying for best-available free-agent players is common during NFL free agency, and it's not limited to offensive tackles like McGlinchey. Frequently, those first-day deals in free agency rarely wind up seeing contracts play their way through, and players signed here often wind up as cap casualties or undergoing restructures only a few years into the contract.

Yet the Niners didn't give into trying to match what a team like the Broncos were willing to give McGlinchey.

And while that might leave San Francisco a bit weaker at the position heading into 2023, it's probably smarter to not have spent that kind of Denver-like money.

At least B/R thinks so.

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