If you were hoping the 49ers were going to be active in free agency this year, then you are sorely disappointed.
The 49ers have done diddly squat through the first week of free agency. It has caused some fans, if not a ton, to be concerned with it, especially with the mass exodus of players.
But this is what the 49ers want to do this offseason. They don’t want to go after a bunch of free agents and overpay for players who aren’t worth it.
This offseason will be about limiting cash spending and attempting to save and salvage as much as they can. Because of this, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch no longer have the freedom to spend money at their leisure.
The 49ers now have financial limits. Some of it is justified as there should be a check and balance with Shanahan since his personnel decision making is questionable at times.
However, another side of it is that this is unnecessary penny pinching with the releases of Leonard Floyd and Maliek Collins. In any case, this is what the 49ers will do this offseason.
As a result, it will force Shanahan to step out of his comfort zone and he will have to adjust to the financial limits. That means he is going to have to warm up to the idea of playing and starting more rookies and young players than usual.
If the first week of free agency is any indication of the 49ers’ financial limits, they are going to use the draft as a means for the bulk of their replacements for players who departed.
It is likely their way to establish a new core for the future. So, Shanahan will need to be okay when rookies and young players make mistakes. He is going to have to live with that and get his staff to coach those mistakes out of the players.
Shanahan has always been fairly harsh and impatient with rookies and young players. Last year he had no choice due to injuries and lack of talent. He didn’t do it because he started to turn a new leaf.
He still favors veterans who don’t need a learning curve. However, with the way the cash spending and saving are looking for the 49ers, Shanahan is going to have to adjust to coaching a young team.
He will have to play them and let some start and live with their mistakes. It’s a bizarre thought to fathom, but this is where the 49ers are headed since their free agency activity has been minimal.
It is both an exciting prospect and an alarming one. The excitement is with the discovery of new players who may become a core piece for the foreseeable future.
The alarm is that the 49ers may be throwing in the towel for the 2025 season. There is still a lot of offseason left to see the definite direction the 49ers are headed.
But as of now, it looks like the 49ers are banking on relying on retooling their team with this year’s NFL draft.
