The 49ers learned their lesson.
Last offseason, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan left nearly all business until the last minute. Free agency, the NFL Draft, big-time contract extensions — all were efforts in brinksmanship, brought on by a mix of hubris and exhaustion from three straight NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl appearance.
It showed in offseason training programs, training camps and the regular season, too, resulting in six wins.
I don’t agree with everything the 49ers have done this offseason, but I can’t fault the team’s conviction and execution of what is a clear-cut plan.
While jettisoning veterans and replacing them with rookies isn’t a particularly effective way to improve your team, removing distractions and fostering early engagement can, perhaps, offset that.
And that’s what the Niners are doing.
Signing Brock Purdy to a five-year contract extension was the most significant move of this transitional offseason. They followed that move on Friday by signing perennial All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to a three-year contract extension worth a reported $63 million on Monday. Add in a George Kittle extension last month, and the Niners wrapped up all their major business before the start of OTAs next week.
What a welcome change.
What a necessary expedience.
There will be plenty of other moves and adjustments, but larger issues won’t cloud such decisions this year. You won’t have Shanahan worrying about (and/or sprinting through the facility to fix) a star player’s contract while trying to install his offense, which will have at least three new starters and a dramatically different feel without Deebo Samuel in the fold. Robert Saleh has his work cut out for him as the team’s fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons — there might be as many as seven new starters on that side of the ball — but having Warner around to be a coach on the field, a big dog for the young pups to learn from, is critical. And Warner can be all-in, knowing his future is secure.
The Niners’ roster might not be good enough. Somehow, that all-important thing—overall talent—is being glossed over right now.
But the Niners will not be done in by a lack of concentration.
Which brings us to the biggest gift the 49ers received this offseason.
It’s not the millions of dollars Purdy left on the table to ensure a stress-free contract negotiation.
It’s not the rest of the NFL overthinking Mykel Williams’ game to the point that, in my apparently unique opinion, the most single most talented player in the draft fell to pick No. 11.
And it’s not the fact that the Niners have been given the easiest schedule in the NFL in more than a decade, either.
Look closely at that slate of games and you’ll quickly see it.
It’s the first game: at Seattle on Sept. 7.
That’s the gift.
The Niners don’t have many difficult games this upcoming season, but they’ll have one in Week 1.
A division game, a rivalry game, on the road, off the jump. It’s manna from heaven for the San Francisco coaching staff and team leaders.
If a game on the road in Seattle can’t grab your attention and respect, I’m not sure what will.
This is the reason top college football programs play really big games on Labor Day weekend, folks. Nothing hones in a training camp like fear of being exposed as frauds in Week 1.
Think these offseason programs and training camp don’t matter? It won’t take but a few plays into the season to find out how incorrect you are.
The Niners knew what was coming well before we did. Heaven forbid the NFL doesn’t turn their schedule release into an event.
And they’ve been acting as if there’s no time to be wasted, because, well, there isn’t.
That easing into the season that the Niners are so wont to do under Shanahan? It won’t fly in ’25, lest the Niners want to lose the division by the first week of October. Not only do the Niners open at Seattle, but they have games against Arizona and the Rams before the first Sunday in October. That’s the toughest division in football — all four teams are expected to be above .500 this upcoming season — right out of the gate.
Slim margins require narrow focus. The Niners talked about it, but now they’re backing it up.
And amid an offseason that deserves mixed (at best) reviews, that’s something worth applauding.