49ers may not pay Alex Smith’s option bonus next year

The San Francisco 49ers are in the home stretch, with only six games remaining. After Sunday's victory over the New Orleans Saints, you'd think 49ers fans have nothing to worry about. But a handful of injuries, and some tough upcoming opponents, have given fans plenty of reasons to fret. We opened up our 49ers mailbag to see what was on the troubled minds of fans. Let's take a peek inside. What do you think is holding back these 49ers on offense? All The tools are there but lack the explosion on plays. - Will D. The 49ers have been inconsistent on offense. A week after exploding against the Cardinals, the offense struggled against the Saints. One reason is that the New Orleans defense is good. In fact, the Saints probably have the

Jimmy Garoppolo is setting himself up for a nice payday next year. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is scheduled to be a free agent, and his market is expected to be much improved compared to this past offseason. Garoppolo expected to be elsewhere this season, even after his trade stock plummeted following offseason shoulder surgery. With no one interested in a quarterback going through rehab, Garoppolo signed a restructured one-year deal with the 49ers to serve as Trey Lance's backup. The one caveat being that San Francisco couldn't use the franchise tag on him in 2023, allowing him to test the free agent market freely. Garoppolo entered the season looking to support Lance and do what he could in his role as QB2. However, everything changed in Week 2 when

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the New Orleans Saints 13-0 in a defensive showdown where neither side could capitalize on opportunities on the offensive side. Unfortunately for San Francisco, they could not escape the game without injuries as both running backs Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell suffered knee injuries, while right guard Spencer Burford left the game with an ankle injury. Here are the offensive grades for the 49ers against the Saints. Quarterback: C Jimmy Garoppolo spent the majority of the game hitting his checkdowns as the Saints were able to maintain coverage while getting pressure with four pass-rushers, making it hard to move the ball downfield. The Saints did a phenomenal job defensively

The San Francisco 49ers are working off a short week, preparing for Sunday's matchup against the New Orleans Saints. The team played on Monday night in Mexico City, not arriving back in the Bay Area until Tuesday, around 6 a.m. Players were given Tuesday off but returned to work on Wednesday with a light practice, which was held on the Levi's Stadium field and didn't begin until after 4 p.m.—very late for a 49ers practice. The team held another light practice on Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Fridays are typically the lightest sessions of the week. But this week, the team went full-speed during Friday's practice. Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked how he felt about the final practice of the week. "I just loved the practice that we