Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Change is inevitable in the NFL. Free agency can often mean drastic change. For the San Francisco 49ers, it meant the departure of 12 unrestricted free agents who found new homes with teams willing to pay them more for their services.
"[W]hile I am happy for them and their families,
I am also sad to be losing some of my closest friends for the last 5 years," tight end
George Kittle posted on Instagram, discussing the initial flurry of roster activity at the start of the new league year.
While there were more exits than arrivals, San Francisco added one big-name free agent—defensive lineman
Javon Hargrave. It's a move that bolsters the interior of a unit that includes
Arik Armstead and NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Nick Bosa while possibly admitting failure in replacing DeForest Buckner.
The Philadelphia Eagles lost several starters this offseason, including Hargrave to the 49ers. No one will be counting them out in 2023, though. That's because, unlike San Francisco, they have a better sense of what they have at the quarterback position with a still-rising Jalen Hurts.
Meanwhile, the 49ers enter the 2023 offseason with two quarterbacks returning from injuries, one of which won't be full-go until sometime in September, and newly acquired
Sam Darnold.
"I'd say [the 49ers] have a better roster all in all," Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said on KNBR's
Tolbert and Copes show. "But the Eagles have a huge advantage at the quarterback position because, at this point, there are a lot more unanswered questions than answers when it comes to the 49ers' quarterback situation."
Trey Lance enters his third NFL season, and San Francisco still doesn't really know what they have in the 22-year-old.
Brock Purdy is returning from a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, a serious injury. Darnold has never really lived up to being the No. 3 overall pick in 2018.
Despite the uncertainty at the most critical position in football, Maiocco is optimistic about the team's offseason moves thus far.
"For as many guys as the 49ers lost in free agency, they didn't lose any superstars," the 49ers insider explains. "They lost some guys who got paid. They didn't lose any superstars, but they added a superstar."
The team still has
Deebo Samuel,
Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle,
Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and other big-name players.
"I think of the comings and goings, the best player of the comings and goings for the 49ers this offseason is Javon Hargrave, and he's coming," Maiocco continued. "So that's a huge boost to that defensive line, a defensive line that's lost a lot of players but gained one really significant piece."
As for the other departing pieces, the 49ers can fill some of those holes next month. While the team owns 11 draft picks, none come before the end of the third round. The 49ers insider rattled off a long list of team needs, areas where the depth chart could be bolstered. That includes the defensive line, offensive line, cornerback, safety, tight end, and linebacker.
"They've got 11 draft picks," Maiocco said. "I'm not saying that they're going to end up using all 11 of those picks. They have an opportunity to package some of those and move up a little bit, but they can kind of tick off a lot of those needs, maybe those down-the-road needs in this draft."
Maiocco added, "There will be opportunities for guys to make the team lower in the draft, and there will be opportunities, obviously, practice squad, for guys to stick around and for them to develop."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Maiocco below.
Everyone is trying to predict the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback when the team takes the field during Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Will it be Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, or Sam Darnold?
Purdy started some light throwing this week while under some careful supervision. He is nearly three months removed from the surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury suffered during the NFC Championship Game.
Purdy's workload will ramp up, and the 49ers remain hopeful that he can begin throwing normally before the start of the regular season—maybe even sometime during training camp. The second-year quarterback hasn't had any setbacks, so that is certainly
During an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch once again called Brock Purdy the "leader in the clubhouse" when it comes to the team's starting quarterback job. Purdy earned that with his superb play last season as a rookie, helping guide the 49ers to eight consecutive wins before an NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy suffered a UCL tear in that game and will miss most or all of this offseason. That opens the door for Trey Lance or Sam Darnold to impress coaches and potentially climb the depth chart. Lance opened last season as the 49ers' starter but suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2.
The 49ers haven't lost faith in their former No. 3 overall draft pick. They still see a lot
The 49ers began their annual mandatory minicamp Tuesday, which as always will mark the end of the third and final phase of the team's offseason workout schedule. The team will break for the summer following Wednesday's session, so Tuesday was an opportunity for reporters to catch up with a number of 49ers players as well as head coach Kyle Shanahan to get some final updates before the team departs.
Among those who spoke with the media Tuesday were wide receiver Deebo Samuel, defensive end Nick Bosa, and tight end George Kittle. 49ers Webzone posted updates earlier on some of the most newsworthy moments from those media sessions, but that was far from the only thing discussed Tuesday. Here's a recap of what the players and Shanahan said, including some praise for Trey Lance
The 49ers ended their offseason workout program on Wednesday with their final session of mandatory minicamp. But before they made their way out the door for the summer, the team gave fans and reporters one last dose of info in the form of the final media sessions of the spring.
Among those speaking to reporters on Wednesday were defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, left tackle Trent Williams and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, as well as defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Each session produced some interesting tidbits, which we'll review in this version of 49ers notebook.
Hargrave speaks
Despite being the splash free agent addition of the offseason for the 49ers, Javon Hargrave had not met with the team's beat reporters in person before Wednesday.
