Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
The San Francisco 49ers were last season's best NFL team. Unfortunately, they were just the victims of some injury misfortune. That's the belief held by many players within the Niners locker room.
The 49ers made it to the NFC Championship Game with a rookie quarterback, the last overall draft pick in 2022, helming the offense due to injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Brock Purdy guided the team to eight consecutive wins before suffering a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy returned to the game only because his backup, Josh Johnson, sustained a concussion. He couldn't throw the football, though, forcing the 49ers to become one-dimensional, sticking primarily with their rushing attack.
"We have, hands down, the
best football team in the league," wide receiver
Brandon Aiyuk said ahead of the Super Bowl. "Hands down. Hands down. I'm not even about to argue with anybody who thinks they should argue that."
One of Aiyuk's teammates completely agrees.
"From (Nick) Bosa, Arik (Armstead) to Fred (Warner), we got youngins growing, Deo Lenoir," wide receiver
Deebo Samuel told
Zion Olojede of Complex. "Then you go to the offensive end, you got (Brandon) Aiyuk, (George) Kittle, Trent (Williams), we got healthy quarterbacks, Christian (McCaffrey), me. From top to bottom, I feel like we the best team in the league."
The only thing that kept the 49ers from a Super Bowl last season was lacking a quarterback who could throw the football. Things might have been different had Purdy not suffered his injury. It might have been a storybook ending for the rookie quarterback and his teammates.
"I ain't going to keep going on about what could've happened and what would've happened, but yeah, it would've definitely been a different outcome," Samuel said. "... We lost because we played with 10 people."
The receiver has a lot of confidence in the 49ers heading into the 2023 season and knows the talent-rich team is a championship-caliber squad.
"We just gotta stay healthy, man," Samuel noted. "We stay healthy, and the sky's the limit. ... Brock (Purdy) is still recovering from his surgery. Trey (Lance) is fully healthy. We went and got another quarterback in Sam Darnold. That was the only piece we were missing. If we had another quarterback, we would've been alright. In that situation, what could you do? The front office is doing a good job of making sure we'll be alright."
Samuel recently told comedian Kevin Hart that he
hated the Los Angeles Rams "with a passion." However, the receiver had a different answer after Olojede asked him about the Eagles, the team that ended the 49ers' Super Bowl hopes.
"[My] most hated team is the Eagles right now. One hundred percent," Samuel admitted. "I mean, hey man, we done wiped the Rams so many times. All the trash talk coming from the Eagles fan base and the players, you just get tired of that."
Samuel and the 49ers will have an opportunity for some payback. They are
scheduled to return to Lincoln Financial Field for an NFC Championship Game rematch during the upcoming season.
Related News
With the 2024 NFL Draft less than a week away, it's common for the rumor mill to start churning, especially with players who are actively seeking a new contract. It was just two short years ago that WR Deebo Samuel requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers prior to draft day, only for cooler heads to prevail and eventually agree to a new deal.
Now, it's WR Brandon Aiyuk's turn to try and get paid and rumors surfaced over the weekend that he too would request to be dealt. While that report was quickly shot down by his agent, there's still a lot of discussion about Aiyuk's future and if other teams will come calling on draft night.
Legendary columnist Mike Silver joined
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
