There is no shortage of talent on the San Francisco 49ers roster. The team seems to have playmakers everywhere you look, and the players know it. They know they have a chance to do something this season.
Yes, the 49ers lost players this offseason. Names like Jimmy Garoppolo, Mike McGlinchey, and Jimmie Ward. That hasn't deterred those who remain in Santa Clara.
"It's off the charts," tackle Trent Williams told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic.
Part of the reason for the confidence is the addition of players like Javon Hargrave. The defensive tackle was one of the top free agents available in March. No one expected the 49ers to be a serious contender to steal him away from the Philadelphia Eagles. Wanting to bolster the interior of their defensive line, the Niners threw a four-year, $84 million deal at Hargrave, hoping he would bite.
He did, and now, the 49ers have a formidable duo of Hargrave and Arik Armstead inside.
How did they do it, though? San Francisco doesn't have an abundance of salary cap space. That has been the storyline for years. It's why they let players like McGlinchey and Ward take their services to other teams. How do you sign a Hargrave when everyone counts you out as a potential landing spot because of the money situation?
"To me, I've been around a long time, I know the only way to (do this) is to pay money up front," Williams told Kawakami. "And that shows you how committed your ownership is to winning, when you can bring in guys like Hargrave, even though you know you've got contracts on the horizon that are going to challenge the cap. Staying committed to winning and not penny-pinching, not trying to save bucks here or there."
One of those contracts on the horizon belongs to Nick Bosa, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He remains a holdout from training camp, even with the team's first preseason game inching closer. The hope is that something will get finalized soon. Of course, that has been the hope since the team reported to training camp two weeks ago.
Still, Williams and the 49ers' decision-makers remain optimistic that a new deal will get done. That's yet another testament to the team's dedication to success.
"So that seeps into the locker room to say, hey, if they're all-out to win, we've gotta have the same energy," Williams added.
And what of this Super Bowl window that everyone talks about? Is that window closing? Are the 49ers, a team that has appeared in the NFC Championship Game in three of the last four seasons, running out of opportunities?
"That's something they will always handle," Williams said. "They will always find a way. There's a plan up there. I leave that up to them. We've got the best front office in the NFL. I don't even think it's close."
Hargrave is just one example of the team finding a way to fill significant needs. Last season, the 49ers pulled off a blockbuster mid-season trade for running back Christian McCaffrey. That paid off big-time and contributed to a 12-game win streak.
"The window only closes when we're not putting up the same effort that they're putting up," Williams said. "To me, that's the only time the window closes, when they dish out all this signing-bonus money, all this money up front, but we're not dishing out the effort. As long as our effort can match their effort, I don't ever see a window closing."
Brock Purdy
Naturally, the conversation with Kawakami shifted to this offseason's biggest storyline—quarterback Brock Purdy. Purdy is returning from surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. It was an injury that was expected to keep him out of practice until later this month. The second-year quarterback was cleared at the start of training camp, surprising nearly everyone.
But not Williams.
"I told ya," the offensive lineman boasted.
He had little doubt that Purdy would return ahead of schedule. After all, Williams battled with the young quarterback down the stretch during the regular season and through the postseason. He know how mentally tough the young kid is.
If healthy, Purdy will be the starting quarterback. He earned that with his rookie-season efforts.
"I really admire Brock, and I admire his mentality even more so than his talent," Williams said. "I mean, to accomplish as much as he accomplished last year and then to have an injury, a lot of guys would take that and say, 'OK, I'm going to just chill this camp and get ready for the season. That's when the real bullets fly.'
"Nobody in his position is technically competing for anything after (what he did) last year. If he was only ready for Week 1, I don't think anybody would say anything. But the fact that he came back and was ready to go, really, Day 1 of training camp, and not only that, but to see him be even sharper than last year, to see him come to practice and really start challenging himself with some of the tight-window throws, making the reads, getting to his third read."
Click here to read Kawakami's entire feature over at The Athletic.
