Late Thursday night, Tim Kawakami of The Mercury News reported that there was some possible chaos brewing within the San Francisco 49ers' management. Shortly after, it was revealed by Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area that Paraag Marathe, one of Jed York's most trusted associates and his right-hand man, would be reassigned from his position of team president.
Kawakami is reporting that, according to an NFL source, Marathe was being removed from his position as president in part because he is believed to be the source of numerous recent leaks to national media, possibly including those discrediting Colin Kaepernick.
Maiocco states that Marathe will retain his title through Super Bowl 50, which will be played on February 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. After that, Marathe will take on a larger role with the 49ers' outside ventures, like the Sacramento Republic soccer team.
Marathe will also continue to manage the team's salary cap and negotiate contracts with players and their agents. He has been with the team for 15 seasons and has held the title of president for the past two, taking over for minority owner Gideon Yu. Prior to that, he was the 49ers' chief operating officer, a position now held by Al Guido. As Marathe's duties have shifted over the past year, Guido has gained more responsibilities and is the likely candidate to take over many of his responsibilities.
Cam Inman, also of The Mercury News, and Tim Kawakami stated the following in their report of the situation.
Marathe also developed contentious and distrustful relationships with some players and agents, multiple league sources said.
Marathe has been an avid proponent of statistical analytics throughout his 15 years with the franchise, an area that's been welcomed by some and scorned by others.
49ers head coach Jim Tomsula was reportedly not at the team's facility on Wednesday, possibly due to conflicts of opinions with Marathe. Kyle McLorg of Bay Area Sports Guy stated that the 49ers public relations team was instructed to keep his absence quiet.
I'm told a significant bone of contention between Marathe and Tomsula was analytics
— Kyle McLorg (@Kyle_McLorgBASG) December 4, 2015
If this is true, what does Tomsula winning a battle with the team's president say about his future with the 49ers? Could earlier reports of his job being safe be true?
Since Marathe was named the team president back in January of 2014, the 49ers have gone 11-17, which includes the loss in the NFC Championship game during that first month. They sit at 3-8 this season, at the bottom of the NFC West, after parting ways with head coach Jim Harbaugh and most of his staff.
This year, Marathe was named to the Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 list.