The San Francisco 49ers have shelled out some big money extensions in recent months. While the team has secured many of its most valuable players, some who play vital roles will have to find another team to play for following the season. News broke on Thursday that the 49ers had agreed to a five-year extension with All-Pro tight end George Kittle. The deal, which has an average annual value (AAV) of $15 million, is the third large contract given to a veteran player on the team in 2020. Safety Jimmy Ward was re-signed earlier this year to a three-year deal with an AAV of $9.5 million and defensive lineman Arik Armstead was signed to a five-year deal with an AAV of $17 million. The team simply can't afford everyone, especially with the salary cap likely dropping...

Reserve defensive linemen are a critical cog in a professional football team's overall success. These men play 20 snaps or more on a Sunday afternoon and may find themselves on the field in a must-win situation. An organization might skate by on a subpar second-team offensive guard, but it cannot have below-average second-string defensive linemen. Last season, the San Francisco 49ers began with a stellar group of second-string trench men but had a noticeable drop in talent after veterans D.J. Jones and Ronald Blair ended up on the injured reserve list. If you want proof, re-watch former defensive lineman Anthony Zettel's 15-play performance in Super Bowl LIV, and you will see how badly the 49ers could have used Jones for those moments. General manager John Lynch...

To commemorate George Kittle's 5-year extension with the 49ers, here are my Top 5 plays of his in the Red and Gold. It wasn't easy to choose only 5, so there are a few honorable mentions at the end. 5. The Birth of the Jimmy G <> Kittle Connection Week 16 vs. JAX - December 24, 2017 Now the play itself is not amazing, but this is the first time Garoppolo and Kittle connected for a touchdown together in their careers. This score gave the 49ers a 23-19 lead in the 3rd quarter in what turned out to be a shootout, ending in a 44-33 win for San Francisco. Way to make an impact...

The 49ers won big today. George Kittle, the unquestionable best tight-end in the NFL, signed a contract extension to the tune of $15 million a year for 5 years. It took longer than expected, but the cornerstone to the 49ers offense is now locked in for the long-term. Much was made about the size of Kittle's contract, and debate circulated around his value being comparable to a tight-end or that of a wide-receiver. In the end, the 49ers and Kittle came to a conclusion that I proposed back on June 1st 2020 "Both sides should split the difference between top TE and top WR and meet in the middle, making him the highest paid TE in NFL history with a deal in the range of $15 million...

Football fans and film junkies often find themselves in separate camps on a variety of football-related issues. Should a team have a stronger pass game or a pounding ground attack? When building a roster, should a team start with skill players or linemen? How about drafting a punter in the fourth round of the draft? During the offseason, one question I heard asked was if the 2019 San Francisco 49ers were a better defense due to its ball-hawking secondary or bludgeoning defensive line. There's enough evidence to compare the 2018 49ers' defense with the 2019 version and craft a lengthy thesis supporting the secondary or the defensive linemen. For me, the significant uptick in defensive line play places me...

The 49ers will cut good players in 2020. When you have a Super Bowl roster, sometimes good isn't good enough. As the 49ers currently work their way through an augmented and abbreviated training camp, the importance of analyzing talent is stressed now more than ever. During a regular training camp, coaches are able to evaluate their roster through drills, padded practices, inter-squad scrimmages with other NFL teams and most importantly, actual pre-season games. Many of these tools have been stripped away, and now coaches are left only with their padded practices to determine who will make the team. These next 4 weeks will serve as the initial building block for success, or failure, in the 2020 season. Let's look at 6 key players, and determine whether they should stay or...

It's an odd feeling going into NFL training camp with no visual indicators of how players look. A global pandemic forced the NFL to cancel its offseason schedule and the preseason. Instead, the San Francisco 49ers started the 2020 season with nasal swabs and virtual meetings before moving into strength and conditioning. The first padded practice isn't until next week, and the world will not see live football until Thursday, September 10, 2020. The starting offensive line for this year's 49ers is nearly set, though the battle for the reserve positions could be exciting camp battles. Here are the 2020 projected starters and back-ups. Trent Williams - Left Tackle General manager John Lynch's acquisition of All-Pro left tackle Trent...

Imagine this, the San Francisco 49ers have won Super Bowl 54. Jimmy Garopppolo is the new NFL golden boy, Andy Reid is still notoriously snake bitten by the football gods and the 49ers are tied with the Patriots and Steelers for most Super Bowl wins ever. This easily could have been the case if a a few things broke the 49ers' way in Super Bowl 54. In 2020, the 49ers have carried over the vast majority of their roster from 2019. Only 3 starters from that Super Bowl team are not present on the roster in 2020: LT Joe Staley, DT DeForest Buckner and WR Emmanuel Sanders. The big names to replace those 3 players have been well-touted. Veteran star LT Trent Williams will fill the gap left by Staley while 2 first-round draft picks, DT Javon Kinlaw and WR Brandon Aiyuk, will be tasked...

It's been 7 years since the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl title. It's been 6 years since Russell Wilson completely blew the Seahawks' chance to win their 2nd Super Bowl title. Yes, Seattle has been a playoff contender for nearly every season since, but it's hard not to acknowledge that the 49ers' neighbors to the north have underachieved since the last time the two teams met in the playoffs. Seattle once brandished the most dominant defense in the NFL with a peak Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennet, Cliff Avril, KJ Wright and Bobby Wangner. Listing those names gives you a sense of just how formidable and dangerous that unit was. On the other side of the ball, Pete Carroll had a young Russell Wilson at quarterback to create magic with RB...

The Seattle Seahawks' trade for safety Jamal Adams gives the San Francisco 49ers' division rival one of the players best suited to defend an offense that features running backs and tight ends in the passing game. The San Francisco 49ers have perhaps the league's top offensive mind in head coach Kyle Shanahan while the Seahawks have a defensive guru for a head coach in Pete Carroll. When the 49ers have the ball the two go toe-to-toe on play calls in a manner that can only be compared to a game of chess. Shanahan calls passing plays designed to get tight end George Kittle or one of the bevy of players who line up in the backfield open as much as any coach in the NFL. Just fewer than 50 percent of the 49ers' passing yards in 2019 went to a back or tight...

John Lynch, if you're reading (you're not) whatever you do, do not trade for Jets SS Jamal Adams. Once again, Adams has made the headlines with another attempt to force his way off of the New York Jets. This time taking shots at Jets head coach Adam Gase and GM Joe Douglas. Adams questions Gase's leadership and Douglas' experience in his recent interview with Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Earlier in the week Adams tweeted his...

We need football, badly. Americans turn to entertainment to escape the troubled realities of their daily lives. Whether it be the job you hate, the relationship you're stuck in or the general emptiness of your bank account, we collectively turn to entertainment as a way to escape unpleasant situations and engross ourselves with ones that bring us a much needed distraction. In 2020, now more than ever, we, as a nation, need that beautiful distraction known as the National Football League. Four of the five most watched television programs in the US last year were NFL games. We need football, badly. Shortly after 49ers fans suffered a heart-wrenching loss in Super Bowl 54, the country would be hit with the tidal wave that is COVID-19. In March 2020, the country shut...

Raheem Mostert burst onto the scene in 2019, leading running backs with 5.6 yards per attempt and scoring a career-high eight touchdowns. After playing for seven different teams over the span of two seasons, Mostert cemented himself as the number one back in Kyle Shanahan's system in his fourth year with the 49ers. No longer was Mostert strictly a special teams player but rather an integral piece in the 49ers' Super Bowl run. Topping off his 2019 campaign with a record-breaking NFC Championship game vs. the Packers, Mostert totaled 220 yards and four touchdowns, leading the charge for the league's second-ranked rushing attack. As fast as he ascended, Mostert's future with...

Championships are built on the backs of young players. History shows, as much as the flashy free-agency signing steals the headlines, the DNA of consistent contenders can be traced directly to the NFL draft. The San Francisco 49ers' recent ascension is a fine example of this team building strategy. Temptations of July center around players like NY Jets mega-star SS Jamal Adams, but the 49ers steamrolled their way to the Super Bowl due to a deep roster filled with young, hungry and humble men looking to make their mark. Players like George Kittle, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel and Mike McGlinchey. Three men are the current cornerstones on the 49ers franchise. When Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took over the 49ers in 2017, one of their earliest moves would be to gut the...

The San Francisco 49ers are gearing up to embark on their "Legendary Revenge Tour." Of course, that is assuming the current pandemic allows them to do so. The journey won't be easy. The Niners won't take anyone by surprise this year. Every opponent will be looking to prove itself against the defending NFC champions. What would make that journey back to the mountaintop easier? The 49ers Webzone staff was asked to identify one non-quarterback to steal off any NFL roster for just one season who could help San Francisco win Super Bowl LV. You can steal one non-QB from any NFL roster for just one season to help the...

(This is a follow up to an earlier article that explained the 49ers can afford Jamal Adams) Just because something can be acquired doesn't mean it should be. That is my stance when it comes to the idea of the San Francisco 49ers trading for the New York Jets' Jamal Adams. The 49ers have the capital needed to acquire Adams between the team's draft capital and current players. On some levels it make sense to do what it takes to add the All-Pro player but ultimately the team shouldn't. Incumbent strong safety Jaquiski Tartt is a free agent following the 2020 season. The 49ers have likely inquired about what kind of extension Tartt is seeking. The lack of news...

Hey, not sure if you've heard but All-Pro strong safety Jamal Adams of the New York Jets is demanding a trade and the San Francisco 49ers are reportedly interested. Oh, it's been all over Twitter and the sports talk shows for the past few weeks and is literally the only newsworthy topic to discuss until training camp? Ah well, why not look at whether it is even feasible? The 49ers being interested in acquiring a top player shouldn't be news. This regime is ALWAYS interested and will kick the tires. General manager John Lynch inquired about trading for Tom Brady from the New England Patriots THREE years ago. The team pursued Odell Beckham Jr. and others as well. The 49ers are going to at least make a call to find out the price on any top player who has some chance of being...

The last 3 months of our collective lives as Americans has felt like a terrible hangover. 2020 will not be a year many look back on with fond feelings and memories. The nation's hangover started in March, but the 49ers' hangover began on February 2, 2020. The dreaded Super Bowl hangover is a powerful mythos in the lore of American sports. It doesn't make much logical sense, a team talented enough to reach the Super Bowl shouldn't magically be transformed into a less capable team due simply to the fact they scored fewer points than the opposition on the first Sunday in February. Yet, there are countless examples of this wretched hangover indeed visiting the 2nd best team in football on an annual basis. Look no further than the NFC West to find an example of how ominous the...

LB Dre Greenlaw is currently known as the hero who capped off the NFL's 100th year by stopping Seahawks TE Jacob Hollister at the goal line, crowning the San Francisco 49ers as NFC West champions. It's easy to root for any player who puts the team in the win column, but it's what he's overcome off the field that's made him a player who is impossible not to love. Growing up, Dre didn't really have stability. His mother never held a stable job, and his father was not very involved in the family. He initially lived with his two parents, along with all eleven of his siblings. However, his parents eventually separated, consequently splitting up all of Dre's siblings as well. The father took care of five siblings while the mother took care of seven children, including Dre. This...

Levin T. Black is an unsung podcast hero. Carefully striking a balance between obsessed analytics nerd and the wise elder statesman at the bar. His insights, humor, and wit are one-third of the very best 49ers podcast out there — the 49ers Webzone "No Huddle Podcast" (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google PlayMusic). I don't say this because I write for the Webzone myself. Long before I volunteered to write here, I would search for a good 49ers podcasts to listen to. It would take quite some time before I found the No Huddle Podcast. At that time, Levin T. Black was yet to join the crew, but it didn't take long to get hooked by host Zain Naqvi's commentary on the best franchise in sports. When Levin T. Black joined the...