Seeing Fred Warner on the cart with a foot pointing out and away from its natural position, it would have been understandable to see the rest of the team dip into a state of shock and let Tampa Bay roll over them. The Buccaneers ultimately won the game, but thankfully, the fight in the San Francisco 49ers didn't disappear up the tunnel along with their star linebacker, and they made it competitive until late in the fourth quarter.

Credit defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for that. The man brings fire, and it's easy to see on game day.


Meanwhile, in the 49ers' executive suites, this likely signals the end of their competitive ambitions for the season. Warner's injury likely solidifies the 2025 plan: cut costs and rebuild with younger, cheaper talent. Losing Warner hurts on the field—and even more so, it likely kills any trade-deadline buzz that might have grown in the next few weeks had the team kept winning.

As for this new reality, win, lose, or draw, simply put, there are no championship aspirations this year, regardless of what might get said publicly.

The roster turnover and aim for cost-savings this offseason were well documented. But the play of the young roster on the field warranted at least imagining what might be possible—a plucky, overachieving group with the best linebacker in the league (and truly the heart and soul of this entire team) could still be a player or two away from doing something special in the postseason and some interesting names were being thrown out as potential trade-candidates, including perennial sack-leader, Trey Hendrickson.

I know for my part, I was keenly interested in the Bengals' performance the last few weeks, hoping they'd go into sell-mode at the trade deadline. Not so much anymore.

Realistically, the trade market has evaporated for the 49ers to be buyers of any exciting names, and now they have to walk a very fine line to call this season a success. Here's how success should be measured now:


  1. They must continue to fight on the field, not rolling over like they did in 2024. Shanahan could likely survive another campaign like that before his seat got warm, but it would significantly increase the pressure on 2026, unlike anything he's felt before. Not ideal.
  2. The younger players on the roster must show improvement. The team must solidify specific spots on the defense, especially, and start seeing what maybe some unknowns have to offer at other positions as well (center, maybe?).
  3. They must not be too good or they risk losing Saleh to another coach-needy team. A fifth defensive coordinator in five years won't bring them closer to their ultimate goal, and I doubt there would be any question about how the rest of the year would go without him.
  4. Quarterback Brock Purdy needs to get healthy and play like he's worthy of the five-year, $265 million contract extension he signed in the offseason. If he does, then just about everything else will be OK.
  5. Owner Jed York and general manager John Lynch need to hold a séance or some kind of exorcism at midfield in Levi's Stadium. Something, ANYTHING to try and put an end to this rash of horrific injury luck they've had most of the last four or five years. I say this only partially jokingly—it's reached that level of desperation.

Even with defensive end Nick Bosa and Warner gone for the rest of the year, there's still enough talent and ability on the team to get to the playoffs. Nobody in the NFC is dominant at this point. But to win it all, you're going to need to beat at least one truly great team along the way, and that's not going to be in the cards for this group without their most prominent leaders.

Hopefully, some new leaders will step forward, contributing to the future makeup of this group and adding to a story now decades in the making that will culminate in a sixth championship for the franchise.

Written By:

Jesse Dumas


Corporate day-job worker with a passion for unpaid journalism and getting my emotions tortured by a professional football team.
All articles by Jesse Dumas


Follow us on: X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram

Read Original Article
Visit 49ers Webzone

More San Francisco 49ers News