The 2024 season was a disappointing one in San Francisco, with the 49ers entering the year as the favorites in every game on their schedule, and ultimately going just 6-11.
Now the 49ers head into the 2025 NFL Draft with some major needs, with an offensive lineman, defensive lineman or cornerback likely to be the positions they target in the first round.
San Francisco 49ers 2025 NFL Draft Picks
Round 1: No. 11
Round 2: No. 43
Round 3: No. 75
Round 3: No. 100 (Compensatory)
Round 4: No. 113
Round 4: No. 138 (Compensatory)
Round 5: No. 147 (from NO via WAS)
Round 5: No. 160 (from MIN)
Round 7: No. 227
Round 7: No. 249 (Compensatory)
Round 7: No. 252 (Compensatory)
Former Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart made some noise at the Senior Bowl and now he’s in the middle of a busy April.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Stewart taking a pre-draft visit with the Patriots on Thursday.
Stewart also has visits scheduled with San Francisco and Chicago.
Stewart did not become a full-time starter until the 2024 season. He recorded just 1.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries, and 5.5 tackles for loss in his final college year. He finished his three seasons with 65 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks.
The 49ers are set to visit with a couple of the top defensive players in this year’s draft class.
Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com reports that defensive end Mykel Williams and defensive tackle Walter Nolen are both scheduled to meet with the team.
Williams, who had 14 sacks and 23 tackles for loss at Georgia, is expected to attend the draft in Green Bay later this month. He and Nolen, who starred at Ole Miss, are both seen as likely first-round picks.
Nolen is also set for meetings with the Bengals and Panthers this week. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that he’ll visit the Cardinals while Barrows notes that Tennessee defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott is also set to visit the 49ers.
Under coach Kyle Shanahan and G.M. John Lynch, it took the 49ers six years to find an answer at the quarterback position. Now that they have one, it feels as if they’re preparing to grossly overpay him.
This isn’t an anti-Brock Purdy take. It’s a realistic assessment of the market, the salary cap, and Purdy’s value if/when he were available to be signed by any other team.
None of that really matters, however. Because the 49ers seem to have willingly painted themselves into a corner, while also making their haphazard brushwork a built-in excuse for the regression to come.
They reportedly opened the talks at $45 million per year. That’s high for a starter. It points to a final deal that starts with a five.
Here’s what else points to Purdy joining the $50 million per year club: Owner Jed York admitted that Purdy is a top-10 quarterback. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is currently the tenth highest-paid quarterback, at $51 million per year.
The 49ers reportedly have undergone an “organizational reset,” sparked by splurging on other players who perhaps didn’t live up to the contracts. It sure doesn’t sound that way as to Purdy.
York treats it as an inevitability, as a subject on which the team has no choice. The quarterback has earned a massive, market-level contract. Which means they have to tighten the belt elsewhere. And they’re saying so.
It doesn’t have to be that way. The 49ers have leverage. Purdy is under contract for $5.3 million this year. The franchise tag for the quarterback position is currently $40.241 million.
The 49ers could do what the Cowboys did with Dak Prescott. Squat on the fourth year of his contract, tag him once, and then either pay him or tag him twice, knowing that he’ll become a free agent after the second tag.
Yes, the Cowboys ultimately waited too long to pay Dak. In this case, maybe the 49ers aren’t waiting long enough.
What would Purdy get on the open market? It’s a fair question. And if the answer is he’d get less than whatever the 49ers seem to be preparing to pay him, why are the 49ers preparing to pay him that much money?
After York admitted that Purdy is a top-10 quarterback (others would put him in the top-15, at best), York added this qualifier: “when you combine him with Kyle and what we have.” Yes, Kyle has a lot to do with it.
If Purdy’s top-15ish performances are fueled by Shanahan’s expertise in designing and calling plays, why should the 49ers give Purdy a top-10 contract?
The counter to that is simple. They’ve struggled to find an answer at the position. Jimmy Garoppolo ultimately failed. Trey Lance flamed out. And let’s not forget that they passed on Patrick Mahomes, because Shanahan was waiting for Kirk Cousins.
Still, the 49ers now have Mac Jones. The guy Shanahan supposedly wanted when the 49ers traded up to No. 3 in 2021. Why rush to fill Purdy’s pockets with more money than the last pick in the draft could ever dream to make when there are options?
And when it’s still possible that Purdy’s performances will slip to top-20 with the shifts in the roster sparked by the decision to give him perhaps much more than they should.
We firmly believe the best players should be paid the most money. Mahomes. Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson. Joe Burrow. We also don’t believe Purdy is in that conversation yet — and that he might never be.
The 49ers confirmed this week that they plan to keep wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on the roster for 2025. Now the question is whether Aiyuk will be healthy enough to play in 2025.
Aiyuk is rehabbing from knee surgery for a torn ACL and MCL, and after his most recent medical checkup it’s possible but not certain he’ll be good to go for Week One, according to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
“I don’t know,” Shanahan said, via NBCSportsBayArea.com. “It’s too early to tell. The goal is always early. You hope to have him right away. We were told by his doctor there’s a chance. But it’s too early in the process and we’ll see when we get closer to training camp and see what it looks like.”
Aiyuk suffered the injury on October 20 and had his surgery three weeks later. Being back for Week One would mean a recovery time of about 10 months, which is in line with the normal range for ACL recoveries.
Two NFL single-season rushing records, both owned by the Baltimore Ravens, have just been broken — by a team whose players are all deceased.
The 1948 49ers are now the NFL’s official record holders for most rushing yards in a season and highest yards per carry in a season. That 49ers team gained 3,663 rushing yards on 603 attempts, an average of 6.1 yards per carry. The 49ers played in the All-America Football Conference before joining the NFL in 1950, and the NFL has just decided to count AAFC stats into the league’s official records.
That means the Ravens have lost both of those records. The record for most rushing yards in a season previously belonged to the 2019 Ravens, who ran for 3,296 yards. And the record for highest yards per carry in a season was set just last season by the Ravens, who averaged 5.8 yards per carry.
Now those records belong to a 49ers team that featured an impressive rookie running back named Joe “The Jet” Perry, who would go on to have a Hall of Fame career, as well as Johnny “Strike” Strzykalski, who gained 915 yards that season and led the AAFC with 6.5 yards per carry.
Starting with this year’s NFL Record & Fact Book, those 49ers are now the official NFL record holders.
49ers General Manager John Lynch said at the end of the 2024 season that the team still had a lot of faith in kicker Jake Moody, but they aren’t going to just hand him the job for the 2025 season.
While speaking to reporters at the league meetings in Palm Beach on Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that “we’re going to bring someone else in” to compete with Moody this offseason.
Shanahan said the team’s special teams coaches are scouting possible additions from the college ranks, but that it is more likely that they go the veteran route.
“As long as we bring in a guy who’s capable of taking that job, and Jake respects him, that’s what puts pressure on him because you’ve got to respect the guy you’re going against,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “And he does have to beat him out in practice. Yeah, the games will happen once the season starts, but the preseason will be there. And when your job’s on the line doing something, going against someone who’s talented, you do feel that pressure. And I do believe if he can overcome that, and beat out a capable guy, that’ll show us he’s ready for the season.”
Moody, who was a third-round pick in 2023, went 24-of-34 on field goals during the 2024 season. He was 21-of-25 as a rookie and he’s made 92-of-94 extra point tries.
The 49ers might or might not have a contract completed with Brock Purdy by the time the offseason program begins later this month. If they don’t, there’s a chance the quarterback won’t participate in the voluntary offseason program.
Some players do during ongoing negotiations. Some players don’t.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday he hopes Purdy won’t skip the workouts.
“I hope not,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “And I know Brock doesn’t want to do that. We don’t want him to do that. I mean, no one wants to do that. But these are negotiations that go on between agents and our organization and it’s over a lot of money and stuff. Those aren’t just things that you just knock out right away.
“But I believe that we will (sign him). I hope that we do. And hopefully, it won’t come into any football stuff.”
Purdy, who made $1.84 million last season after a check from the performance-based pay system, is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He is scheduled to make $5.346 million in 2025.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is going to be paid this offseason.
The questions are “When?” and “How much?”
Team owner Jed York expressed his belief in the quarterback at the annual league meeting in Palm Beach on Tuesday, also saying he feels a deal can come together.
“I don’t negotiate contracts, but any conversations I’ve had with Brock personally have been great,” York said, via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com. “I feel good. And when he’s ready, we’ll sit down and finish it. It shouldn’t be that hard to do.”
The last pick of the seventh round in 2022, Purdy helped lead the team to the NFC Championship Game in his rookie season and a Super Bowl appearance to cap 2023. While injuries on San Francisco’s squad contributed to the team finishing 6-11 in 2024, the club’s belief in its young quarterback has not wavered. York told reporters that the team decided to pay Purdy midway through last season.
“I think he is [a top-10 quarterback],” York said, via David Lombardi of SFStandard.com. “I think he’s great. Especially when you combine him with Kyle and what we have, he’s a heck of a quarterback and we want him here for a long, long time.”
Purdy, 25, has completed 67.5 percent of his career passes for 9,518 yards with 64 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in 40 games with 36 starts in his young career.
Brock Purdy just might get his wish.
The 49ers quarterback said after the season he wanted a long-term extension “sooner than later,” setting a goal to have it done by the start of the offseason program.
General Manager John Lynch said Monday it is possible the sides will agree by then.
“I don’t think it’s too optimistic,” Lynch said, via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com. “I understand why Brock wants that. We’d like that very much so. We’ve just got to find that right place for both sides. I would love nothing more for that to be the case.”
Purdy, who made $1.84 million last season after a check from the performance-based pay system, is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He is scheduled to make $5.346 million in 2025.
“Brock wants to be with us,” Lynch said. “We want Brock to be with us. When that’s the case, these things typically get done. And does it happen this offseason? I don’t know. Hopefully it happens real soon this offseason.”
It’s unknown whether Purdy will show up to the voluntary offseason program without an extension. Lynch wasn’t willing to speculate on what Purdy will do if the 49ers don’t get a deal completed before the season.
“I think we’re going to get the deal done,” Lynch said. “That’s what I believe. So, we’ll just leave it at that.”
