Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Friday, March 14th, 2025
Kawakami: The 49ers are acting like this era is over. Maybe it’s time to believe them (paywall)
“My working premise is that the 49ers went into this offseason with a strong commitment to cutting down their cash outlay this season and felt like they could do it and still keep most of their roster together. But then — again, this is just my theory, to try to make sense of this — something might’ve happened over the first few days of free agency that triggered this onslaught.
I’m not sure how else you can explain cutting Floyd before losing out on Joey Bosa. Or cutting Collins just to save his salary. (The 49ers took dead-cap hits on both players but saved cash. This is all about cash.) That Floyd and Collins (and Hargrave) were scooped up for big dollars almost immediately after they hit the waiver wire makes the 49ers’ decisions even more confusing. They were valuable players. The 49ers ate money rather than keep them on the roster. And after those cuts, the 49ers now have more than $86 million in dead money on this year’s cap, according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow, and have an additional $21.5 million in dead money on their 2026 cap. They’re saving money. They’re also drawing dead at several important positions.
If they’ve gone this far, could the 49ers just strip the payroll all the way down by subtracting Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, Williams, McCaffrey, and others? What’s the point of paying those guys if you might be headed toward a mediocre season, anyway?
I can’t answer those questions right now. In the very recent past, I could’ve easily answered that the 49ers are intent on keeping every good player. As Lynch said after the season when asked about Deebo, “We’re not in the business of letting good players out of here.” But Deebo was traded for a fifth-round pick a few weeks after that statement. They could trade Aiyuk at any point — less than a year after signing him to a $30 million-a-year deal. A bunch of others are gone, too.”
A reason for 49ers’ optimism in 2025 amid roster carnage? Their cupcake schedule (paywall)
“Consider the QBs the 49ers figure to face next season. On Thursday, the Browns had a free-agent visit with Russell Wilson, 36, who was once very good. The Giants have interest in adding just-released Aaron Rodgers, 41, who was once even better. The Colts just signed Daniel Jones, a first-round flameout who will compete with a first-round flameout, Anthony Richardson.
The talent-starved Titans, owners of the No. 1 pick, could have a set-up-to-fail rookie QB. Speaking of that, the Bears and Williams — last year’s doomed-from-the-start No. 1 pick — figure to be better. But how much? Last season, the 49ers lost seven of their final eight games. Their only win: 49ers 38, Chicago 13.
The schedule will include two more No. 1 picks — Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) and Bryce Young (Panthers) — who haven’t come close to elite but have offered more evidence to the old refrain that it’s excruciatingly hard to evaluate quarterbacks.”
CB Isaac Yiadom won’t return to 49ers, signs 3-year deal with Saints
“He follows former 49ers assistant head coach Brandon Staley, now the Saints’ defensive coordinator.”
The 49ers’ leftovers: Top remaining free-agent fits at positions of need (paywall)
“We had a full list of DTs when we began composing this Wednesday morning. But one by one Levi Onwuzurike, Dre’Mont Jones and Dalvin Tomlinson, who seemed like a particularly strong fit, agreed to deals elsewhere. That left Campbell as the only starter-worthy interior lineman available. And he’s only available because he’s 38 years old. Still, he finished last season with five sacks, 39 quarterback pressures and 12 tackles for loss and was strong against the run. If the 49ers’ plan is to use a high draft pick on a defensive tackle, they could do a lot worse than pairing him with Campbell, who’s considered one of the top “glue guys” in the league.”
49ers insider: Brock Purdy needs to be making over $50 million a year
“The guy needs to be making over $50 million a year, and I’m not going to get into a fight whether he deserves it or not,” Inman stated. “That is the market rate for a top-tier NFL quarterback. However deep you want that tier to be, whether it’s 5, 10, or 15 [quarterbacks], that’s what he deserves to be making.”
Asking around, Inman gets the sense that a deal isn’t expected to come together quickly—at least not as quickly as Purdy and the 49ers initially hoped. However, he also doesn’t believe it needs to get done before the draft.
“To me, it just needs to get done probably right after the draft because they start the offseason program in mid-April,” Inman added. “But those first couple weeks are strictly strength training, and you’re not on the field with [head coach Kyle] Shanahan and Klay Kubiak, who’s now the offensive coordinator, until you’re like two weeks into that. So I’m talking like early May.
“And, to me, that’s when it’s most important that Brock’s signed, sealed, and delivered because you don’t need to be dragging this out for another month to save some pennies, and just get the deal done.”
49ers releasing long snapper Taybor Pepper as roster overhaul continues
“The 49ers will save $1.3 million in cap space by releasing Pepper, per OverTheCap.com.”