News 49ers Team Notes

[San Francisco 49ers]

49ers News: Salute to Robert Saleh

Report: Titans hiring 49ers’ Robert Saleh as next head coach
“The 49ers have Gus Bradley on staff, serving as the team’s assistant head coach and a potential natural successor to Saleh. However, San Francisco is expected to evaluate all of its options.”

49ers game review: Wide receivers group struggled in Seattle. Are changes coming? (paywall)
“he tone was set immediately on Rashid Shaheed’s 95-yard, game-opening kickoff return. What happened on the 49ers’ coverage?

One issue: rookie running back Jordan James.

The fifth-round pick was lined up on the left side, the second closest to the sideline, and wasn’t blocked as he ran downfield and appeared to have an angle to make the tackle at the 27-yard line, about seven yards from Shaheed. However, James didn’t take a sharp turn and his rounded-off path allowed Shaheed to sprint through a wide alley as James loped behind him. Linebacker Luke Gifford and cornerback Chase Lucas dove at Shaheed’s feet around the 38-yard line and he later avoided the attempted slide-tackle trip by Eddy Piñeiro, a former soccer player, en route to the end zone.

James does have this excuse: inexperience. He arrived Saturday having played 17 special-teams snaps in his NFL career, including nine in the previous week’s wild-card win at Philadelphia.“

49ers’ rookie Mykel Williams on season-ending knee injury: ‘It’s been hard’ (paywall)
““Bosa’s been extremely helpful,” Williams said Monday. “He’s like a real big brother. He looks out, he comes in, checks on me, sits down, eats lunch with me, talks to me, asks me about my knee, asks me how I’m feeling. I feel more comfortable leaning on him and asking him for stuff, versus like a lot of other people … because he’s been through it. He knows exactly what it feels like and how to move.”

Ranking 49ers’ position groups as their offseason begins (paywall)
“The dominant theme from the 49ers’ season was how well backups and newcomers slid into key roles. The exception was defensive end. Once Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams went down with ACL injuries, no one stepped up. Bryce Huff was leading the team with four sacks in Week 7, but he had no sacks from that point on and didn’t have a single pressure Saturday. Midseason addition Keion White was only marginally more productive. Bosa and Williams are expected to make full recoveries, but those recoveries will spill into the offseason, if not the regular season. It seems like another year in which the 49ers must fortify their edges.”

49ers locker room postmortem: Kittle’s optimism, and other notes (paywall)
“I talked to Ji’Ayir Brown for a while as the locker room started to empty out. He’s simultaneously an honest, reflective person, and someone who has ambitions that might border on delusional. I respect that.

I think you have to have unrealistic expectations to make it to the NFL and succeed, and Brown and his former JUCO-to-Penn State teammate Jaquan Brisker both pursued an unrealistic path to get where they are.

I found it particularly interesting hearing how much Brown enjoyed and missed playing nickel. My argument for most of the second half was that Jason Pinnock shouldn’t have been on the field at all. They should have used Brown like they used Deommodore Lenoir last year, and Marques Sigle like Isaac Yiadom/Renardo Green, where they’d inject them onto the field and slide Lenoir inside on nickel snaps.

That, in my view, would have maximized Sigle, while limiting his vulnerability, but also maximizing him as a true free safety, with two other safeties to communicate with and face more responsibilities in the box.

It would be the best of Brown. He said as much.

“[Playing nickel] taught me a lot about the defense and a lot about myself, and I enjoyed it, bro,” Brown told me. “’I honestly wish it was more of that, that I kept doing throughout the year, because I feel like I was such a great player in that spot, which I’m a great safety as well, but just that nickel spot, it’s a different game down there. So I actually liked it. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Man, I’m glad it fell on my plate.”

Brown said he loved being close to the action.

“When you back there at safety, you might get one or two plays in the game where you could really make a difference,” Brown. “But when you’re in that fire, every play, it’s a big difference.”

While Brown was a mixed bag this season, it clearly looked like his best season. Taking on that additional nickel role would have been a lot on his shoulders, but they already trusted him to communicate on the backend more than anyone. There was far more good than bad, and he was great coming downhill in the run game.“

Two NFL mock drafts have 49ers targeting offensive line help
“Gordon McGuinness has the 49ers selecting Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu with their first-round pick.

“Lomu disappointed as a run blocker in 2025, resulting in a 62.0 PFF run-blocking grade, but his 82.1 PFF pass-blocking grade was impressive,” McGuinness wrote. “The 49ers need a long-term replacement for left tackle Trent Williams, and Lomu could be the perfect fit.”

Lomu allowed eight pressures and no sacks across 383 pass-blocking snaps last season. While his 82.1 pass-blocking grade marked a career high, his 62.0 run-blocking grade represented a noticeable drop from his 70.1 mark in 2024.

Josh Edwards of CBS Sports has the 49ers going with a different player in the first round. In his latest mock draft, he has the team selecting Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling.“

Jauan Jennings emotionally reflects on 49ers tenure ahead of NFL free agency
“When I first flew in here, I thought I was going to San Francisco, just like everybody else. And you find out fast, it’s Santa Clara. And now it’s home — quickly turned into home. A run I’ll never forget, for sure.”

Source: https://www.ninersnation.com/san-fr...s-mykel-williams-free-agency-draft-john-lynch

 

[San Francisco 49ers]

49ers announce the signings of 14 free agents to Reserve/Future contracts

The San Francisco 49ers announced on Tuesday afternoon that they signed 14 free agents to Reserve/Future contracts:

OL Isaac Alarcon

DL Evan Anderson

CB Eli Apple

WR Junior Bergen

DL William Bradley-King

DB Derrick Canteen

LB Andrew Farmer II

S Darrick Forrest

LB Jalen Graham

QB Adrian Martinez

OL Drake Nugent

OL Brandon Parker

WR Malik Turner

DL Sebastian Valdez

This is effectively the practice squad entering the offseason, with plenty of potential changes to come. The 49ers signed Forrest to the practice squad during the playoffs and had seen enough from him in a short period to sign him to a contract.

Farmer II signed a Reserve/Future contract with the Denver Broncos this time last year, only to be released on August 25, 2025.

The 49ers have some interesting decisions to make on the roster this offseason. For example, they just received great production from their returner spots. Still, both Brian Robinson and Skyy Moore are free agents. Jordan James should take Robinson’s spot, and there will inevitably be a rookie added to the mix. But did Junior Bergen prove he deserves a crack at the returner jobs, or is Moore good enough to warrant a roster spot, despite not contributing on offense?

Adrian Martinez and Kurtis Rourke will likely battle for a roster or practice squad spot, depending on what happens with Mac Jones this offseason.

Source: https://www.ninersnation.com/san-fr...of-14-free-agents-to-reserve-future-contracts

 

[San Francisco 49ers]

49ers front office member Josh Williams gets another GM request

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Atlanta Falcons have submitted a general manager interview request for San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, who was a finalist for the Jacksonville and Miami general manager searches.

The Falcons recently hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski. Atlanta also requested Texans assistant general manager James Liipfert for the same vacancy. Ahead of drafting Mykel Williams last year, Williams shared his process and philsophy with the media:

“That’s just a big part of our process. For every player we draft, we have a vision for them. We’re constantly talking to our coaches, talking to each other. We work collectively to kind of have a vision of how they’re going to make this team and how they’re going to make us better.”

You would hope that’s the case for all 32 teams. The plan for Williams was to stop the run on early downs and kick inside as a pass rusher on late downs while taking advantage of the space with Bryce Huff lined up in a Wide-9 with Nick Bosa opposite of him. We did not get to see that for more than a month in 2025.

If Williams is hired as a general manager, the 49ers will receive a third-round compensatory pick.

Source: https://www.ninersnation.com/san-fr...-member-josh-williams-gets-another-gm-request

 

[San Francisco 49ers]

Did Kyle Shanahan tip his hand on who the next 49ers defensive coordinator is?

We will discuss potential defensive coordinators for the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday morning. After his Wednesday press conference, Kyle Shanahan may have tipped his hand on who his next coordinator will be.

Kyle Shanahan was asked if he plans to cast a wide net, and who the internal candidates are for the job is:

I wouldn’t say it’s a real wide net. Gus is the obvious one to everyone, and is for us, too. Gus would be the main internal candidate. Feel very fortunate to get Gus, and feel great about that.

But also, we are going to go through the whole process. There are requirements that we have to do and want to do, also. Hopefully, we can get it settled sooner than later. I see it working throughout this next week on it.

Later on, Shanahan was asked if he wanted to stay with the defensive scheme that had worked for him throughout the years, which had primarily come from the Seattle coaching tree:

When you say Seattle system, I feel like that’s from when we first got here. A four-down front and a team that majored in Cover 3. I think what’s left from that is we major in a four down front. It really hasn’t been that since 2019. It’s been totally different.

We had a lot of 5-down fronts this year. There’s teams that are 3-4 base that didn’t get into base the entire year. They’re in nickel throughout the whole time. So I think the semantics, or the way you describe that is a little overrated.

Defenses need a little bit of everything. Yeah, we have a four-down front. That’s what we like to do. But I thought it was important that we have some 5-down fronts this year. And we did put that in. I think it’s important that you do have a coverage that you can really settle on, knowing that’s what we do the best.

But if you don’t have 4-5 coverages that can play off that, then it doesn’t really matter how good you are at that coverage. That’s how good this league works now. Offensive coaches know how to attack things too much. You have to up the variable of what they know they are going to get. That starts with front change. That starts with coverage change. And it goes with personnel change. I think we’ve done more of that each year, and we’ll continue to have to do more of that.

That’s an in-depth answer that does not describe what Gus Bradley has been as a coordinator during his NFL career. Bradley has been known for running various Cover 2 and 3 schemes, mainly the latter, but has not had much success along the way.

Per ACME Packing’s Justis Mosqueda, Gus Bradley’s defenses, passer rating against:
2025: 26th
2024: 23rd
2023: 13th
2022: 30th
2021: 25th

We will do a deeper dive if Bradley is indeed the coordinator, but we’ve seen how Bradley’s defenses fare in the NFL, especially against elite units. There is no secret as to what you’re getting, and the innovation has left plenty to be desired.

Source: https://www.ninersnation.com/san-fr...n-who-the-next-49ers-defensive-coordinator-is

 

[San Francisco 49ers]

Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan named as NFL Honors finalists

Christian McCaffrey and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan have received recognition for their contributions to a remarkable 2025 season for San Francisco, with both named as finalists for awards that will be announced at the NFL Honors ceremony during Super Bowl week.

McCaffrey is a finalist in three categories, with the 49ers’ do-it-all running back up for the MVP award, Offensive Player of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year.

That follows a season in which McCaffrey racked up 2,126 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns despite often struggling on the ground, averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. McCaffrey was once again devastatingly effective as a pass-catcher, and finished just 76 receiving yards shy of his second season with 1,000 yards as both a rusher and a receiver.

The undisputed focal point of the 49er attack, there’s little doubt McCaffrey was the 49ers’ MVP, but he is unlikely to take home that honor, with Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye considered the frontrunners.

McCaffrey similarly seems to be a long shot to win Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba the heavy favorite to claim that award. Instead, look for McCaffrey to likely be named Comeback Player of the Year, his exploits this season coming on the back of a 2024 campaign that was ruined by Achilles and knee issues.

Shanahan, meanwhile, is unsurprisingly a finalist for Coach of the Year after guiding the 49ers to a 12-5 record amid another season of incredible adversity on the injury front.

It is an award Shanahan has yet to win despite his consistent success with the 49ers over the years. He was a runner-up to Jim Harbaugh in 2019 and to Brian Daboll in 2022. He finished fifth in the voting in the 49ers’ most recent Super Bowl season of 2023.

This year, he has stiff competition in the form of Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel and Mike Macdonald.

Coen, Johnson and Vrabel oversaw hugely impressive turnarounds in Jacksonville, Chicago and New England respectively. Macdonald, meanwhile, turned the Seahawks into a Super Bowl favorite and made his case for receiving the award over Shanahan with how the Seattle defense shut down the 49er offense in Week 18 and in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Still, it is a regular-season award. The 49ers split their regular-season series with Seattle and, given the injuries the 49ers overcame at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, on the defensive line, and at linebacker, it’s difficult to dispute the argument that no coach in the NFL did a better job of maximizing the talent at his disposal than Shanahan.

Hopefully, the panel of voters that decide the award saw it the same way.

Source: https://www.ninersnation.com/san-fr...frey-kyle-shanahan-named-nfl-honors-finalists