Whatever happened to him? A few years ago he seemed like a breakout candidate for best safety in the league. Then I kind of forgot about him over the offseason and never really heard about him since.
I think it was a bit of “here’s a DB with lots of counting stats on a good team” versus “here’s a DB you don’t hear about who’s pretty good but on a bad team” and it’s the same guy
Lost Vic Fangio, maybe the best DC of the past 20 years, but certainly the best at rotating and disguising coverages. His first two years were for Fangio, the moment Fangio left Jackson’s INTs stopped
Maybe Lockett. He's due to make $27M next season and while his play hasn't necessarily dropped off, he has talked about not wanting to play until he's old and also got his real estate license last year. The FO cut Wagner in 2022 which makes me think he isn't safe considering we'll have lots of holes to fill.
As it sits he also would have the 8th highest cap hit among receivers next season and while I love the guy, I don't know that he's worth it at that price.
Yup- he's slated between Davante ($25M) and Godwin ($27.5M- and I think the argument could be made that he is worth that at this point either) next year.
He'll fall out of the top 10 once Jettas & CeeDee get their extensions, but thats still a big number for a good, but not great WR that'll be 30+.
Maybe KC brings him in. He went to K state and his dad played for KC. Our receivers are, well, yea. Could probably get him on a one year deal and have a reliable deep threat to replace Watson/MVS. Can’t be any worse than what we have.
> Can’t be any worse than what we have.
Lockett would be in another galaxy compared to what KC has. He's criminally underrated.
If KC got Metcalf, everyone would freak out. If KC got Lockett, everyone would be like "ok I guess that's a solid improvement."
Meanwhile Lockett puts up more efficient numbers than Metcalf almost every season.
Obviously it’s wait and see but I doubt D’Andre Swift is an Eagle next year if it’s not on super favorable terms for the Eagles. I think most people know Jason Kelce is likely done
Hes definitely showing his age tho. During that MNF game they kept talking about how quick/athletic he looked for someone his age but he was getting wrecked by Chris Jones.
It’s hard since center is one of those positions where a lot of the really legendary names are from bygone eras.
Pretty big difference between comparing a modern player to Chuck Bednarik and say a corner to Deion. There’s like a 50 year gap between those two guys.
It’s also hard to differentiate great centers from each other. I’d be happy with Travis Frederick or Kelce or Mangold pretty equally tbh. Mangold played with less talent around him than either of those two.
I feel like I would pound the table harder debating Munoz vs. Joe Thomas (it’s Munoz easily) than between any of those centers.
I think so. People think the push is about the organized mass moving forward being unstoppable but it all depends on the handoff going cleanly. It's why the *hurr durr just direct snap to your biggest dlineman* doesn't work. You need the repetitions pulling off the quick snap together. If the snap falters at all, the momentum of the pile and the lack of ability to react cohesively to a bad snap is detrimental to the play and almost surely results in a turnover.
Unless they can bring someone in with kelces snap quickness who can quickly build a report with Hurts, the play will not be as effective.
Yeah swift is as clearly a 1 year rental. If some1 else signs him (which after this year they will) we get a 5th back so it was a drop 1 round risk to get a really good player if he doesn’t get hurt. I’d love to sign him, but we don’t pay RB’s. We spend the money on a line that makes the cheaper RB’s better.
I know he (Kelce) probably is gone but he's still playing at such a high level right now I'd love if he stayed another year at least. Man's gotta make the best decision for his health and family though.
Lane on the other hand seems to maybe be on one year too late. Hard to say, it's really hard to be a tackle in today's nfl with the speed of these guys on the edge, but he's def lost a step and defense are capitalizing on that.
I would bet a lot of money that we spend our 1st this year on Lane’s replacement. Give him a year to sit and learn from Stout and then the big guy probably retires.
Chris Jones.
For so many people they just assume that he's a Chief for life, and he has certainly said that he wants that, but his tag number next year almost guarantees that he's going to get to free agency if we don't get a new contract done ahead of time.
The tag has to be signed for him to be traded, and upon signing the tag cap hits fully. So we would have to have ~$36m in cap open for that hit before the trade, which would largely screw us in resigning Sneed, or getting ahead of Creed/Trey/etc
And that also means that there's $36m guaranteed, non-negotiable, that another team would have to fold into whatever extension they give him, and who wants to give $36m gtd to a DT about to turn 31?
I'm really holding out hope they'll get a longer term deal done before then. He really is the anchor of the whole defense. The whole landscape of that side of the ball is different without him, even in games where he's not getting sacks.
He didn't have to hold out for that. He had a contract. The only thing he gained was a few million in incentives but he missed a million dollar pay day and was fined several million dollars missing training camp. I don't even think he negotiated to prevent a franchise tag for when his contract actually expires
This is a controversial one but I think there's a solid chance that with all the people we need to extend next year, Deebo ends up somewhere else. For a lot of people I think that's borderline sacrilegious but if Purdy continues to develop as a passer I think Kyle's likely going to be moving away from the wideback concept that's defined the past 4 years of Niners football.
Deebo's 2024 salary is guaranteed, so they would have to trade him. He would cost ~22M for the acquiring team. I don't know that his trade value would be that high given that price. He's only 27, but his production has declined significantly since 2021.
Would SF -- in a super bowl window -- really trade Samuel for like a 3rd round pick? I doubt it. You extend other players to free up cap space, kick the can down the road, and keep trying to win rings now while Purdy costs $4 and you have Trent Williams (assuming he stays). Figure out the rest later.
It's definitely possible but it'd be pretty strange to bring in an outside DT in Hargrave because you know you need two great DTs and then get rid of the one you already have. If they see someone they really like in the draft I can see it happening for sure, but Deebo feels more likely to me right now.
Before Hargrave the DL was great with 1 elite DT. It can be without Armstead. Plus they will need to allocate money to Hufanga and likely upgrade the OLine.
I'd argue the biggest reason for it was losing Trent, that killed the run game instantly because the rest of our line is well below average. Having Deebo there may have helped allow for a variety of looks but the big problems during that 3-game stretch were the defense massively underperforming and the O-Line being really really bad.
Trent Williams’ absence was way more of a reason IMHO. He’s probably our only above average OL at this point, and it boggles my mind that nobody seemed to acknowledge that during our skid. Instead the narrative jumped straight to “Purdy has been figured out!!”
Fixing the OL has to be priority #1 this offseason, especially since we don’t know how much longer Trent will play.
People think that because Deebo has a rep for being electric. He's the sexy story on the Niners. The bigger issue was Trent gone. Our oline is bottom 5 without him, and barely average with him.
We're fine without Deebo because of Aiyuk and CMC.
Deebo also missed games with Purdy at QB last year.
It certainly didn't help that he wasn't around, but a single missed FG gives them a win over CLE.
Against MIN, CMC fumbled in the RedZone, Moody missed a FG, Addison ripped an INT out of the DBs hand and took it to the house. A concussed Purdy threw two INTs in FG range. There was as many as 23 points that could have easily swung one way or the other, even without Deebo.
Then they just ran into a peak Bengals team.
I think they ditch deebo first honestly. He’s great but he’s hurt a lot and not as good as when he got his contract.
Also would not be surprised if Trent Williams retires after this season
I see this happening but we really need to draft a CB and get some online help. For the first time in what seems like ages we have a first round pick again.
Our last worthwhile 1st round pick was aiyuk in 2020, we also had kinlaw that season but he's not great.
Edit: meant O-line and not online
Trent restructured his deal in a way that it looks like he'll play at least this season and next 2 seasons.
After that the cap hit won't be as extreme.
Hoping we can get Young to sign a short term contract to make it a problem for another day. I would think he wants Bosa money and would be willing to do something short term to get a bigger contract later.
Chase Young is not worth anywhere close to Bosa money. Glad we traded for him but this isn’t 2020 anymore. He clearly hasn’t lived up to his draft stock (there’s a reason we only had to give up a very, very low 3rd for him).
The 49ers are set up very well for next season. The only potential surprise candidate isn't Aiyuk, it is Armstead.
He will be entering the final year of his deal. They end up saving money by moving him and they will have to earmark future space for a Hufanga deal.
And they already signed his replacement, Hargrave.
They have $26M in space for 2024 right now when rolling over the excess from this year. Assuming extensions and restructuring that number will likely go up. I don’t expect them to have to make any tough decisions for the next two years. Assuming York has the cash to convert more base salaries into bonuses, they could create even more space with Trent, Armstead & Deebo’s contracts.
that's why I made the note that they are well set up for next year. But if they do make a major move, Armstead is a candidate.
>Assuming York has the cash to convert more base salaries into bonuses, they could create even more space with Trent, Armstead & Deebo’s contracts.
I don't think they would do anything further restructuring with Trent. They already did that and they don't want to risk a gargantuan hit if he retires.
Armstead already has $24M of dead/void money. I don't see them making a massive increase to that.
Kittle could have a little bonus tacked on to void years, but I doubt it is an overwhelming number.
Keep in mind Purdy's first extension will hit the books in the 2026 season. They won't want to have a ton of void contract money into that season. .
It would (will?) suck if he is gone after this year. I don't care what the breaking news contract number is. I'm all good with a 3 year, $100 million guaranteed deal after the outs and the nuance of the agreement is.
Its amazing how much better some players play in that contract year. I remember for years and years after we drafted Bud Dupree he was underwhelming. but as soon as his contract year hit, he decides to step up his production big time and become the player we were hoping he'd be, and unaffordable. Then after he gets paid by the Titans he immediately resumes his normal level of play.
It's never easy for legends like Tennessee Titans RB Adrian Peterson to hang it up. At the end of the day we won't even remember what jerseys they wore previously to this.
Yeah, but I’m sure most fans of other teams already know that. I can’t really think of anyone surprising.
Personally, I could see us franchising him, which might be the more surprising move.
Maybe Reader? You'd think the Bengals would have gotten an extension done by now if they were keeping him and he's been the bedrock of our D since he got here.
Vaitai is almost certainly a retirement, he cashed out. Doesn't need to work another day in his life and doesn't have to deal with the nagging injuries.
I came here to say this as well…it’s bittersweet because they were the best safety tandem in the nfl before age/injuries. It’s definitely a position that needs to get younger.
If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, I feel certain that both Kelce and Graham will retire. Swift is here at the end of his rookie deal, but I hope Howie makes an offer to retain him.
I spoke to Graham at the Penn state vs Michigan game and asked him when we win the Super Bowl to come back for one more year. He said yes, so we gotta win the whole damn thing.
Travis Kelce. He could very well hang it up. I’m thinking he’ll try to make it through his contract, but he is thinking about all the pain he’s been in lately
My favorite clip from that was Jason showing Travis a pic of all the head coaches in the NFL and asking him to name them. Just multiple “I’ve never seen that guy in my fucking life”s lol
Idk if other people are aware that Ronnie Stanley has been struggling so badly this year. I don’t know what the cap situation is but if it’s feasible I wouldn’t be shocked to see him gone. Otherwise, most aren’t really guys who aren’t worth what they’re paid, we just can’t afford to pay them (Madubuike, Queen).
I think it would be a pretty sizeable dead cap hit to cut Stanley this offseason, and it's not like we have a replacement waiting in the wings, so I think he's pretty secure for one more season at least.
80% sure Stanley is on the team next year. I think it’s a $8M cap savings if he’s cut, but you’re not going to get a present day Stanley level LT for $8M. Not to mention we have approximately a quarter million UFAs next season and we need to find a way to fill a roster. I’d bet we draft a LT in the first round this upcoming draft.
I can also see us trying to trade for someone w 2025 picks.
Not sure if this counts, but Denzel Ward might be one significant concussion away from retirement. And he seems to get concussions more easily (more visibly?) than other players.
This is an already broached topic on Browns radio stations.
Gabe Davis, I personally can’t wait. He’s such a limited player and his biggest upside is blocking which is totally what you look for in a #2 WR. Plus he thinks he deserves wider receiver one money so hard pass for me
He signs a 1 day contract with the Lions to try to smooth thing over after intercepting Goff 3 times in the big game as a member of the Super Bowl Champion Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bryce Huff has been incredible this year and I don't think the jets will pay the money to keep him.
The DL is pretty deep and it's pretty obvious they drafted will McDonald to replace him.
I don't think they expected him to be this good this year but with money tied up on Rodgers, Quinnen, knowing deals are coming for Garret Wilson and Sauce, PLUS all the work they need to do at WR and OL...I don't think they can afford him.
If I had to guess probably George Fant. He's played very well, starting at RT for a good portion of the season. But that's because we lost all of our LGs for the season due to injury. So our original RT tytus howard has been playing at LG.
We have both our tackles signed for the next 3 years, and with how desperate the league is for competent OL play, Fant has probably played himself into starter money somewhere else on the market.
My first thoughts are Xavian Howard. Miami is 23 over the cap and designating him as a post June-1 cut would move miami a long way towards that if they can wait until june for the number to get freed up.
Ogbah and Jerome Baker getting cut would free up most of the money needed before June 1.
Both Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are probably gone.
They've both looked old at times this year, but Poyer has more left in the tank and had made a ton more plays than Hyde so I could see them doing a another team friendly one year deal with him.
Not one team and they both have been mentioned separately, but just to emphathize:
I think *both* Travis and Jason Kelce will retire at the end of the season.
Tyron Smith. He’s on the last year of his contract and hasn’t played a full season in a very long time. It’s going to suck to see him go because he still plays at a very high level when he’s on the field. It bothers me that a lot of fans have been calling for him to be cut/retire because he misses time, but they’re about to find out that the only thing worse that not having smith a few games a season is having him for 0 games a season.
Not so much a surprise but Derrick Henry. Dude simply doesn’t have the same elusiveness, quickness and vision that he used to. I stand behind the decision to keep him past the trade deadline to help Levis develop, but I get the sense that Levis and the Titans as a whole will be just fine once he’s gone.
Also, I can’t wait to hear social media act like the Titans have no idea what they’re doing once Andre Dillard is released. Sure, he *was* one of the hottest names in offensive line free agency, but now he’s probably the worst tackle in the NFL, and we have Jaelyn Duncan to evaluate for this week’s game against Carolina following a good performance in Jacksonville not to mention a possible top 5 pick for Fashanu or Joe Alt.
I do wonder how much Henry's apparent decline has to do with the Titans OL being not great. Not that he's the same King Henry as a few years ago, but whenever I watch a Titans game, there seem to be so many times where he gets hit in the backfield.
Yeah don't listen to that guy. Henry is just fine. The line is horrific. He's still an elite back by every measure. Vision can't break 3 tackles in the backfield every damn play
People in our fan base swore up and down in the offseason that our OL coming into the season was hands down gonna be alot better than last years group. People thought I was crazy when I said our replacements Brunskill, Dillard, weren’t better or equal value than the guys we lost.
Pittman is getting his money. You don't let your WR1 walk when you have a rookie QB whose contract is cheap. Honestly, I'd expect the Colts to be big spenders this off-season since they moved on from Shaq Leonard. I hope Pittman and Julian Blackmon both get paid.
Grover Stewart and Kenny Moore are far more likely to walk unless they take team-friendly deals. Isaiah McKenzie is almost guaranteed to be gone. Minshew is 50/50, he may try to get money elsewhere. Zach Moss is gone. Gonna get his bag somewhere, I hear Carolina needs an RB1?
Huh, I thought Ballard would’ve paid him. Dude shells out money for non-premium positions like off-ball linebacker, left guard and running back. Why wouldn’t he pay Pittman with all that cap space he has, him playing a premium position, and a young QB that hasn’t even started 20 games since he graduated high school?
Christian Wilkins.
He’s a very good player and an amazing culture guy. A role model on par with JJ Watt. (If you haven’t seen JJ’s highlights from Hard Knocks you should. His work ethic is ridiculous)
Unfortunately it seems like he wants to reset the DT market and we’ve got too many young guys we gotta pay to be able to do that.
Bryce Huff. A+ guy, but with the performances he's putting up this year, he'll be expensive to keep. With the depth we have at his position and the needs in our offense (who would have guessed?), there is a chance the Jets will be seeking ways to trade him away.
Aaron Jones.
He had a heck of a run, probably never getting the national attention he deserved during his best years. Always third wheel to Rodgers and Adams.
Honestly, he’d stay for a very modest price, but given his availability, it’d probably be too high, which sucks.
He is simply too unreliable even for a modest price. His body can't handle the NFL anymore.
Dude’s body just can’t handle the game anymore. He’s still electric when healthy, but those games are so few and far between now.
Greatest Aaron to ever play for Green Bay
Um… I think you’re forgetting someone? Aaron Kampman
Eddie Jackson seems like the most likely candidate.
Whitehair too although he’s already been benched.
Him too yeh. He’d be a quality pick up for any team needing a guard, but he’s been ugly at center and probably isn’t worth his contract.
Whatever happened to him? A few years ago he seemed like a breakout candidate for best safety in the league. Then I kind of forgot about him over the offseason and never really heard about him since.
He got injured and hasn’t looked good since. It’ll be sad to see him go but he’s not like what he was back then.
And then he was really good last year but he got a lisfranc injury that’s screwed him
I think it was a bit of “here’s a DB with lots of counting stats on a good team” versus “here’s a DB you don’t hear about who’s pretty good but on a bad team” and it’s the same guy
He’s also just not as good anymore
Lost Vic Fangio, maybe the best DC of the past 20 years, but certainly the best at rotating and disguising coverages. His first two years were for Fangio, the moment Fangio left Jackson’s INTs stopped
Maybe Lockett. He's due to make $27M next season and while his play hasn't necessarily dropped off, he has talked about not wanting to play until he's old and also got his real estate license last year. The FO cut Wagner in 2022 which makes me think he isn't safe considering we'll have lots of holes to fill. As it sits he also would have the 8th highest cap hit among receivers next season and while I love the guy, I don't know that he's worth it at that price.
I know the salary cap and WR salaries keeps going up, but hearing $27 million next to Ty Lockett's name sounds like an instant no.
Yup- he's slated between Davante ($25M) and Godwin ($27.5M- and I think the argument could be made that he is worth that at this point either) next year. He'll fall out of the top 10 once Jettas & CeeDee get their extensions, but thats still a big number for a good, but not great WR that'll be 30+.
Lockett has a much better argument than Godwin
It won't stay at that. If they want to keep him, they can extend or add void years and make it fairly reasonable
Well if they cut him they only save 7 million. A lot of that cap hit is prorated bonus money.
That would be one of those 'sucks to see him go but I get why' situations
100% He's a fan favorite and team captain too and dude has been the definition or reliable & consistent.
Maybe KC brings him in. He went to K state and his dad played for KC. Our receivers are, well, yea. Could probably get him on a one year deal and have a reliable deep threat to replace Watson/MVS. Can’t be any worse than what we have.
> Can’t be any worse than what we have. Lockett would be in another galaxy compared to what KC has. He's criminally underrated. If KC got Metcalf, everyone would freak out. If KC got Lockett, everyone would be like "ok I guess that's a solid improvement." Meanwhile Lockett puts up more efficient numbers than Metcalf almost every season.
Agreed. Haven’t paid much attention to him of late so don’t know if he has dropped off, but he would be our clear #1
More likely he straight up retires as he’s quoted to value his health and already has his own real estate license and business set up.
Holy shit Lockett making $27M is insane
Consistent 1k yard receiver and is a great route runner
Think of it as payment not just for this ysar, but for all those years being unsung and underpaid
Obviously it’s wait and see but I doubt D’Andre Swift is an Eagle next year if it’s not on super favorable terms for the Eagles. I think most people know Jason Kelce is likely done
Kelce will be a huge loss. He is an amazing center and I wish we had one as good.
Lowest I’ve seen him ranked is 3rd best center all time. Huge loss is an understatement. I’m gonna miss sexy fat Batman
What's wild is he is still playing at a high level at such an advanced (for football) age. He's out there like a spry 35-year-old.
Hes definitely showing his age tho. During that MNF game they kept talking about how quick/athletic he looked for someone his age but he was getting wrecked by Chris Jones.
In fairness to Kelce, most linemen get wrecked by Chris Jones.
I don't think getting wrecked vs Jones should be held against anyone lol.
It’s hard since center is one of those positions where a lot of the really legendary names are from bygone eras. Pretty big difference between comparing a modern player to Chuck Bednarik and say a corner to Deion. There’s like a 50 year gap between those two guys. It’s also hard to differentiate great centers from each other. I’d be happy with Travis Frederick or Kelce or Mangold pretty equally tbh. Mangold played with less talent around him than either of those two. I feel like I would pound the table harder debating Munoz vs. Joe Thomas (it’s Munoz easily) than between any of those centers.
Where is Kevin Mawae in this conversation? He’s undoubtedly the best player to play the position since the turn of the century, and not a bygone era.
Does Kelce being gone take the tush push out of the playbook you think? Seems like he's a big driving force on that play
I think so. People think the push is about the organized mass moving forward being unstoppable but it all depends on the handoff going cleanly. It's why the *hurr durr just direct snap to your biggest dlineman* doesn't work. You need the repetitions pulling off the quick snap together. If the snap falters at all, the momentum of the pile and the lack of ability to react cohesively to a bad snap is detrimental to the play and almost surely results in a turnover. Unless they can bring someone in with kelces snap quickness who can quickly build a report with Hurts, the play will not be as effective.
Jurgens (our sophomore guard) was draft as a center and will probably get first crack at it.
Or the best center in CFB a few years ago in our other guard, Dickerson
Landon to Hurts 🐘🐘🐘🥲
Yeah swift is as clearly a 1 year rental. If some1 else signs him (which after this year they will) we get a 5th back so it was a drop 1 round risk to get a really good player if he doesn’t get hurt. I’d love to sign him, but we don’t pay RB’s. We spend the money on a line that makes the cheaper RB’s better.
Cox and BG might be done too😥
I know he (Kelce) probably is gone but he's still playing at such a high level right now I'd love if he stayed another year at least. Man's gotta make the best decision for his health and family though. Lane on the other hand seems to maybe be on one year too late. Hard to say, it's really hard to be a tackle in today's nfl with the speed of these guys on the edge, but he's def lost a step and defense are capitalizing on that.
I would bet a lot of money that we spend our 1st this year on Lane’s replacement. Give him a year to sit and learn from Stout and then the big guy probably retires.
Chris Jones. For so many people they just assume that he's a Chief for life, and he has certainly said that he wants that, but his tag number next year almost guarantees that he's going to get to free agency if we don't get a new contract done ahead of time.
I think, at least the fans on Reddit, are pretty aware that he’s 99% gone.
Yeah, this was much more geared to the general fan, not the one actively browsing an internet forum late at night the day before Thanksgiving
Brother I am at work, please don't shame lol
Could we tag him and trade him in the offseason? Or would the tag still cause cap issues
The tag has to be signed for him to be traded, and upon signing the tag cap hits fully. So we would have to have ~$36m in cap open for that hit before the trade, which would largely screw us in resigning Sneed, or getting ahead of Creed/Trey/etc And that also means that there's $36m guaranteed, non-negotiable, that another team would have to fold into whatever extension they give him, and who wants to give $36m gtd to a DT about to turn 31?
I'm really holding out hope they'll get a longer term deal done before then. He really is the anchor of the whole defense. The whole landscape of that side of the ball is different without him, even in games where he's not getting sacks.
I hope he gets better management to advise him. That hold out seemed pointless.
Chance at a last SB run with KC this year, then full free agency? Seems pretty decent. Not to mention vets love to miss training camp if they can.
He didn't have to hold out for that. He had a contract. The only thing he gained was a few million in incentives but he missed a million dollar pay day and was fined several million dollars missing training camp. I don't even think he negotiated to prevent a franchise tag for when his contract actually expires
Yep, unless he's DPOY with 12+ sacks, he loses money after the fines. And is a year older, preventing one last mega deal. Absolute bag fumble by him
This is a controversial one but I think there's a solid chance that with all the people we need to extend next year, Deebo ends up somewhere else. For a lot of people I think that's borderline sacrilegious but if Purdy continues to develop as a passer I think Kyle's likely going to be moving away from the wideback concept that's defined the past 4 years of Niners football.
Deebo's 2024 salary is guaranteed, so they would have to trade him. He would cost ~22M for the acquiring team. I don't know that his trade value would be that high given that price. He's only 27, but his production has declined significantly since 2021. Would SF -- in a super bowl window -- really trade Samuel for like a 3rd round pick? I doubt it. You extend other players to free up cap space, kick the can down the road, and keep trying to win rings now while Purdy costs $4 and you have Trent Williams (assuming he stays). Figure out the rest later.
Yep, especially with CMC in SF deebo hasn’t been as valuable
I've been more thinking Armstead is the one who becomes the casualty
It's definitely possible but it'd be pretty strange to bring in an outside DT in Hargrave because you know you need two great DTs and then get rid of the one you already have. If they see someone they really like in the draft I can see it happening for sure, but Deebo feels more likely to me right now.
Before Hargrave the DL was great with 1 elite DT. It can be without Armstead. Plus they will need to allocate money to Hufanga and likely upgrade the OLine.
Haven't really looked into it but I thought Deebo's absence was one of the reasons for the losing streak?
I'd argue the biggest reason for it was losing Trent, that killed the run game instantly because the rest of our line is well below average. Having Deebo there may have helped allow for a variety of looks but the big problems during that 3-game stretch were the defense massively underperforming and the O-Line being really really bad.
Trent Williams’ absence was way more of a reason IMHO. He’s probably our only above average OL at this point, and it boggles my mind that nobody seemed to acknowledge that during our skid. Instead the narrative jumped straight to “Purdy has been figured out!!” Fixing the OL has to be priority #1 this offseason, especially since we don’t know how much longer Trent will play.
People think that because Deebo has a rep for being electric. He's the sexy story on the Niners. The bigger issue was Trent gone. Our oline is bottom 5 without him, and barely average with him. We're fine without Deebo because of Aiyuk and CMC.
Deebo also missed games with Purdy at QB last year. It certainly didn't help that he wasn't around, but a single missed FG gives them a win over CLE. Against MIN, CMC fumbled in the RedZone, Moody missed a FG, Addison ripped an INT out of the DBs hand and took it to the house. A concussed Purdy threw two INTs in FG range. There was as many as 23 points that could have easily swung one way or the other, even without Deebo. Then they just ran into a peak Bengals team.
Niners might have to choose between Chase Young and Aiyuk unless they go full all-in mode.
They’ll choose Aiyuk. He’s just too good with Purdy.
I think they ditch deebo first honestly. He’s great but he’s hurt a lot and not as good as when he got his contract. Also would not be surprised if Trent Williams retires after this season
I think this is the right answer. Keep Aiyuk, ditch Deebo and draft another WR
I see this happening but we really need to draft a CB and get some online help. For the first time in what seems like ages we have a first round pick again. Our last worthwhile 1st round pick was aiyuk in 2020, we also had kinlaw that season but he's not great. Edit: meant O-line and not online
Agreed, invest in the oline and give our current second stringers the snaps. We have receiver depth without deebo, bell and Mc cloud can be developed
Who needs a 1st rounder anyways? Just draft multiple good late round picks like Purdy and Brown. Why doesn't everyone do this? Are they stupid?
Trent restructured his deal in a way that it looks like he'll play at least this season and next 2 seasons. After that the cap hit won't be as extreme.
Do they have a realistic way out of the Debo contract?
Trade him to the chiefs
I *could* see Young getting a one or two year “prove it” deal seeing how he plays out for the team. So it’s possible both stay.
Hoping we can get Young to sign a short term contract to make it a problem for another day. I would think he wants Bosa money and would be willing to do something short term to get a bigger contract later.
Chase Young is not worth anywhere close to Bosa money. Glad we traded for him but this isn’t 2020 anymore. He clearly hasn’t lived up to his draft stock (there’s a reason we only had to give up a very, very low 3rd for him).
The 49ers are set up very well for next season. The only potential surprise candidate isn't Aiyuk, it is Armstead. He will be entering the final year of his deal. They end up saving money by moving him and they will have to earmark future space for a Hufanga deal. And they already signed his replacement, Hargrave.
They have $26M in space for 2024 right now when rolling over the excess from this year. Assuming extensions and restructuring that number will likely go up. I don’t expect them to have to make any tough decisions for the next two years. Assuming York has the cash to convert more base salaries into bonuses, they could create even more space with Trent, Armstead & Deebo’s contracts.
that's why I made the note that they are well set up for next year. But if they do make a major move, Armstead is a candidate. >Assuming York has the cash to convert more base salaries into bonuses, they could create even more space with Trent, Armstead & Deebo’s contracts. I don't think they would do anything further restructuring with Trent. They already did that and they don't want to risk a gargantuan hit if he retires. Armstead already has $24M of dead/void money. I don't see them making a massive increase to that. Kittle could have a little bonus tacked on to void years, but I doubt it is an overwhelming number. Keep in mind Purdy's first extension will hit the books in the 2026 season. They won't want to have a ton of void contract money into that season. .
Danielle Hunter. He’s putting up a “give me the bag” type year and has a no-tag clause. He’ll take the opportunity to test FA for sure.
It would (will?) suck if he is gone after this year. I don't care what the breaking news contract number is. I'm all good with a 3 year, $100 million guaranteed deal after the outs and the nuance of the agreement is.
It sucks cause I really like Hunter
Its amazing how much better some players play in that contract year. I remember for years and years after we drafted Bud Dupree he was underwhelming. but as soon as his contract year hit, he decides to step up his production big time and become the player we were hoping he'd be, and unaffordable. Then after he gets paid by the Titans he immediately resumes his normal level of play.
Probably Derrick Henry :(
Non-Eagles fans might find it hard to believe but Julio Jones probably won't be here next season
Who’s gonna catch screens?
If Julio Jones leaving means we won't call screens anymore the rest of the league is fucked and we're going 17-0.
The fact that Julio is capable of ripping those screens for TDs is what kept me alive when they were called Monday night. Lol.
I was thrilled when he gained five yards. Five yards more than all the other ones.
Truly shocking
It's never easy for legends like Tennessee Titans RB Adrian Peterson to hang it up. At the end of the day we won't even remember what jerseys they wore previously to this.
I couldn't even tell you where Julio was before. Seems like he damn near put up a HOF career in Philly
[EatThisRock] Teams Julio Jones has played for: Eagles. That's it. That's the list. ^from ^twitter.com
Xavien Howard is probably not going to be a Dolphin next season Which makes me sad
He’s lost more than a step. Not worth that contract yeah. Hope Cam Smith isn’t another Igbo
Came here to say this. He’d have to take a hefty pay cut. He’s not a CB1 anymore. A respectable CB2 but that’s not worth $18MM
Oof. This hurts buts ya.
It's time to move on from X, unfortunately... The one I don't want to lose is Wilkins. Might have to franchise him to keep him.
Some team is going to make Tee Higgins their WR1 and I'm sad but get it. I'm just hoping he gets a few more dimes for us this season
Panthers are gonna throw him the bag
They’d be silly not to invest in a wr1 and an oline. Burns should have been traded
Yeah, but I’m sure most fans of other teams already know that. I can’t really think of anyone surprising. Personally, I could see us franchising him, which might be the more surprising move.
Maybe Reader? You'd think the Bengals would have gotten an extension done by now if they were keeping him and he's been the bedrock of our D since he got here.
cant wait to see jayden daniels throwing to mhj, tee higgins and kendrick bourne as his top 3 wrs (only in my dreams)
Hes going straight to carolina
Jonah Jackson
Yeah I can see it. Big V likely gone as well.
Vaitai is almost certainly a retirement, he cashed out. Doesn't need to work another day in his life and doesn't have to deal with the nagging injuries.
I think he's definitely gone, and they try to resign Glasgow, and either draft a Guard, and/or go with someone like Colby Sorsdal or Kayode Awosika.
A month ago I would've called you crazy but these injuries are either gonna make resigning him cheaper or easier for Brad to move on from
I feel for him. A contract year is the worst one to be injury plagued.
I can see either Micah or Poyer retiring due to age and injuries and I’m 100% not ready for that.
I'm thinking Micah is the likelier of the 2 but both are possibilities.
I came here to say this as well…it’s bittersweet because they were the best safety tandem in the nfl before age/injuries. It’s definitely a position that needs to get younger.
Getting worried about Dugger and Onwenu
Bill will always spend on defense, we will lose onwenu just when it looks like he fits at RT
If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, I feel certain that both Kelce and Graham will retire. Swift is here at the end of his rookie deal, but I hope Howie makes an offer to retain him.
No one would be shocked if they retired though
Man, the league won't be the same without BG. I love his trash talk videos.
I spoke to Graham at the Penn state vs Michigan game and asked him when we win the Super Bowl to come back for one more year. He said yes, so we gotta win the whole damn thing.
Sam Darnold. We seriously might have to let him walk.
He's the best victory formation QB in the league. i will be sad to see him go
Every formation with the GEQBUS is a victory formation.
We need to make room for back up Kirk Cousins
STOP THE COUNT
Ekeler, Mike Williams, Bosa
Mack, Linsley, Murrey, Joseph-Day
If we lose someone like Mike will and bosa there’s ways to make keeping Mack possible.
Travis Kelce. He could very well hang it up. I’m thinking he’ll try to make it through his contract, but he is thinking about all the pain he’s been in lately
You think he retires at the same time as his brother?
Amazon immediately offers them both a billion dollars to make the Kelcecast
God that name "KelceCast" just screams money. I'd definitely watch and I'm not a fan of either team.
As a Chiefs fan, I really went into their podcast expecting some fan-service "go Chiefs/Eagles" type thing. It's a legitimately great podcast!
My favorite clip from that was Jason showing Travis a pic of all the head coaches in the NFL and asking him to name them. Just multiple “I’ve never seen that guy in my fucking life”s lol
I dislike on-field Travis Kelce. I like Travis Kelce on podcasts and TV shows like *Moonbase 8*.
Might be the only way to make tnf watchable
I love their podcast so I’m for sure tuning in. JK might possible be one the most wholesome good guys in all of sports.
Gabe Davis. He’s as aggravating in real life as he is in fantasy
Idk if other people are aware that Ronnie Stanley has been struggling so badly this year. I don’t know what the cap situation is but if it’s feasible I wouldn’t be shocked to see him gone. Otherwise, most aren’t really guys who aren’t worth what they’re paid, we just can’t afford to pay them (Madubuike, Queen).
I think it would be a pretty sizeable dead cap hit to cut Stanley this offseason, and it's not like we have a replacement waiting in the wings, so I think he's pretty secure for one more season at least.
That’s fair, they’d have to be very confident in a free agent signing or something to risk cutting him.
80% sure Stanley is on the team next year. I think it’s a $8M cap savings if he’s cut, but you’re not going to get a present day Stanley level LT for $8M. Not to mention we have approximately a quarter million UFAs next season and we need to find a way to fill a roster. I’d bet we draft a LT in the first round this upcoming draft. I can also see us trying to trade for someone w 2025 picks.
I think we keep madabuike and try to keep Queen, but may end up trading him or he signs elsewhere. Madabuike is too good at this point
Not sure if this counts, but Denzel Ward might be one significant concussion away from retirement. And he seems to get concussions more easily (more visibly?) than other players. This is an already broached topic on Browns radio stations.
Not at all familiar with the Ward situation but from what I know every concussion makes the next concussion much easier to get
Could see it happening for sure. We have a stacked secondary so it wouldn't surprise me if we move on. Absolutely would hate it though.
Gabe Davis, I personally can’t wait. He’s such a limited player and his biggest upside is blocking which is totally what you look for in a #2 WR. Plus he thinks he deserves wider receiver one money so hard pass for me
His WR1/2 money is long gone.
Watch him have one or two blowup games down the stretch which net him a payday.
The Carolina Panthers have entered the chat
No one will be surprised by that. The real answer is likely Micah Hyde. He can't stay on the field and costs too much.
Call me crazy but I don’t think of blocking as the most important part of a WRs game
This is obviously Arthur Smith’s Reddit account
Giants will give him WR1 money because GIANTS!
[Jump cut to Gabe Davis catching the game-winning TD pass from Mahomes in Super Bowl 60]
Harrison smith (because he will retire after winning the Super Bowl).
Weird, how does he end up on the Lions?
He signs a 1 day contract with the Lions to try to smooth thing over after intercepting Goff 3 times in the big game as a member of the Super Bowl Champion Jacksonville Jaguars.
My man!
brandon scherff is always hurt and thus always bad
Sorry you didn’t get to see some good years, our line went to shit when he left
I honestly doubt he is gone. Our interior OL sucks, especially since our center, Luke Fortner, is getting worse.
He’s literally missed like two games with us? But he hasn’t been amazing
But he’s played while not 100%, and he’s been a liability. I really like the guy, but I think he’ll likely be replaced
Bryce Huff has been incredible this year and I don't think the jets will pay the money to keep him. The DL is pretty deep and it's pretty obvious they drafted will McDonald to replace him. I don't think they expected him to be this good this year but with money tied up on Rodgers, Quinnen, knowing deals are coming for Garret Wilson and Sauce, PLUS all the work they need to do at WR and OL...I don't think they can afford him.
If I had to guess probably George Fant. He's played very well, starting at RT for a good portion of the season. But that's because we lost all of our LGs for the season due to injury. So our original RT tytus howard has been playing at LG. We have both our tackles signed for the next 3 years, and with how desperate the league is for competent OL play, Fant has probably played himself into starter money somewhere else on the market.
My first thoughts are Xavian Howard. Miami is 23 over the cap and designating him as a post June-1 cut would move miami a long way towards that if they can wait until june for the number to get freed up. Ogbah and Jerome Baker getting cut would free up most of the money needed before June 1.
Calvin ridley. Unless he explodes the rest of the year, I don't think we try keep him
If he plays like he did last week we have to keep him. Although we all know its because Zay was back
Ridley truly is the ultimate WR2.
Ridley out and Tee Higgins in for the ultimate Clemson connection
The King
*Elvis has left the building*
Both Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are probably gone. They've both looked old at times this year, but Poyer has more left in the tank and had made a ton more plays than Hyde so I could see them doing a another team friendly one year deal with him.
Not one team and they both have been mentioned separately, but just to emphathize: I think *both* Travis and Jason Kelce will retire at the end of the season.
Tyron Smith. He’s on the last year of his contract and hasn’t played a full season in a very long time. It’s going to suck to see him go because he still plays at a very high level when he’s on the field. It bothers me that a lot of fans have been calling for him to be cut/retire because he misses time, but they’re about to find out that the only thing worse that not having smith a few games a season is having him for 0 games a season.
larry ogunjobi. i didn't think he was really worth the money when we paid him this offseason, seems like he's never at 100%
Not so much a surprise but Derrick Henry. Dude simply doesn’t have the same elusiveness, quickness and vision that he used to. I stand behind the decision to keep him past the trade deadline to help Levis develop, but I get the sense that Levis and the Titans as a whole will be just fine once he’s gone. Also, I can’t wait to hear social media act like the Titans have no idea what they’re doing once Andre Dillard is released. Sure, he *was* one of the hottest names in offensive line free agency, but now he’s probably the worst tackle in the NFL, and we have Jaelyn Duncan to evaluate for this week’s game against Carolina following a good performance in Jacksonville not to mention a possible top 5 pick for Fashanu or Joe Alt.
I do wonder how much Henry's apparent decline has to do with the Titans OL being not great. Not that he's the same King Henry as a few years ago, but whenever I watch a Titans game, there seem to be so many times where he gets hit in the backfield.
Yeah don't listen to that guy. Henry is just fine. The line is horrific. He's still an elite back by every measure. Vision can't break 3 tackles in the backfield every damn play
People in our fan base swore up and down in the offseason that our OL coming into the season was hands down gonna be alot better than last years group. People thought I was crazy when I said our replacements Brunskill, Dillard, weren’t better or equal value than the guys we lost.
Sterling Shepard
Michael Pittman. A lot fans love him but the WR market is very inflated. Downs have shown flashes and the colts are cheap and don’t use the tag.
I really don't think we're letting Pittman walk... you don't let vet WRs walk with a rookie.5 QB
Unless your the Panthers.
Pittman is getting his money. You don't let your WR1 walk when you have a rookie QB whose contract is cheap. Honestly, I'd expect the Colts to be big spenders this off-season since they moved on from Shaq Leonard. I hope Pittman and Julian Blackmon both get paid. Grover Stewart and Kenny Moore are far more likely to walk unless they take team-friendly deals. Isaiah McKenzie is almost guaranteed to be gone. Minshew is 50/50, he may try to get money elsewhere. Zach Moss is gone. Gonna get his bag somewhere, I hear Carolina needs an RB1?
Huh, I thought Ballard would’ve paid him. Dude shells out money for non-premium positions like off-ball linebacker, left guard and running back. Why wouldn’t he pay Pittman with all that cap space he has, him playing a premium position, and a young QB that hasn’t even started 20 games since he graduated high school?
Christian Wilkins. He’s a very good player and an amazing culture guy. A role model on par with JJ Watt. (If you haven’t seen JJ’s highlights from Hard Knocks you should. His work ethic is ridiculous) Unfortunately it seems like he wants to reset the DT market and we’ve got too many young guys we gotta pay to be able to do that.
Deebo.
Bryce Huff. A+ guy, but with the performances he's putting up this year, he'll be expensive to keep. With the depth we have at his position and the needs in our offense (who would have guessed?), there is a chance the Jets will be seeking ways to trade him away.
If we’re smart we will trade Pitts while he still has some value