49ers notebook: Major free agents face uncertainty, but say they want to return
While the Super Bowl loss over the weekend remained fresh in their minds, three of the 49ers’ key free agents heading into the offseason said they were open to returning to defend the NFC crown in 2020.
“I love the Niners organization, so we’re going to see what’s to happen,” receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. “Truthfully, I have no thought process with it right now, coming off the Super Bowl loss. I’m just trying to grieve that and enjoy being around the fellas right now.”
Sanders, along with defensive lineman Arik Armstead and free safety Jimmie Ward, all had good things to say about the team that made a surprise trip to the Super Bowl after going 4-12 last season.
Armstead, who’s from Elk Grove and played in high school at Pleasant Grove, could be a franchise tag candidate after a career season in his fifth year.
He led San Francisco’s imposing defensive front with 10 sacks during the regular season, more than his previous four seasons combined, and could be a coveted player on the open market. He’s was one of the most versatile defensive linemen in the league, excelling both off the edge as a run defender and an interior pass rusher.
“I would love to be here, I’m from Northern California,” Armstead told The Bee. “I’ve been here my whole career. I would love to be here and play for this team. We’ve built something special here. So to fight to get back to another Super Bowl.”
Players were solemn and still broken up about losing a 10-point fourth quarter lead to the Chiefs on Sunday. Many watched tape of the game multiple times to see what they did wrong. Ward said he watched it 10 times, “over and over.”
“But I can’t reminisce on it all offseason,” Ward said. “I just got to continue to get better to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Said Sanders: “I’ve watched it five or six times. For some reason, you watch a movie, it’s like watching the Titanic, and you hope the ship just don’t sink. And for some reason, the ship just keeps sinking over and over.”
Ward is entering the offseason with uncertainty for the second in a row. He was a free agent this time last winter coming off another stint on injured reserve after playing mostly cornerback. He was re-signed on an affordable one-year, $4.5 million contract and had the best season of his career at his natural position of free safety.
He reiterated Wednesday he wants to stick at free safety and his preference would be to stay with the team that drafted him in the first round of 2014.
“But I really don’t know. The 49ers, they have the upper hand right now,” Ward said. “This is where I would like to be at, like to continue playing for this organization. (But) there’s a lot of great guys on this offense and defense. You got to lock some guys up.”
The players Ward was eluding to include tight end George Kittle and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who are eligible for new deals even though they’re under contract for next season. Kittle will likely become the highest-paid tight end in the NFL, but deflected any questions about his contract status Wednesday, telling reporters to ask his agent.
Sanders, meanwhile, will turn 33 in March. He had 36 catches for 502 yards and three touchdowns in 10 regular season games after being acquired in a trade Oct. 22 for third- and fourth-round picks in the upcoming draft. But he might be out of San Francisco’s price range if the team ends up inking their younger players to new contracts. Sanders said he expects the 49ers to contend again next season.
“I really enjoy this organization,” Sanders said, “everyone from top to the bottom.”
The team might look to the draft to address the position if Sanders doesn’t return. Additionally, reinforcements could be coming next year in the form of Trent Taylor and Jalen Hurd, who both missed the entire season with foot and back injuries, respectively.
Trent Taylor on the mend after five surgeries
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said early in the season Taylor had the best training camp of any player on offense. But Taylor didn’t play a snap this season after sustaining a Jones fracture in his right foot that required five surgeries because of a series of complications.
”It really sucks to have to be on the sidelines and watch, watch everybody have a great season like we had this year and me not have anything to do (with) it,” Taylor said Wednesday. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I hurt myself, but to just kind of have it taken away from me, it made it suck that much worse.”
Taylor had a screw put into his foot before the first preseason game with the hope of returning in September. But the screw didn’t heal the foot correctly and a new screw was inserted. Then he had an infection, a surgery to clean out the infection, a fourth procedure to insert an antibiotic tool into the foot, and a final operation to have it removed.
After that long ordeal, Taylor’s foot remains in a boot, though the infection is gone. He plans on resuming rehab exercises in the coming weeks but his time frame to return to football-related activities is uncertain. He said he plans to remain in the Bay Area during the offseason for rehab.