What’s worth watching in the 49ers’ final three games? Key rookies and free agents
Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Cowboys was supposed to be one of the biggest of the year.
It was supposed to feature two marquee franchises with Super Bowl aspirations scheduled to play on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, serving as the premier game of the Week 15 slate.
Instead, both teams lost their starting quarterbacks to injuries, are 9-17 combined and the game has been flexed to the 10 a.m. slot on the West Coast in favor of the Browns and Giants (seriously). That game will be a matchup of two playoff teams, while San Francisco vs. Dallas will not, even though 49ers players have talked about winning the final three games to keep their postseason chances alive as a source of motivation.
“I haven’t really thought at all about playoffs,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday, despite his team not being eliminated just yet. “It’s important to me that we play better. There’s a certain standard that we expect. No matter what your excuses are, I know we can play better than we have these last two weeks and that’s really all I’ve talked about (with the players).”
The 49ers and Cowboys have disappointing, injury-riddled seasons in common. In San Francisco’s case, it’s been difficult to derive many important takeaways from Shanahan’s fourth year at the helm, other than the team being unable to survive the onslaught of injuries to many of its best players.
But there are some things to keep an eye on for San Francisco as this forgettable season winds down. So let’s go through the important things to watch Sunday and the following two games against the Cardinals and Seahawks as the 49ers gear up for an eventful offseason.
Free agent watch
The 49ers have some key decisions to make at some of the most important positions. Mullens and third-string quarterback C.J. Beathard are both free agents in the spring, leaving Shanahan and his personnel department to decide the best course of action irrespective of the Jimmy Garoppolo situation.
Is Mullens worth bringing back on a contract that would likely be more expensive than a draftee? Is Beathard worth sticking with at all after getting drafted in the third round only to be passed up by Mullens, an undrafted rookie? Perhaps the final three games will help color the team’s decision come the spring, particularly if Beathard gets thrown into action and Mullens get benched for turning the ball over.
Then there’s the situation with Trent Williams at left tackle, who could set the market at one of the most expensive positions in the game. Richard Sherman posited recently Williams will cost over $20 million per season, joining Texans tackle Laremy Tunsil as the only tackles in the league making north of $20 million per season. Surely Williams is worth it and should be the team’s top priority in free agency, but that’s a lot of money for a team that’s already stretched thin under a likely shrinking salary cap.
Which then leads to the situation in the secondary. Exactly none of the 49ers’ cornerbacks that started the season are signed for 2021. Sherman, Jason Verrett, K’Waun Williams, Emmanuel Moseley (restricted) and Ahkello Witherspoon are unsigned, as is strong safety Jaquiski Tartt.
Sherman has said he thinks his time for San Francisco is over after the season because the team has to pay Williams and linebacker Fred Warner, which would take up the majority of the roughly $30 million cap space available.
Moseley seems likely to come back while Sherman and Williams may be out of San Francisco’s price range. Witherspoon might not be wanted back after going from promising starter earlier in his career to healthy scratch in the second half of this season. The 49ers might have Tartt’s replacement in house with Tarvarius Moore, who hasn’t missed a game the last three seasons while Tartt will have missed 21.
The Verrett decision will be an interesting one. He’s played at a Pro Bowl level in 2020 but his injury history hasn’t just vanished. Perhaps that will make him more affordable. The question becomes, will the 49ers be able to upgrade at the spot on the other side of the field? Would they trust a highly-drafted rookie to start or would they have to pay the market rate for a veteran?
There’s other key players without contracts too, like fullback Kyle Jusczyk, receiver Kendrick Bourne and nose tackle D.J. Jones. Juszczyk said this week there have been preliminary talks with Shanahan about coming back. Bourne has been a solid No. 3 receiver but he might get squeezed out of the financial picture. Jones might not have much of a market while he’s dealt with ankle issues for the last two seasons.
Finally, the team’s sack leader, Kerry Hyder, and Ronald Blair III, the popular backup, are both slated for free agency at the premium defensive end spot. Has Hyder played his way out of San Francisco’s price range? Would he be willing to take a discount to stay with defensive line coach Kris Kocurek? Blair likely won’t play this season after having a setback in his recovery from last year’s ACL tear. That doesn’t clear up his future, either.
Rookie development
Receiver Brandon Aiyuk has been one of the very few bright spots for the 49ers this season. He needs 268 yards over his final three games to break Jerry Rice’s franchise rookie receiving record — and 340 yards to break 1,000. Reaching those totals would be particularly impressive since the Arizona State alum missed three games this season.
He’s been coming on of late with 495 yards and 36 catches over his last five games. But it sounds like both he and Shanahan thinks there’s meat left on the bone and Aiyuk can be sharper all around. He could be in for a productive three games to end his first season.
The other first-round pick, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, has shown promise in different ways. He doesn’t match Aiyuk in counting stats (1.5 sacks, 31 tackles, two tackles for loss), but Kinlaw has put together a solid rookie season. He’s a rare 49er that hasn’t missed a game and he’s second among 2020 draftees with 19 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, behind Carolina’s Derrick Brown.
Kinlaw is no DeForest Buckner, and he shouldn’t be expected to replicate Buckner’s presence, but he could develop into a Pro Bowler in his own right. Making the most of his rookie season will be key in getting there.
Roster needs solidifying
The 49ers have a lot of pressing needs if they want to contend for a Super Bowl next season.
At first glance, the team should be preparing to add contributors at cornerback, defensive end and the interior of the offensive line. And that’s before the possibility of losing Williams in free agency or making the franchise-altering decision to move on from Garoppolo.
The team might not know how much it can invest in the secondary until it gets contracts done with Williams and Warner, which would put cornerback in play for the early rounds of the draft. But that’s also where the 49ers could be looking for a pass rusher to play opposite Nick Bosa while it appears Dee Ford’s time with San Francisco will be coming to an end. Luckily, the upcoming draft class is believed to be teeming with edge defenders.
The 49ers will start their fourth options at both center and right guard on Sunday when Daniel Brunskill plays next to Justin Skule. It doesn’t look like San Francisco can count on Weston Richburg to play next season after having two significant leg injuries in two seasons. That could leave a big void that needs filling, either with another pricey free agent or prominent draft pick. Don’t be surprised if the 49ers look for centers and guards in the draft.
Of course the Garoppolo situation is what’s overshadowing everything. For now, the most likely scenario is him returning while Shanahan and general manager John Lynches hopes the team can recapture what it had in 2019. But clearly there’s a lot of work to be done in the meantime.
