49ers OTAs preview: What we’re watching for in practice, with an eye out for Julio Jones
The 49ers are in their second week of offseason team activities, known as Phase 2, meaning veterans will be on the field, in the weight room and in meetings at the team’s Santa Clara facility.
Reporters will be on hand for Tuesday’s session, which will look similar to a training camp practice, minus the pads and full-contact drills. Per league rules, seven-on-seven, nine-on-nine and 11-on-11 work is permitted.
So what are will be the key things we’ll be keeping our eyes on? Let’s break them down.
The Julio Jones shadow over Santa Clara
The news of the NFL world this week focused on Falcons receiver Julio Jones, who said FOX Sports 1’s “Undisputed” Monday morning he’s expecting to leave the Atlanta Falcons via trade this offseason. NFL Network later reported Jones asked the Falcons for a trade “months ago.”
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan will speak to reporters after Tuesday’s practice. He’ll likely get peppered with questions about the idea of adding Jones, and he’ll likely say something about looking into every avenue to improve every position on the roster. That’s was the company line when San Francisco considered trading for Odell Beckham Jr. in 2019 and just about every other big name that has been on the trade market since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017.
But there are a few key differences between the Beckham situation and the current one with Jones, which might make acquiring him more palatable and perhaps more realistic.
The Falcons are reportedly looking for a first-round pick in a Jones trade (which the Giants got for Beckham). But getting that seems unlikely given Jones’ age (32) and the fact he’s coming off a season in which he appeared in nine games because of a hamstring injury, the second-fewest of his career (he was limited to five in 2013 because of a foot injury). It’s more likely a trade package for Jones would be centered around a second-round pick.
The 49ers, who traded their next two first-round picks to trade up for Trey Lance, still have their second-round picks for the foreseeable future. They’ve been willing to trade picks in Round 2 for Jimmy Garoppolo and Dee Ford in the past, and traded multiple midround picks for receiver Emmanuel Sanders in 2019 and Trent Williams last year.
A Jones trade falls in the same bucket: acquire a productive veteran without mortgaging the future. Trading for Beckham likely would have required the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft. That was used on Nick Bosa, of course, who turned into a transformational player on a Super Bowl defense. Beckham has been anything but transformational for the Browns since his arrival.
Jones is set to make $15.3 million in base salary in 2021 and $11.51 in each of the following seasons. His bonuses will remain on the Falcons salary cap — and he only has $2 million in guarantees for 2022 and no guarantees in 2023. The 49ers, who have roughly $17.7 million in cap space (before signing their top three draft choices) would have some financial maneuvering to do before absorbing Jones’ $15.3 million, but it wouldn’t be impossible.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s $24 million base salary will come off the books before 2022, allowing the team to sign linebacker Fred Warner to his lucrative extension. And Bosa and Deebo Samuel are due for new contracts that would likely take effect in 2023, when the salary cap is expected to rebound following the pandemic dip in 2020 and 2021 (Bosa and Samuel have been healthy and productive for one of their two seasons, respectively, so the 49ers would be wise to wait before committing to pay them top-of-the-market rates).
Don’t expect the Jones chatter to die down any time soon, especially with Shanahan likely to answer the question about his former receiver he coached at his previous stop with the Falcons when he was the offensive coordinator. According to PointsBet, San Francisco is the betting favorite to land Jones now that it’s clear he’s on the move.
Trey Lance vs. Jimmy Garoppolo
It’s clear the 49ers are going to move on from Garoppolo and put Lance in the driver’s seat. The question is: when?
A strong performance in OTAs will set the stage for all the looming position battles that will take place in training camp. But it’s also worth pointing out a key financial decision like adding Jones could affect the team’s thinking surrounding Garoppolo.
Put simply, if Lance plays well, shows he knows the offense and earns the trust of the coaching staff and teammates, perhaps Shanahan would feel more comfortable moving Garoppolo and his $24 million salary elsewhere sooner rather than later, which would create the necessary cap space to trade for Jones, sign Warner to his extension and role over more cap room into 2022 that could be used for future contracts.
Moving on from Garoppolo would mean Lance could get 100% of the training camp reps without having to split them and erase any quarterback drama heading into the season.
That scenario has plenty of risk. Lance hasn’t played in multiple games since 2019 with North Dakota State and Garoppolo offers a good insurance policy if (and when) the rookie goes through the ups and downs typical of a young quarterback.
Lance performed well enough during the rookie minicamp earlier this month to indicate he’ll be ready to compete for the starting job come August. But there’s also logic to letting him marinate while Garoppolo, who played well during the 2019 regular season when the 49ers earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC, re-assumes the starting role and potentially rebuilds his trade value.
Who lines up where?
There are a few position battles and rookies worth keeping an eye on.
Will second-round draft pick Aaron Banks work with the starters at right guard or will he begin with the backups behind Daniel Brunskill? What about third-round pick Ambry Thomas, the cornerback who will compete with Emmanuel Moseley for the starting job opposite Jason Verrett?
Will Trey Sermon, the running back San Francisco traded two fourth-round picks to get in Round 3, get work with the starters or will Raheem Mostert remain the top option in the backfield? Will sixth-round pick Elijah Mitchell overtake veteran free agent addition Wayne Gallman and Jeff Wilson Jr. for snaps?
Who will be the team’s third receiver? Signs point to veteran Richie James Jr. earning that role following Kendrick Bourne’s departure to the New England Patriots — especially because the 49ers didn’t draft a receiver for the first time since 2002 (which might add fuel to the Julio Jones rumors).
Will the 49ers roll into training camp with five quarterbacks or will Josh Rosen, Josh Johnson and/or Nate Sudfeld get the ax before training camp starts to fortify other spots on the roster?
The final note: attendance. A source confirmed to The Bee last week roughly 80 players were in attendance when the first phase of OTAs began, which is a good sign given many players throughout the NFL have pushed for boycotting the offseason program.
But who won’t be there? Veterans like left tackle Trent Williams don’t have anything to lose by skipping this voluntary portion of the offseason program, as long as they are staying in shape elsewhere (Williams, who owns a Texas fitness center, assuredly is). So who else is absent will be notable given the position battles looming and whether or not players are missing out on valuable reps given to others competing for their jobs.
We know Garoppolo will be there given he has a $600,000 workout bonus in his contract. Tight end George Kittle, defensive lineman Arik Armstead and safety Jimmie Ward also have lucrative bonuses tied into their attendance.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 7:15 AM.
