49ers season takeaways: 2025 became a feel-good story, but big questions linger
The San Francisco 49ers’ season ended with a whimper in Seattle and conflicting feelings heading into the offseason.
On one hand, Kyle Shanahan and his players have expressed optimism about being undermanned yet finishing 12-5, knocking off the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs and giving young players valuable experience heading into 2026.
On the other, another season passed for the team’s aging stars without a Lombardi Trophy, this time coming to an end at the hands of a division rival in the Seattle Seahawks by way of a 41-6 rout, while injury and durability questions remain.
And despite Shanahan being widely regarded as a topflight coach who’s in the running for Coach of the Year, he’s entering his 10th season with San Francisco and is still looking for the organization’s elusive sixth Super Bowl title. The longer he goes without one, the more external pressure he’ll face from a fanbase that hasn’t celebrated a parade down Market Street since 1995. Shanahan next season will tie Bill Walsh for the longest head coaching tenure in 49ers history.
Additionally, it will be the 10th season for president of football operations and general manager John Lynch, who has already turned down lucrative opportunities to return to broadcasting and a less stressful life than trying to build and maintain a contending roster. Rumors have persisted for years about Lynch inching towards retirement.
All of which means fans should expect a high level of urgency heading into 2026 after a mixed bag of emotions from this season.
Here are our takeaways from the year and how they impact the future.
Same injury issues, but different results
The 49ers in 2020 dealt with a season-ending injury to Nick Bosa, lost their starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a significant portion of the season and had a slew of other ailments throughout the roster. That team finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl the season prior.
A similar story happened in 2024, only it was Christian McCaffrey who missed most of the season, Trent Williams missed the final seven games with a balky ankle and Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL in late October. The finish: 6-11.
It seemed like a similar recipe for failure in 2025. Brock Purdy suffered a pesky case of turf toe in the season opener and missed eight games. Bosa suffered another torn ACL, and Fred Warner was lost for the season in early October with a fractured and dislocated ankle. A hamstring strain from the first half of Week 1 sidelined George Kittle for the following six weeks.
This time, the 49ers overcame those issues and finished the regular season 12-5, earning Shanahan praise for what’s widely considered his best coaching season despite his team losing in the divisional round for the first time. San Francisco reached at least the conference championship round in their previous four playoff appearances including two losses in the Super Bowl.
Backup quarterback Mac Jones might be the biggest difference between this year and the injury-marred seasons of 2021 and 2024. The 49ers went 5-3 in Jones’ starts, which included a signature Thursday night win on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, who will play this coming Sunday in the NFC title game.
The season was a feel-good story, all obstacles considered.
But it would be awfully difficult to replicate that success in 2026. Kittle, 32, will be coming off an Achilles tear. Aiyuk is likely going to be jettisoned. McCaffrey, who served as the team’s life raft, had the most touches of his career with 413. He led the NFL in touches for the third time in his career. After the previous two seasons in which he did so, he appeared in three and four games the following year, respectively.
That all adds up to Shanahan and Lynch needing to spend the offseason improving the roster so the 49ers don’t have to rely as heavily on their older players in 2026.
Needing to find a new defensive coordinator
The first task of the offseason will be hiring a replacement for Robert Saleh, who on Monday was hired to become the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
Which means the 49ers will be hiring a new defensive coordinator for the fifth straight offseason. They haven’t maintained one since DeMeco Ryans held the job for two seasons in 2021 and 2022 before taking the helm of the Houston Texans.
On the positive side, the job should be attractive. Warner will be back and healthy, Bosa is still considered an elite edge rusher and the team has talent at cornerback in Deommodore Lenoir, Upton Stout and Renardo Green.
The position has also been a fertile proving ground. This offseason marks the third time a 49ers defensive coordinator has gone on to be head coach, with Saleh now doing it twice, after taking the New York Jets job in 2021.
On the downside, it’s a tough gig. Steve Wilks lasted only one season in the role despite the 49ers reaching the Super Bowl in 2023. Ditto for Nick Sorensen, who became the Dallas Cowboys’ special teams coordinator after getting fired following 2024.
There are three logical names the 49ers will consider replacing Saleh.
Gus Bradley has 12 years experience as a defensive coordinator and four years as a head coach. He has the institutional advantage of working closely with Saleh on the 49ers staff in 2025 under the title of assistant head coach.
Jim Schwartz has long been a thorn in Shanahan’s side as a defensive coordinator and has experience running a similar scheme to San Francisco’s. He’s currently in contract limbo after interviewing for the head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns after being coordinator there for the past three seasons.
There’s also Raheem Morris, the recently fired head coach of the Atlanta Falcons to whom Shanahan has close personal ties. Both broke into the league as quality control coaches with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early 2000s. Morris served as defensive coordinator for the Rams when they won the Super Bowl in 2021.
Where the roster needs improvement
The Aiyuk saga is all but over, Jauan Jennings is slated for unrestricted free agency after a contentious training camp, and 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall hasn’t proven he can stay reliably healthy. Add in the fact 49ers receivers had just three catches on 10 targets in Saturday’s playoff loss to the Seahawks, and it’s safe to say receiver should be a focal point this spring.
Exactly how they address wideout remains a question. The 49ers could use their No. 27 pick in the first round of the 2026 draft on another receiver. They’ve found productive players there previously (Aiyuk was No. 25 in 2020, Deebo Samuel was No. 36 in 2019). Or they could revisit trading for an elite, established veteran like Justin Jefferson, whom the 49ers tried trading for before the 2024 draft when they picked Pearsall.
They could also use help along the defensive line given Bosa will be coming off his third ACL tear dating back to high school and 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams also suffering an ACL tear midseason. Alfred Collins and CJ West made strides throughout their rookie seasons, but both would need to take considerable steps to become-high level starters in 2026.
The team also needs to consider the future along the offensive line with Trent Williams entering his age-38 season and with no long-term left tackle developing in the wings.
Jennings is the 49ers’ most high-profile free agent while moving on from Aiyuk should give the team roughly $50 million in salary cap space. That could be enough to be significant players in free agency or the trade market, where they would be able to add a player like Jefferson who makes $35 million per season.
No questions at quarterback
Purdy was considered a passenger on the train when he first became a starter in 2022 and was an MVP candidate in 2023, when the 49ers were an overtime stop away from beating Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Purdy struggled in 2024 without McCaffrey, admitting he tried to do too much given the injuries, and helped carry the team on another playoff run in 2025.
Purdy has ranked no worse than seventh in QBR during his first four seasons as a starter. He would have been fifth in 2022 with enough playing time to qualify after taking over for Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo (67.5). He was tied for first when he finished fourth in MVP voting (73.4) during his Super Bowl season in 2023. He was seventh in his down season of 2024 (64.8) and finished third this season at 72.6 despite his injuries and roughshod receiving corps.
Like many quarterbacks, Purdy will continue to be polarizing until he wins a Super Bowl or even thereafter. But given the 49ers secured him to a five-year, $265 million deal last offseason that will kick in in 2026, there’s no reason to believe there will be any drama around the 49ers quarterback situation any time soon, long-term injuries notwithstanding.
NFC West shows no sign of slowing down
The NFC Championship Game is taking place between two of San Francisco’s NFC West division rivals, with the Seahawks hosting the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The 49ers beat both teams early in the season, on the road, and then were humbled in the second half of the year by each with losses at Levi’s Stadium.
The Seahawks under 38-year-old head coach Mike Macdonald have the look of a long-term contender given the strength of their defense and relative youth on the roster. They also have a general manager, John Schneider, with a track record of finding talent in the draft and free agency.
The Rams having a similar strong outlook, with the caveat of quarterback Matthew Stafford turning 38 early next month. The Rams have gotten back to Super Bowl contention and made the playoffs in three straight seasons after turning over much of the roster following their championship in 2021.
For now, the 49ers will enter the offseason looking up at those two teams following their third-place finish in the NFC West despite going 12-5 and finishing 4-2 against the division. Unseating the Seahawks and Rams will take a lot of work.
