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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/defaultedup on 2025-02-26 12:33:28+00:00.

Division: NFC West (4th)

Record: 6-11

Home: 4-5

Road: 2-6

Playoffs: None

Introduction

Few teams in NFL history have come agonizingly closer to a Super Bowl championship than the 2023 San Francisco 49ers, becoming only the second team to fall in overtime, and the first to do so after having left the field with a lead. However, coming so close to the mountaintop, only to fall short by the thinnest of margins, always carries the risk that the fall back to the valley of 0-0 will be abrupt and steep. That risk grows even greater when the team in question has made deep playoff runs in three consecutive years, reaching at least the NFC Championship in each season from 2021-2023. Despite hopes that the 2024 49ers could overcome the odds and once again assert themselves as a serious contender, a combination of factors–including lengthy offseason holdouts, personal tragedies, injuries, and disastrous special teams–ensured that the team would miss the playoffs altogether for the first time since the 2020 season. In the end, though, there was perhaps no bigger culprit for the team’s disappointing season than the 49ers themselves. Over their first eleven games, the 49ers blew three 4th quarter leads against divisional opponents, culminating in a backbreaking 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, their first loss to Seattle since 2021.

2024 Offseason in Review

Staff Changes:

  • Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorenson
    • Steve Wilks never really felt like he found his groove as defensive coordinator. A rare external hire at coordinator, his lone season running the defense was a mixed bag. Among the positives, the 2023 49ers allowed only 17.5 points per game, third-best in the league; their secondary looked strong and tied for the league lead in interceptions with 22; and there were flashes of dominance, such as in the 42-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys (four takeaways, 197 yards allowed) and the 34-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (four takeaways, five sacks, 221 yards allowed). However, there were reasons for concern: despite logging 48 sacks, the pass rush seemed to go quiet at times; the run defense entered a full blown free fall during the playoffs; a number of bizarre calls by Wilks wound up burning the team, none more notably than the Week 7 blitz against Minnesota with mere seconds left in the half on MNF; and the saga of whether he would descend from the booth to the sideline. After more high risk blitz calls in OT of the Super Bowl, including one that HC Kyle Shanahan vetoed with a timeout, and half hearted votes of confidence from the team’s defensive leaders, Wilks was out. Enter Nick Sorenson, the team’s then-defensive passing game specialist. While Sorenson had never before called plays on defense, he did have coordinator-level experience overseeing the Jaguars’ special teams unit in 2021. There was hope that Sorenson, another in-house promotion on defense, could return the defense to the aggressive, stout unit it had been just two years earlier under DeMeco Ryans. As we’ll see, that was unfortunately not the case.
  • Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Consultant Brandon Staley
    • To supplement Nick Sorenson at DC, the 49ers brought in Brandon Staley, the much-maligned former Chargers head coach. Staley, who was brought on as something of a minister without portfolio on defense, seemed like a low-risk, potentially high reward hire. In his lone season coordinating the Rams’ defense, they allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL. And with his Chargers tenure flaming out rather spectacularly, it’s easy to forget that Staley was once a highly coveted coaching candidate, considered a bright, innovative coach in the mold of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. With several seasons worth of experience at the head coach or defensive coordinator level, taking a flyer on Staley had all the makings of a win-win: best case scenario, Sorenson could ease into the job with assistance from Staley, who would bring a fresh set of eyes and potentially inject some new ideas, while Staley could lay low, re-establish himself in San Francisco, and rehabilitate his career.
  • Senior Offensive Assistant/Passing Game Specialists Mick Lombardi and Klay Kubiak
    • After offensive passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak left to become the Saints’ offensive coordinator, the 49ers brought in Mick Lombardi as his replacement. Lombardi is a familiar face, having served under the Harbaugh, Tomsula, and Kelly regimes in various roles. In theory, Lombardi offered some of the same potential upside as Staley, having served as a coordinator with the Raiders before being run out of town with Josh McDaniels. In addition to bringing Lombardi onboard, the 49ers also promoted another member of the Kubiak braintrust, Klint’s brother, Klay Kubiak, from assistant quarterbacks coach to passing game specialist.
  • Adams Peters Departs
    • Adam Peters was John Lynch’s first hire as 49ers GM; after being brought in as vice president of player personnel in 2017, he was promoted to assistant GM in 2021. He was a hot GM candidate for a few years before finally taking the job as Washington’s first post-Snyder GM in January. Peters was often credited for his influence in the later rounds of the draft where San Francisco has nailed so many recent picks. With Peters gone, the 49ers turned to Tariq Ahmad and RJ Gillen as co-directors of player personnel.

Free Agency Subtractions (On 53-Man Roster at End of 2023 Season):

  • DT Arik Armstead
    • Released March 13, 2024, signed 3-year, $51 million dollar contract with Jacksonville on March 15, 2024 (2023: 12 GP, 27 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 FR)
  • CB Isaiah Oliver
    • Released February 23, 2024, signed 1-year, $2.5 million dollar contract with New York Jets on March 11, 2024 (2023: 13 GP, 53 tackles, 1 INT, 2 passes defended, 1 FR)
  • DE Randy Gregory
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $3 million contract with Tampa Bay on April 3, 2024 (2023 DEN/SF: 5 games played, 12 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defended)
  • DE Chase Young
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $13 million contract with New Orleans on March 18, 2024 (2023 WAS/SF: 16 GP, 25 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 2 passes defended)
  • DT Javon Kinlaw
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $7.25 million contract with New York Jets on March 14, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 25 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 passes defended)
  • FS Tashaun Gipson
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $2.55 million contract with Jacksonville on August 11, 2024 (2023: 16 GP, 60 tackles, 1 INT, 1 sack, 3 passes defended)
  • DT Sebastian Joseph-Day
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $4 million contract with Tennessee on March 20, 2024 (2023 LAC/SF: 16 GP, 36 tackles, 3 sacks)
  • WR Ray-Ray McCloud
    • UFA, signed 2-year, $6 million contract with Atlanta on March 18, 2024 (2023: 12 GP, 12 REC, 135 REC YDS, 3 carries, 30 YDS, 25.8 return average)
  • TE Charlie Woerner
    • UFA, signed 3-year, $12 million contract with Atlanta on March 13, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 3 REC, 32 REC YDS)
  • LB Oren Burks
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $2.5 million contract with Philadelphia on March 19, 2024 (2023: 15 GP, 46 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 pass defended 1 FR)
  • DE Clelin Ferrell
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $3.75 million contract with Washington on March 18, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 28 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 pass defended)
  • TE Ross Dwelley
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $1.292 million contract with Atlanta on May 13, 2024 (2023: 2 GP, 1 REC, 12 yards)
  • QB Sam Darnold
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $10 million contract with Minnesota on March 13, 2024 (2023: 10 GP, 297 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT, 60.9% completion)
  • OT Matt Pryor
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $1.175 million contract with Chicago on March 13, 2024 (2023: 15 GP, 88.5 PFF grade on < 50 snaps)

Free Agency Additions (Made Initial 53-Man Roster)

  • WR Jauan Jennings
    • RFA, signed 2-year, $15.39 million contract on May 29, 2024 (2023: 13 GP, 19 REC, 265 YDS, 1 TD)
  • WR Chris Conley
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $1.55 million contract on March 16, 2024 (2023: 8 GP, 3 REC, 69 YDS)
  • DT Kevin Givens
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $2 million contract on March 14, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 22 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR, 1 pass defended)
  • LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
    • UFA, signed 1-year, $1.935 million contract on March 15, 2024 (2023: 16 GP, 19 tackles, 1 pass defended)
  • DE Leonard Floyd (BUF)
    • Signed 2-year, $20 million contract on March 18, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 32 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 pass defended)
  • DE Yetur Gross-Matos (CAR)
    • Signed 2-year, $18 million contract on March 14, 2024 (2023: 12 GP, 36 tackles, 4.5 sacks)
  • LB De’Vondre Campbell (GB)
    • Signed 1-year, $5 million contract on March 18, 2024 (2023: 11 GP, 75 tackles, 1 FR, 1 pass defended)
  • DT Jordan Elliott (CLE)
    • Signed 2-year, $10 million contract on March 14, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 21 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 pass defended)
  • CB Isaac Yiadom (NO)
    • Signed 1-year, $3 million contract on March 18, 2024 (2023: 17 GP, 37 tackles, 1 INT, 1…

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