SANTA CLARA — If you asked a fan this offseason where the Niners most needed to improve year-over-year, they likely would point to the offensive line.
And, speaking from experience here, they would be emphatic about it.
Indeed, there were questions from left tackle (Trent Williams looked like a shell of himself in the Super Bowl), to right tackle come the end of the season. The forgettable guys up front were front-and-center on Niners fans’ minds this spring.
I don’t think the same could be said for the Niners’ front office. San Francisco didn’t add any key contributors to the offensive line in free agency and added only two o-linemen in the draft — Dominick Puni in the third round and Jarrett Kingston in the sixth.
The fan response to that has been equally emphatic, and hardly positive.
But the 49ers’ offseason o-line moves — or lack thereof — were principled.
The Niners might not have put big money or serious draft capital into protecting quarterback Brock Purdy, but they did bet on the offensive line.
The offensive line coach, that is.
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“This is my personal opinion, if they ask me, invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns,” 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster said Wednesday. “Then there’s a range of guys, second, third, fourth round, fifth round even, that we will find starting offensive linemen in.”
So if you’re wondering why the 49ers waited until the third round — pick No. 86 — to select an offensive lineman in the draft and failed to acquire a future left tackle in free agency or the draft this offseason, blame Foerster.
Because while he downplayed his influence with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, it’s been evident for years that both men — Shanahan especially — trust him implicitly.
“I want the guy that touches the ball,” Foerster said. “I think we can develop those [other] players much more readily… because we do have specific things that we’re looking for. We know what we’re looking for through the course of time. That’s the advantage of being together with Kyle for so long that we kind of can pigeonhole these guys. Are we always right? Heck no, we’re not always right and nobody is on anything. Could you put five first-rounders across the front? I don’t know that we have to, to have success.”
The Niners are facing a paradoxical scenario when it comes to building a team. While Purdy’s next contract won’t start until the 2026 season, the roster is already being built around him and what could be a $50 million-a-year contract.
After being able to spend to their heart’s desire, thanks to Purdy being paid what amounts to a rounding error against the NFL’s salary cap, the Niners are entering an era of austerity. One man could take up a fifth of the team’s budget in the not-too-distant future.
Cuts will have to be made — the Niners will need to get by with certain positions being paid less.
And the offensive line is one of the areas Lynch and Shanahan have decided to cut costs.
So much for protecting their big-money investment.
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The cost-cutting started with not re-signing right tackle Mike McGlinchey after the 2022 season. (A smart move, even with Colton McKivitz’s struggles.)
It continued by not paying the new market price — roughly $20 million a season — for a top guard or right tackle this offseason. Instead, they signed McKivitz to a two-year extension for a fraction of what a starting right tackle should make in this league.
Not everyone on the line can cry poor. Williams — a future Hall of Famer who remains peerless at age 36 — will make $31.5 million against the cap this upcoming season and is under contract for two more years after that.
But to his right, the Niners have the 15th highest-paid left guard, 11th highest-paid center, and 30th highest-paid right guard and right tackle. And they do not have Williams’ replacement, should age finally catch up to him or he decide to retire.
In fact, when the Niners had an opportunity to add cheap talent at offensive line in April’s draft, they selected players that reminded them of McKivitz, not Williams.
Ultimately, the Niners aren’t stubborn enough to turn down a player who does remind them of Williams — “Yeah, you draft Trent Williams,” Foerster said — but the Niners have made a call to trust that if they give Foerster NFL-caliber talent, he’ll build a competent offensive line that can run the Niners’ offense.
That’s a big bet.
I think it could pay off in a big way. Foerster might not have name recognition with casual fans, but among NFL coaches and personnel people, he is one of the most respected offensive line coaches in the league. His reputation is that he can do more with less, but even he believes there’s a line.
“If you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole. All of a sudden, you’re like, ‘He can’t block anybody,’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they’re at that line and just above it, you can survive it and you can take care of them. We’ve got ways with our system,” Foerster said.
The Niners think they have a roster of guys who are above that line, even if in the case of a few of them, they’re just above it.
They also think they have a quarterback who will make it work.
Every media session with Foerster includes a long story (or five). They’re a pleasure to hear but brutal to transcribe. So let me summarize the best story Foerster told Wednesday, because I think it tells the story of the 49ers moving forward up front and we don’t have all day:
When Foerster was with the Ravens (2005-07), he asked staffer Jedd Fisch — the excellent offensive mind, now the University of Washington’s head coach — to dive into the Patriots’ film and study the team’s offensive line. The goal: Explain why they were great.
Fisch’s answer: It doesn’t matter who those five offensive linemen are, as long as 12 is the quarterback.
Such was the quality of Tom Brady paired with the Patriots’ offensive scheme and coaching (including famed o-line guru Dante Scarnecchia) that New England, year after year, no matter the injuries or free agency losses, always had a quality operation on the offensive line.
And that’s the Niners’ new philosophy — the Patriot way.
Williams is incredible. You don’t punt all-time excellence. But the Niners’ new motto is simple; the principle clear:
It doesn’t matter who those five are, so long as 13 is the quarterback.
And while keeping Purdy playing quarterback is the top priority of those five men up front, the Niners believe that Foerster will find a way to do it.
Can he?
He better. The Niners are betting the franchise he can.