SANTA CLARA — You can fault the 49ers for many things this season. There are too many to list.
But make no mistake about it: they were professionals until the end.
(Save for DeVondre Campbell, of course.)
And as this team heads into a pivotal and critical offseason, that professionalism shouldn’t be overlooked.
While the rest of the league’s non-playoff teams are firing coaches and general managers left and right, the program, as it were, is still in good standing in Santa Clara. No one is arguing that renovations aren’t needed, but the foundation — something head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch built from scratch when they took over in 2017 — is still in place.
As the 49ers cleaned out their lockers in Levi’s Stadium on Monday—the day after the team’s 11th loss of the season, which guaranteed them the No. 11 pick in April’s NFL Draft and an indisputable spot in the league’s bottom third for the 2024 campaign—it was impossible not to be struck by how the team’s leaders and others purported themselves.
No finger-pointing unless it was to one’s chest.
No phony-sounding inspirational messages.
Just reflection, fair accountability, and a universal belief that this hot mess of a season — one where seemingly nothing could go right for San Francisco — will prove valuable in 2025. The Niners took their months-long humbling with a smile and a “thank you.”
That’s how a pro does it.
Oh, and there was a bit of confusion as well.
This is the first Dry (from football) January for the 49ers since the end of the 2020 season, when, you might remember, options were fairly limited regarding how one could go about living.
And while the Niners had ample time to cope with the season’s disappointment ahead of Monday’s exit interviews, amid the grind of an 18-week regular season—even with three, four, maybe even five games meaning close to nothing—it seems as if few plans were made for what happens next for these creatures of routine.
On Monday, there were more than a couple of “take a couple of weeks off, I guess” answers.
They’ll figure it out.
And amid all the negativity around this team —much of it deserved given their play this season — is it ridiculous to suggest that the Niners, too, might figure it out this offseason?
Because as far away as it seemed San Francisco was to contention this season, the NFL is a fickle league. What would a healthy Christian McCaffrey have done to the 49ers’ record?
How about a healthy Dre Greenlaw?
Like the grievances with the 2024 49ers, that list is too numerous to fit here. Coincidence? Probably not.
This isn’t to exonerate the players on the field or the front office that acquired them.
It’s merely to say that if 2024 were a pay-back for the team’s success three years prior, the Niners have fully paid back the debt.
And now, the Niners’ front office, with Shanahan and Lynch still justly at the helm, needs to decide how much continuity the 2025 team should have.
Quarterback Brock Purdy isn’t going anywhere—not if he had his way about it. The 25-year-old said Monday that he wants a swift and painless contract negotiation. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was dealing with the 49ers.
But if Purdy comes in with a reasonable ask, perhaps the Niners — having learned the lessons of last offseason — might be sensible in return.
Which of the team’s assistant coaches and coordinators will return is unclear. While San Francisco is likely to avoid the wholesale poaching—quarterbacks coach Brian Griese has a lot of buzz for an offensive coordinator gig—that ravaged their ranks over the last few years, that doesn’t mean they cannot cull their own.
It’s the first order of business in an offseason that everyone agreed is too long, but it might not be long enough to accomplish everything the 49ers need to do.
But they’re not starting from scratch — they’re building around a foundation of All-Pros, who, despite every reason to fly off the handle this season, stayed pros until the very end.
Yes, this season was a brutal watch from start to finish, but perspective is necessary now that it’s over:
Things could be much, much worse.