San Francisco 49ers Forever

. . . for what is ailing the football team. Here we go once again with the trials and tribulations around the 49ers crack(head) medical staff. Yeah, guys play hurt. They want to be out there. They keep quiet about their injuries, but George Kittle is the latest to say he was hurting three weeks before he tore his achilles.

He said he tore ligaments in his left ankle in the week 16 game against Indy and kept playing on it. He said he overcompensated by using his other leg too much. He ended up missing week 17 against the Bears, but here we are with a major star with a major injury. Would it have helped for him to miss the week 18 Philly game? we’ll never know. But still and all, this medical staff has been among the most injured just about every year they’ve been a art of the team.

Maybe it’s time for a change, eh?

Will the love story between Jaylen Daniels and Brandon Aiyuk ever be consummated? After posting a stellar 75 catch 13,42 yard, 7 TD performance in 2023 after his breakout 78 catch 1,015, 8 TD effort in 2022, BA seemed poised for greatness. Instead he opted to go the Deebo route and hold out for the 2024 offseason. He eventually got his $120 million payday and promptly got his knee wiped out in the KC game.

Flash forward to last year and BA decided he REALLY wanted out to reunite with Deebo and Jaylen. So he skipped out on al his contractual requirements and videoed himself doing a drive-by of Levis in (I’m assuming) his Lambo at 85 +. I’m sure teams are lining up to sign a guy with such high mental acuity.

And therein lies the rub. Not that one, DJ. Aiyuk got out of his deal, but the 49ers are not going to do him any favors after getting worked by him. They would like to get anything at this point for BA. Talk is someone out there would be willing to risk a 7th round pick (and that $90 mill remaining on that contract) to take him on.

But seeing as the 49ers have made it perfectly clear that he isn’t setting foot on the soccer fields of Santa Clara ever again, he will remain a 49er until after June 1, when he will be cut6, his contract voided, and he’s free to sign with the Commandos.

Because, hey, who wouldn’t want to go from a 12-5 team to a 5-12 one?

Maybe the Jets will offer a couple tackling sleds and tickets to a show for BA. Do it. No one is gonna pick up that contract at this point.

Yeah, it’s football down-time as we all wait one more month and change for the draft, but the 49ers have actually done a pretty solid job of getting some free agents, signing their own free agents, and even completing a trade with the dreaded Cowboys. Hopefully as devastating a trade as the Charles Haley one was, but I’m not gonna hold my breath.

We’ve shored up the O line, a little. We traded for a real good DT Osa Odighizuwa, signed safety Nate Hobbs from GB, signed Mike Evans from the Bucs, kept Jake Tonges and Eddie Money Piniero, and even reunited with Dre Greenlaw. And Nick Bosa reworked his contract to gain the team $17 mill in cap space. Did he do it go get his brother onto the team? I guess we will see, but neither is very sturdy these days, so, uh, no.

That leaves the draft. As much as I want this team to build the line, they really need to do something about the opposite side of Bosa. But they need to expend some high picks on the O line though so I guess it’ll come down to who’s available. There are a lot of DEs in this draft.And WRs.

*gulp*

Don’t do it, Shanny!

In baseball news, Team USA, behind Logan Webb, beat Canada 5-3 as Webb went 5 strong innings and got the win. They are now in the semis against the powerhouse Dominican Republic team.

In a yearly occurrence, the 49ers were granted compensatory picks for their lost free agents. We had a big purge last year, so we ended up getting three 4th round picks. The three comp picks were for Aaron Banks, Josh Dobbs, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Jaylon Moore, and Charvarius Ward. And we lost our 5th round pick to the Iggles for Bryce Huff.

Funnily enough, Dre Greenlaw was released by the Broncos and is available once again. If not for his achilles injury in the Super Bowl, we mighta got that #6. But that is the past. Might be worth a camp look to see if he’s fully recovered as he was a dominant force when healthy.

Other than that, the blog world (at least around these parts) was shaken to its core with Big Flav announcing the end of his SF Giants blog, OneFlapDown. Craig started his blog back in 2009 when the Chronicle’s Splash Hit blog got insanely overrun with crazies and weasels and overkill on the moderation.

I’ve gotten to meet quite a few of the bloggers as we’ve gone to a few baseball games together, and in a coincidence of monumental proportions, I discovered that one of the blog posters had a son attending SF State at the same time as my daughter. The night before I met him in person, I realized that his son was dating my daughter. Crazy stuff.

Hey, we signed Eddie Dinero Piniero as well, but I do like the Mike Evans signing. He’s solid, tough, has size and speed, and is a great 3rd down/deep ball/red zone option given his 6’5″ 230 lb frame. Yeah a little long in the tooth at 32, but he’s got some mileage left.

A little surprised the Buccos simply gave up on him as he must lead their team in just about every WR category, but hey, he’s a pro and he should do very well here.

So glad to see a move like this as this will hopefully get the impetus to fix the O line in the draft. Throw Mac Jones into the mix for some good bodies on the O line.

Beyond the fact that we get to play TWO international games this year.

Whoopeeee!

Although the flight to Mexico City is shorter than our regular east coast swings. But yeah, Australia and Mexico. Be still my heart. With our luck there will be a Thursday game for us after the 18 hour flight home.

Other than that, at least the bloggowebs are paying some lip service to the O line woes and that we are kicking the tires on Steeler LG Issac Seamalo. There are a few other names out there, and guys in the draft I haven’t really gone in depth to look at. And there are apparently a ton of good WRs. But I think we should wait until the 4th round for that and look in free agency for our wideouts. Mike Evans, say.

So yeah, really missing NJ 49er right now.

Here we are in February, the same month as the Super Bowl, and we have our first contract impasse. Trent Williams and the team are “struggling to find a contractual solution” according to John Lynch. Something they’ve been working on since that crap-ass Super Bowl. Oh goodie. A team that has O line woes may lose their best lineman to free agency.

Will this get the 49ers brass to pay attention to the line in the draft?

We’ll find out one way or another.

One good thing about the hype train is that guys can get boosted by the media for no other reason than there’s not much else to talk about. The latest is the 49ers are expected to get “BIG OFFERS” for Mac Jones, the next rehabbed QB after Sourdough Sam Super Bowl champ.

Of course, nowhere are these BIG OFFERS spelled out exactly, or even remotely. But yeah with a weak QB class behind portal princess Fernando Mendoza, a weak-ass free agency QB class (hey, let’s give this Trey Lance guy a shot!) led by Daniel Jones (our next backup rehab?) and a bunch of other backups (Minsheeeeewwwwwwww? Zack Wilson? Hey, let’s rehab the entire 2021 QB draft class!), a guy like Mac Jones will continue to get the hype treatment as the guy to fix a team like Minnesota’s QB problems.

Minn of course famously jettisoned their rising sourdough bread loaf 14-3 QB for an unproven dry-white-toast guy in JJ McCarthy. The results? McCarthy went 6-4 and missed 7 games (plus his entire first season) as the Vikings missed the playoffs. And we all know were Sourdough Sam went. He went to Disneyland!

Hey, I’d take a 2nd round pick and tackle Christian Darrisaw. Unless the hype train drives his value up to the 1s. And Minn is likely the best landing spot for a guy like Jones seeing how successful Sammy was. Besides Minnehaha, teams the need a QB are:

• LV Raiders – Yeah, they get to cross the Mendoza line but if they were prudent, they’d let him cool his heels at least one year on the pine. Maxx Crosby would be a nice shiny piece, but we would be the ones adding picks to that deal. Would the Raiders do a deal with us?
• NY Jets – Still reeling from the Aaron Rodgers/Robert Saleh/Joe Douglas/Woody Harrelson, uh Johnson inepti-fest, they tried to rally behind Justin Fields. He wasn’t terrible, but he missed 12 games. The rest were garbage and that team is a running train wreck and I pity the fool that ends up there.
• Cleveland Browns – See Jets, NY above. Mayfield/Chubb/Stefanski/Andy (May)Berry shit-show continues the legacy of the Factory of Sadness for another few decades.
• Miami Dolphins – Hawk Tua looks to be jettisoned and they would be a prime spot for Jones. Not as big a fuck-fest as the above 2, but they are trending that way.
• Pittsburgh Steelers – Well, seeing as Mega Mike McCarthy may want to keep Aaron Rodgers for one last gasp, they might not need him, but it would be better than the Jets and Browns, and they still might want him for insurance purposes.

Speaking of insurance, the Rams might just let Clipboard GQ Jimmy G find another team’s clipboard to hold and get Jones for insurance. Would we do a deal with them?

Saints and Colts are also unsettled at the QB spot, so let the hype train roll on!! Let’s get a #1!!!

This shit is too funny. “That’s the end of the game!” and the ref high tails it out of the stadium.

Well, football season is in full nothing-but-hype mode as teams position themselves for the draft and the upcoming free agency period. The 49ers got off to a roaring start (*urp*) with the signing of C/G Nick Zakelj, he of the 47 point word score in Scrabble. Not bad in and of itself, unless they really think he is starter material. Funny thing is, though, Ben (owwww!) Bartch and Spenser Burford are free agents as well. Barth is a walking injury waiting to happen, so I don’t see him as a priority. Burford? No, not really as well.

So, we look to be replacing a center and 2 guards. On top of already needing to find Trent Williams’ replacement, and finding a swing tackle.

I really hope they look at the draft AND free agency. We need a lot to fix this line.

Among our lengthy list of free agents, the guys to sign are Eddie Dinero Piniero, Skyy Moore, Clelen Ferrell, and Kevin Givens. The dumps are Bartch, Bourne, Burford, Gross-Matos, Pinnock, Curtis Robsinson, TTaylor, and PTaylor Jr.

I’m iffy on Jennings, Brian Robinson, Morstead, Wallow, and Weeks.

My only issue with these guys is their backups ON the team aren’t beating them out. Jennings brings a ton of balls and swagger to the WR room, and he carries a lot of weight. If he goes, we have one guy who is hurt a lot, and diddly squat. Cowing and Watkins are following the trail blazed by AJ Jenkins and Danny Gray.

Brian Robinson didn’t get a chance to play that much, but his backups were invisible. Given a decent O line, I think he could really be productive, but 99% of that is on Shanahan and his reluctance to give CMC rest. Morstead and Weeks could be fairly easily replaced, but we might as well keep them since they are known commodities. I guess I’d keep Wallow as he played well despite his depth in the depth chart.

Well, the sports landscape hits the Sargasso Sea of things going on. Or is it the Horse Latitudes? Basketball slogs on through its endless amount of regular season games. about 20 too many, baseball is juuuust starting to poke its head out of the frozen tundra, and oh yeah there is the Olympics, if that is your bag.

I do enjoy the skiing and the various ways men and women slide down a frozen river at 90 MPH, but other than that, quiet time. NFL draft time. Various mock sites have us taking Kenyon Sadiq the TE from Orygun. Big fuck no to that. Even going DT like Caleb Banks would be someone I would pass on. Only for the reason that we NEED to protect Purdy at all costs. As the Seattle games showed, Purdy struggled under the relentless pressure of their 4-man cover 2 defense.

We couldn’t run or pass. And the reason the 49ers won the 1st game was because the defense was healthy, and the Sourdough Sam offense was finding its way. Well, they were still pretty inept in the Super Bowl, and a few of their other wins. Which is why it is imperative that we get Purdy and the offense help.

Other than that, sad to hear Greg Brown, original lead guitarist for Cake passed away. Very cool Sacto band with a very distinct sound. The trumpet solo from War Pigs is great.