Its disappointing to be a Niners fan right now. They have lost 15 of their last 21 games, changed coaches twice, and have an owner and general manager who have no idea how to build a winning team.
After last year’s horrendous offseason, this was the year they start to move in the right direction.
Unlike 2014, CEO Jed York said all of the right things in his post-season press conference. He took the blame, and said the 49ers had the resources to get the best coach and players possible for a team desperately needing both. York surprisingly did not fire Trent Baalke and left him entirely in charge of hiring the next coach. Nothing wrong so far. York overstepped his boundaries last offseason and rightfully took a step back this year.
Now, it’s the Baalke show. The good news ends there.
York gave Baalke the keys to get the franchise and the first step was obviously to hire a head coach. So he went out and hired the incredible……….. Chip Kelly.
Kelly who left Philadelphia in ruins with his terrible roster decisions and inability to get along with his players and practically had to beg the 49ers to give him the job. Yep, that’s who the 49ers picked.
Kelly was a questionable decision to hire as their head coach, but he was not bad his first couple seasons and the hire could be forgiven if the 49ers managed acquire some halfway decent players in the offseason. They had one of the highest amounts of cap space going into the offseason, so getting some good players was a must.
Instead, after one week of free agency, the Niners managed to resign some of their own starters that got them to 5-11 last year as well as signing journeyman backup quarterback Thad Lewis. They lost their best interior offensive lineman Alex Boone to the Vikings and have done nothing to replace him. Hey, at least Anthony Davis is coming back!
The 49ers have shown interest in many different players, but have failed to get any of them. This could mean few things. One is that the 49ers are not willing to spend big money on players. The other is that players are turned off by the poisonous atmosphere created by York and Baalke a year ago, Kelly’s reputation with players, or a combination of both.
The most likely reason, however, is that Baalke is a terrible negotiator. How many good players has Baalke brought in through free agency in his entire tenure? He has let the majority of his Pro Bowlers walk and did little to replace them in free agency or the draft.
On the bright side, this offseason is not quite as bad as last seasons. Then again, last offseason was one of the worst in NFL history for any team, so being a little bit better this year is not good enough.
Things could change drastically in the coming days. There are still many good free agents available and the 49ers have a chance to get them with all of their cap space. However, if they strike out again this offseason, it will be two offseasons in a row where York and Baalke failed to bring talent to a team desperately needing it. And for that, 49ers fans need to hold them accountable.
Oliver James
I’m first on this one, because it’s mine!