49ers' Jed York's comments on player exodus should not inspire confidence from fans
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York addressed the team's talent exodus this offseason, and the team's lack of spending to try and address the sudden loss of talent, pointing to the team's desire to extend quarterback Brock Purdy as a primary culprit for the departures.
"I've been called worse," York said when asked about fans calling him cheap, according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "I get it. Fans care. You want to win. And when you're in a world where everybody is watching the NFL the first week of free agency or at least the first few days of free agency, it's a frenzy. ... When you're not overly active in that space, it gets easy to say 'Oh, you don't want to win.' ... I don't know that, as we looked at the board, that there was somebody that we felt made that type of an impact more so than making the decision to try to go pay Brock."
York went on to call Purdy a top-10 quarterback in the NFL, another tacit sign that a massive contract is coming for the young passer.
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"I think he is," York said. "I think he's great. Especially when you combine him with [coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and you combine him with what we have, and he's a heck of a quarterback. And we want him to be here for a long, long time."
Purdy's actual value remains the subject of a lot of debate in NFL circles, and York's justification for letting so much talent leave this offseason should have San Francisco fans very concerned about this team's fortunes in the short-to-medium term.
Gone is do-everything wide receiver Deebo Samuel, the versatile glue in the 49ers' offense. But more importantly, the defense has been gutted. CBS Sports reports that the 49ers have the largest free agent spending deficit of any team in NFL history. Sure, they were going to need to clear some cap space, and move on from some guys in free agency or via trade to make the Purdy deal work, but this lineup is going to look drastically different than it has in recent seasons.
Tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey aren't getting any younger; Kittle will turn 32 next season, while CMC turns 29 this offseason. While Kittle has been as productive as ever, McCaffrey has been incapable of staying healthy in recent seasons.
Wideout Brandon Aiyuk also struggled in his first season after signing a 4-year, $120 million contract, averaging just 3.6 receptions and 53.4 yards per game prior to suffering a torn ACL and MCL in Week 7 against Kansas City. How will he fare next season after his recovery?
And then there's Purdy. How much of the quarterback's success has been due to the stacked offensive cast around him, and how much was him elevating that team? San Francisco was always going to have to open their checkbooks in a big way to keep him, but gushing public comments like these, and essentially saying that you're slashing big chunks of salary to pay him are an indicator that we could be getting a truly ridiculous contract coming down the pipe.
Is he worth stripping your team down to its core for? Is he even going to come close to replicating his early career success with an aging McCaffrey and Kittle and a potentially slowed Aiyuk as his primary targets? If the answer to either of those questions is no, this could be a historic mistake for York and the 49ers, one that slams their Super Bowl window shut for the foreseeable future until they're able to undergo a more substantial rebuild.
In other words, brace yourself, 49ers fans. Things might get worse in the Bay Area before they get better.