Niners Nation
Kawakami: All the money issues and wrong assumptions that might mess up the 49ers’ season (paywall)
“Maybe all of these issues will seem silly when and if the 49ers are 10-3 by late November. Maybe the season will fall apart in October and we’ll understand that these were some of the main reasons why. Or, most likely, it will be parts of both.
I just wanted to put the potential 2025 pitfalls all down in a single story right now, before the rush to Tuesday’s cutdown to 53 players and accompanying roster chaos over the days that precede and follow. And we’ll check back on any cause-and-effect results in a few months.
But also, before legions of the Faithful complain that I’m far too negative, let me state for the record that I think the 49ers will be a solid team this season, and much better than they were on the way to 6-11 last season. They still have as many high-level players as almost anybody in the league, they still are coached well, they have defensive coordinator Robert Saleh back this season, and they have a more promising group of young players than they’ve had in a while.
I’ll get to my official win-loss prediction early next month, but I’m not writing this to say that the 2025 49ers will be bad. I’m writing this to say that these are the reasons they possibly won’t be as good as they could’ve been.“
Rookie 49ers LB Nick Martin shows there is a lot more than violence to his game
“But Martin could emerge as the third linebacker on running downs, and he could show up in other packages, too. He knows he is a good fit on Saleh’s attacking defense. He knew it back when the 49ers drafted him, as coach Kyle Shanahan got on the phone and mentioned how the team had lost a big hitter in Greenlaw.
“He goes, ‘Coach, I already know. I already know I can do that. Like, that’s where I wanted to be,’” Shanahan said. “He knew all about us, and I think he was just as excited to come here as we are to have him.”
49ers practice report: Trent Williams tumble and a dustup mark physical session (paywall)
“The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Williams labored to his feet gingerly. What could’ve been a moment of déjà vu for an aging premier talent who has missed at least one game in each of his last 10 seasons proved to be a false alarm. He returned to the huddle and stayed in for the remainder of the final 11-on-11 period.
“Nah, I mean, you get angry just because you got to get up off the ground, but it’s a part of football,” Williams said. “You try to make a conscious effort in practice to stay off the ground but, I mean, you can’t ask guys to practice hard and then not practice hard enough to where you can’t fall.”
A number of players failed to stay...
