NFL Trade Rumors
The 49ers had a busy offseason where they gave extensions to TE George Kittle, QB Brock Purdy and LB Fred Warner. Kittle expressed how important it’s been for them to have all their leaders present throughout all voluntary workouts to rebound from a rough 2024.
“When all your best players are here, kind of setting the tone, setting an example specifically because we have so many new guys, whether it’s free agents, whether it’s young guys, rookies, we’re trying to get them in that same mindset that we have established,” Kittle said, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “And it’s something that we have to reestablish every single year. The vibes are high. I would say they’re immaculate and guys are practicing well, guys are competing.”
San Francisco HC Kyle Shanahan admitted the difficulty and annoyance of having negotiations loom over a team when they are on the practice field.
“It’s always annoying when it goes into camp and especially when you’re going into a first week and stuff like that, but that’s not something that really affects the team right now,” Shanahan said. “It’s cool that we don’t have any of those on the horizon though, so, there’ll be no hiccups in the future.”
The 49ers have spent more time together off the field after the way last season ended. QB Brock Purdy discussed the importance of strong camaraderie to help them thrive in the toughest moments.
“It’s just so important that we’re just around each other a lot doing little different activities and continuing to build chemistry,” Purdy said. “That’s the kind of stuff that matters when you get late in the season and things get tough and you go through some tough things as a team; you want to be able to know the guy next to you and what he’s about and that he’s going to have your back.”
Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari is back at practice after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. Jonathan Gannon isn’t concerned about Ojulari being reintegrated into their system and just wants him to be healthy for the regular season.
“He’s smart,” Gannon said, via Darren Urban of the team’s site. “I’m not really worried about him schematically doing the right thing. He’s played ball for us. With him, it’ll be pouring into his health bucket and make sure he feels really good when he’s back out there and that he can do what he can do.”
Cardinals OLB Zaven Collins said Ojulari was showing next-level talent before his injury.
“He was killing it,” Collins said. “We started getting into what I call Ph.D-level stuff.”
