Niners Nation
How can the 49ers best position themselves for the 2025 season?
The San Francisco 49ers undoubtedly have a major offseason ahead of them as they look to retool ahead of the 2025 season. Several questions loom around the team, namely the impending contract extension for quarterback Brock Purdy that should make him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.
But, there are also other needs and desires for the team this offseason after a disappointing 6-11 season in 2024. So, what exactly is a dream offseason for the 49ers?
Let’s break down what a dream offseason could entail, while trying to be as realistic as possible.
The first part of this ‘dream’ is a fairly obvious one: signing Brock Purdy to an extension, hopefully prior to the beginning of the offseason program.
Now, there is a ton of discussion as to what that extension may be, as well as whether Purdy actually deserves a contract of that stature. However, being realistic, the 49ers need to extend Purdy.
As they try and compete with their current core in 2025, there isn’t a better option on the market that is obtainable for San Francisco, and it isn’t a strong draft class at the position if you want to facilitate a trade.
San Francisco is in a similar situation as a number of teams over the past two years. Even if Purdy has a smaller resume, there is no choice but to pay him to ensure competitiveness in the short term.
So, with the presumption that the 49ers will sign Purdy, the dream is that the extension comes prior to the offseason program so that the team can go through a full offseason without drama and external headlines when preparing for the 2025 NFL season.
The 49ers always find a way to create more cap space, with restructures and extensions being the most logical path to doing so. This offseason, two sensible extensions to make are for star tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner.
Kittle, 31, is still playing at a high level and could end up playing out his career with the 49ers. He has a $22 million cap hit for the upcoming season and a $13 million void charge in 2026 when he’s scheduled to be a free agent.
An extension makes sense, as it would lower his cap hit for the upcoming season, while providing Kittle with more up-front money and keeping him in the Bay Area for the remainder of his career.
Warner, 29, has two years remaining on his five-year, $95 million extension, and has a cap hit of over $29 million in 2025. As he enters his prime, it’s logical to rework his contract with another extension, lowering that cap hit this season and keeping him in San Francisco for the next few years.
That would create ample cap space for San Francisco, while keeping a few...
