This offseason is going to full of new coaches, new contracts, cut players, and new draft picks. As of Saturday, December 27th, it was reported that head coach Jim Harbaugh will accept the head coaching job at the University of Michigan. So that domino has already fallen.
What this means going forward is interviews for head coaches will most likely start as soon as Harbaugh gets pen to paper on his Michigan deal. Some of the names out there to take over in San Francisco are current defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shannahan, former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase.
With the departure of Harbaugh and bringing in someone new, this could mean a complete overhaul of assistants and coordinators. So once Harbaugh officially leaves, look for the rest of the former coaching staff to leave with him, whether by choice or forced out by the front office.
The next issue the 49ers have to address this offseason is their offense. Their offense has been abysmal this season, albeit a lot can be attributed to injury. I’ll start with addressing their offensive line. Their left guard, Mike Iupati, will most likely be gone after this season. Between the money they currently have tied up in players like right guard Alex Boone, right tackle Anthony Davis, and left tackle Joe Staley they just won’t be able to afford paying one more offensive lineman that kind of money.
Not only will they not be able to put forth the kind of money needed to retain a player of Iupati’s caliber, but they wouldn’t be willing to anyway with their starting center at the beginning of the season, Daniel Kilgore, coming back from injury, backup guard Joe Looney showing a lot of promise whenever he gets a chance to play, and being able to shift rookie center Marcus Martin over to guard if they need to. They will also have rookie Brandon Thomas, who missed the entire season due to an injury he suffered in college, as a reserve. What they’ll likely do is target a cheap veteran backup in case of an emergency.
At wide receiver I fully expect Michael Crabtree to test the market. The only way he actually comes back to San Francisco is if no one wants to give him anywhere close to the kind of money he wants. What he’s going to want is top level money. The 49ers know he doesn’t deserve that kind of money so he’s going to leave and go to the highest bidder, which likely won’t be as high as he’s expecting considering wide receivers like Randall Cobb, Demaryius Thomas, and Dez Bryant will also be on the market.
Another pass catcher who might be gone after this season is veteran tight end Vernon Davis. Davis has been a shell of himself this season and will carry over a $7 million cap number with him next season. The 49ers will likely ask him to restructure and if he refuses they will cut him. Another wide receiver I expect to be cut is veteran Stevie Johnson.
On defense I think there is going to be a lot less turnover as some people think. Their secondary could certainly use a prototypical “shutdown cornerback” but doesn’t need one. They have two cornerbacks who might hit free agency if a deal isn’t worked out by the start of the new league year and that’s Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox. Both are important to their secondary and will be brought back if they’re not looking for top level money.
If those two are brought back the 49ers will have Tramaine Brock (who has missed most of the season with one injury or another), Culliver, Cox, Jimmie Ward (who also missed a lot of the season with injury and who I also expect to eventually move to free safety when the time is right), Dontae Johnson, and the two cornerbacks the 49ers drafted this past year but had to sit out due to injury, Keith Reaser and Kenneth Acker. For safeties they’ll still have Eric Reid (who I think will eventually move over to strong safety where he belongs) and Antoine Bethea.
With any luck the linebacker situation won’t be nearly as bad as it was this season. To start the season they’ll have perennial All-Pros NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis (unless they cut Willis due to his salary and the presence of rookie standout Chris Borland). Their stud outside linebacker Aldon Smith most likely won’t have a nine-game suspension to deal with from the start as well. Outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks will not be with the team however. With the emergence of Aaron Lynch at outside linebacker and Brooks’ salary cap number they will almost certainly cut him. That’ll leave Smith, Bowman, Willis, and Lynch as their starters at linebacker.
On the defensive line I expect to see some pretty significant changes. There’s a good chance that defensive line stalwart Justin Smith retires at the end of this season. While that would be a major blow to the line, they have Tank Carradine ready and willing to fill that role. They’ll also have both of their nose tackles back in Ian Williams and Glenn Dorsey, not to mention Quinton Dial to throw into the rotation. At the other defensive tackle position they’ll really only have Tony Jerod-Eddie right now since they just cut Ray McDonald.
The most important part of the season will be the draft in May. The 49ers will have a mid-round pick this season due to their mediocre record. This will allow them to draft more of a playmaker in the first round. If they’re looking to go wide receiver in the first round, which is a distinct possibility, there’s a chance they go for the Auburn University wide receiver Sammie Coates.
He would fit very well with this offense and the pieces they already have in place. Another option would be to trade something along the lines of a fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for wide receiver Josh Gordon and use your first round pick on a cornerback or defensive lineman. This would allow them to use a third round pick on stud Georgia Tech wide receiver Deandre Smelter (whose draft stock has taken a major blow after tearing his ACL).
This is undoubtedly going to be one of the busiest offseasons in a long time for the 49ers. The most important thing to all of it is who they decide to bring in as their new head coach. They are still loaded with talent and can add to it this season with a much higher pick than they’re use to. As of Monday, it’s going to get real exciting real fast.