San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan faced a wave of criticism and calls for him to be fired after the team went 6-11 this year and failed to make it back to the playoffs, but it sounds like many around the NFL are giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Despite failing to get the 49ers a championship in two career trips to the Super Bowl and the down year in 2024, Shanahan's perception has not taken a hit among his peers.

"Within the coaches in the league, no one thinks any less of Kyle Shanahan," a former Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots assistant told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. "It's ludicrous to think they should get rid of him. [Andy] Reid had these same criticisms early in his career, and now he's clearly in the conversation for best coach ever. Kyle Shanahan's criticisms are that he's lost a couple of Super Bowls? OK, do you know how hard it is to get to the Super Bowl?"

As the assistant pointed out, before Reid became head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, he developed a reputation for not being able to get his team over the hump. Now, Reid has three championship rings and will be trying to help the Chiefs achieve the first three-peat in modern NFL history.

The assistant went on to add that he believes Shanahan will have a similar trajectory to Reid, so it would be a major mistake if the 49ers listen to the outside noise and part ways with him.

"If you throw rocks at Kyle Shanahan and want him fired, he's going to have a job in 30 seconds," the assistant said. "Reid, it was that he couldn't win the big one, and now he's on the verge of winning three in a row. Kyle is going to be coaching for a long time. He's going to have another chapter in his career where he's going for three (Super Bowls) in a row."

Robert Saleh is a leading candidate to return as the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator if he isn't able to land a head coaching job, according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner.

"Saleh runs Shanahan's preferred scheme, knows the key defensive leaders still on the roster and has proved adept at altering the defense when injuries or other factors have made it necessary," Wagoner wrote on Monday. "He interviewed for the job on Thursday and a reunion is possible, if not likely."

Saleh served as head coach of the New York Jets from 2021 until he was fired after Week 5 of the 2024 season with the Jets sitting at 2-3. After he was let go by New York, the team ended the year with a 5-12 record and struggled defensively throughout the remainder of the season.

Wagoner and NFL Network's Tom Pelissero noted that Saleh has head coaching interviews lined up with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders, making it "difficult" for San Francisco to wait if the hiring process drags on for either vacancy.

The 45-year-old was previously the 49ers' defensive coordinator from 2017-20, overseeing a defense that helped the team make a Super Bowl 54 appearance.

While San Francisco sat at just 6-10 during his final year with the organization in 2020, the 49ers still ranked No. 5 in the NFL by allowing just 314.4 yards per game.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan's team similarly underperformed expectations as it was hit hard by injuries in 2024, ending the year with a 6-11 record. San Francisco gave up 25.6 points per game, the fourth-worst mark in the league.

If Saleh isn't a finalist for a head coach position, reuniting with the 49ers appears to be a probable outcome.

The San Francisco 49ers are considering bringing back their former defensive coordinator.

The team announced on Thursday that it had completed an interview with Robert Saleh for their vacant defensive coordinator position. Saleh, who led the Niners defense from 2017 to 2020, was fired by the New York Jets in October after a 2-3 start.

The 49ers relieved Nick Sorensen from his defensive coordinator duties earlier this week, though the team hopes to keep him on staff in some capacity. Amid a 6-11 season for San Francisco, its defense lacked in several areas while dealing with a handful of key injuries.

According to The Athletic's Matt Barrows and Cale Clinton, the 49ers have also interviewed Detroit Lions defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend for their defensive coordinator opening.

Though Saleh finished 16-23 during his time with New York, strong defenses were a staple of his tenure. The Jets defense finished top five in yards allowed in each of the last three seasons and allowed 20 or fewer points in three of the five games Saleh coached this year.

Saleh, who has almost two decades of experience as a defensive coach in the NFL, helped lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019, though they ultimately came up short against the Kansas City Chiefs. With Saleh now having his first head-coaching experience behind him, re-joining San Francisco's staff could finally give the Niners the fit they need after having four different defensive coordinators over the past four years.

Saleh is getting some head coaching interest, though. NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Thursday that Saleh is set to interview with the Las Vegas Raiders, adding that Saleh also has an interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

If defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is going to remain with the San Francisco 49ers, it will have to be on a new contract.

San Francisco general manager John Lynch revealed Wednesday that the team is making Hargrave a post-June 1 cut this offseason, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner. However, Lynch was also open to potentially bringing him back as a free agent.

"Would we be interested in having him (back)? Of course," the general manager told reporters. "Is that something we've come to an agreement on and is it something that fits in our plans? We'll see."

This move does not come as a surprise, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk explained the 49ers restructured Hargrave's contract in December to create this opportunity.

While the defensive tackle signed a four-year, $84 million deal with the NFC West team ahead of the 2023 campaign, the reworked contract clears up $2.85 million in space and allows the team to take a $7.375 million dead cap hit.

"It gives him an opportunity to go see what his market is," Lynch said. "And it may include us."

Hargrave surely won't land the same type of deal on the open market this offseason, as he turns 32 years old in February and is coming off a torn triceps injury that limited him to three games during the 2024 campaign.

Still, the former Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles player was one of the best defensive tackles in the league at his best and isn't that far removed from his second Pro Bowl nod during the 2023 season.

He helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl that season behind 44 tackles, seven sacks and two passes defended in the regular season and another 10 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery during the playoff run to the sport's biggest stage.

The effort came after he posted a career-best 11 sacks in 2022.

While there are age and injury concerns with Hargrave at this point of his career, he is still a proven playmaker who brings a relatively high ceiling to the table for any team that is interested in signing him this offseason.

Perhaps the 49ers will be one of those teams.

Brock Purdy's contract will be a major talking point surrounding the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, and the quarterback has the support of head coach Kyle Shanahan.

"I plan on being with Brock here the whole time I'm here," Shanahan said Wednesday, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "Brock's been a stud. He's a guy I've got a lot of confidence in just as a human, but it starts with what he's done on the field these last two and a half years. We're capable of winning the Super Bowl with him. He just almost did and I know he's capable of getting the Niners a Super Bowl in the future."

Purdy is signed through the 2025 season and will make $1.1 million in base salary in the final year of his current deal.

While there are fair discussions to be had regarding Purdy's overall ceiling, how important the talent around him is, and the favorability of his situation working with Shanahan and so many offensive playmakers, he is still in line for quite the raise given the start of his career.

The final pick of the 2022 NFL draft is 23-13 as a starter in his first three seasons and led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in his first campaign and the Super Bowl in his second.

For his part, he told reporters he is looking for a drama-free negotiation that would ideally end quickly so the team can focus on improving elsewhere:

Expectations were high entering the 2024 campaign after Purdy was a Pro Bowler who reached the Super Bowl during the 2023 season. However, injuries to Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and others undercut San Francisco's championship hopes and played a large role in the team's 6-11 record.

Purdy lost some of his individual momentum while going 6-9 on the shorthanded roster, but his head coach still believes he is the one to lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl down the line.

Now it will be up to the front office to decide how much that is worth during contract negotiations this offseason.

Amid speculation that Deebo Samuel could be on his way out of San Francisco via trade this offseason, 49ers general manager John Lynch expressed that he had no interest in trading Samuel.

According to ESPN's Nick Wagoner, Lynch said "the plan is to bring" Samuel back to the 49ers in 2025.

Samuel had a frustrating campaign in 2024, totaling just 670 receiving yards and three touchdowns on a career-low 51 receptions.

In December, a since-deleted social media post from Samuel read "Not struggling at all, just not getting the ball!"

"You read what you read," Samuel said when asked about the post. "[I'm] a little frustrated for sure."

The former Pro-Bowler clearly would have liked to see more targets this year, which led to speculation that he could request a trade at the end of the season.

Samuel had a breakout season in 2021 when he recorded 1,405 receiving yards and six touchdowns along with eight rushing touchdowns. The former Pro-Bowler clearly would have liked to see more targets this year, which led to speculation that he could request a trade at the end of the season. So far, Samuel has not asked out of San Francisco.

Even if the 49ers wanted to part ways with Samuel, it would cost a pretty penny thanks to his contract being restructured ahead of the 2024 season. If the Niners were to cut or trade Samuel, they would take on $31.6 million dead money while getting no cost savings in return, per Over the Cap.

They could save some money by cutting or trading him after June 1, but it would ultimately lead to more dead money down the road.

The financial implications of cutting or trading Samuel are likely on Lynch's mind, but the Niners are also likely holding on to hope that the former All-Pro receiver can return to his 2021 self.

The San Francisco 49ers are promoting Klay Kubiak from offensive passing game specialist to offensive coordinator, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday.

Shanahan said he would continue to call plays in 2025, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner.

The 49ers haven't hired an offensive coordinator since Mike McDaniel held the position in 2021, per ESPN's Field Yates.

The news comes after Shanahan told reporters he allowed Kubiak to call plays against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18. The Niners went on to record 436 total yards of offense in the loss.

Kubiak also called plays in two preseason games ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Shanahan said after giving Kubiak the chance to call preseason plays that he thought it was "good for anyone to get practice for their future."

"I remember when I was a receiver coach and a quarterback coach, I'm always calling the game in my head," Shanahan said on KNBR's The Shanahan Show in August (h/t NBC Sports' Ali Thanawalla.) "No one's really letting you do it, but you're always preparing for that because that's your goal.

"I would have loved the opportunity to get it before I actually had to do it... So I thought it would just be cool opportunity for Klay to do it, something that could help him for the future and things like that."

The Week 18 loss marked the first time Shanahan had not called plays in a regular-season game since he began the 2008 season as the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, per NBC Sports' Matt Maiocco.

The 49ers are looking for changes after plunging down the NFC standings with a 1-7 season-ending stretch and missing the playoffs less than a year after a trip to the Super Bowl.

Niners CEO Jed York told Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard that Shanahan and general manager John Lynch were "not going anywhere."

That security hasn't applied to all members of the current staff. The 49ers dismissed special teams coordinator Brian Schneider after the unit struggled throughout 2024, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner.

Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan won three Super Bowls together while coaching the 49ers and the Denver Broncos between 1995 and 1999. Their sons will now look to help the 49ers climb back into postseason contention in 2025.

Nick Sorensen's time as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers reportedly lasted just one year.

Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports reported Tuesday that Sorensen is out as the defensive coordinator even though the team hopes to keep him as an assistant on the staff. Maiocco explained "there are a few attractive options" that San Francisco will explore for the DC position.

Sorensen played in the NFL as a defensive back for 10 seasons from 2001 through 2010 for the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns.

He then landed his first coaching job in the NFL in 2013 as a special teams assistant for the Seattle Seahawks. He remained with the Seahawks for eight years and eventually became the defensive backs coach, which was fitting given his playing career.

Seattle went to the playoffs seven times during his tenure, including when it reached back-to-back Super Bowls during the 2013 and 2014 campaigns. It won the Super Bowl during that 2013 season.

After his eight years with the Seahawks, Sorensen was the special teams coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 before joining the 49ers ahead of the 2022 campaign. He started as a defensive assistant in San Francisco before he was promoted to nickelbacks coach in 2023 and the defensive coordinator role in 2024.

The 49ers were a solid eighth in the league in yards allowed under his direction this past season, although they were also a disappointing 29th in points allowed.

The defense's inability to keep opposing teams off the scoreboard was a major reason San Francisco went 6-11 and missed the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl last season, although injuries were also largely to blame.

Still, head coach Kyle Shanahan clearly appreciates the work Sorensen did with the 49ers given the team's reported interest in keeping him aboard. He was an assistant during the Super Bowl run and could look to fill a similar role in 2025 for a team looking to bounce back.

For now, though, the NFC West club is in the market for a new defensive coordinator.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey told ESPN's Nick Wagoner that he is "definitely close" to being fully recovered from his season-ending knee injury and would have been able to return to the field had the Niners made it to the playoffs.

McCaffrey added that he will continue his rehab and is expected to be good to go for organized team practice activity, per Wagoner.

The 28-year-old missed the final five games of the season after suffering a PCL injury in his right knee during the 49ers' Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He had already dealt with a delayed start to the 2024 season, not playing until Week 10 due to a calf strain and bilateral Achilles tendinitis.

McCaffrey's near return was frustrating, especially as he had just begun to rediscover his form before suffering the injury.

"But it was good that it happened because I got to taste it again and understand what I can do," McCaffrey told reporters.

Coming off a Super Bowl loss and facing a 6-11 season, missing out on the postseason was certainly difficult for the 49ers to endure, especially for McCaffrey, who could only watch from the sideline for much of the season.

"We had a really tough year and I've been a part of tough years and I've been a part of good years," McCaffrey told reporters. "I can tell you one thing though, there's only one team happy at the end of the year and everyone else is really pissed off whether you lose the Super Bowl or whether you go 6-11 or whatever it is."

With just four games under his belt this season, McCaffrey finished with 202 rushing yards on 50 carries, adding 146 receiving yards.

"Its tough when you're not out there, I don't want to say you don't have a right, it's just tough because you're not contributing and so that's one of the most frustrating things about it is you're not helping," McCaffrey told reporters. "For me it's just about being a good teammate where I can be and trying to come back as quick as possible and unfortunately sometimes those are the only things you can do when you're hurt."

Despite the disastrous season, McCaffrey is looking forward to the offseason and shifting both his and the team's mindset.

"I think the mind shift now has to shift quick. From, this was a tough year let's learn from the mistakes and lets get ready for OTA's because we don't have time to mope on this year and just like last year, we didn't have time to think about the Super Bowl and that's easier said than done," McCaffrey said. "But we've gotta get ready for this next year for the guys who will be here and come back hungry."

Brock Purdy is in line for a new contract this offseason, and he doesn't plan to let negotiations follow him and the San Francisco 49ers into the season.

Per 49ersWebZone's David Bonilla, the third-year quarterback said he'd prefer to get an extension done sooner rather than later.

"Everybody's different, just with the timing of getting something done and whatnot," Purdy said. "For me, I want to, obviously, get it done. If that's an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that'd be great, just so we can get back for phase one, get after it with the receivers and our team, and just continue to grow because we've all gotta grow together."

Purdy turned heads in 2023 when he threw for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading the Niners to an NFC Championship. He took a step back this season as he recorded 3,864 passing yards and 20 touchdowns, though there are a few reasons for his regression.

His favorite target from the 2023 season, Brandon Aiyuk, played just seven games before suffering a torn ACL. Star running back Christian McCaffrey, who was responsible for 564 receiving yards in 2023, also dealt with injuries and played just four games.

Assuming Purdy has his usual weapons back in 2025, he should be due for a big season and in turn, will likely get a lucrative extension this offseason.

Spotrac gives Purdy a market value of $59.7 per year, which would make him the second-highest-paid quarterback annually only behind Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. If the Niners are willing to go that high, Purdy will hope to reward them with an MVP-caliber season.