The San Francisco 49ers were arguably the biggest underachievers in the NFL in 2024, going from a 12-5 team that narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl to 6-11 and finishing in last place in the NFC West.
San Francisco’s lack of success last year, brought them into the offseason with a ton of decisions to make, including which of their pending free agents to sign or let walk, who to target from other teams in free agency, who to extend that was still under contract, who to trade and who to draft.
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Over the last few months, the team has made some massive changes, firing defensive coordinator Nick Sorenson, hiring Robert Saleh to replace him, letting Dre Green law, Aaron Banks, Talanoa Hufanga and Charvarius Ward leave in free agency and trading Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders.
While there have been mixed reviews of San Francisco’s offseason, to this point, former 49ers quarterback Steve Young is thrilled with what his team has done.
“I’m very happy with how they handled the offseason,” Young told Rich Eisen on the “Rich Eisen Show.” “They had a clear plan. It was retooling. It wasn’t a complete restructure, but it was a retooling. Every move was tactical and smart and fast. And signing everybody and getting everybody on board. I just thought they handled the offseason perfectly.
“And now what has to happen is your veterans need to stay healthy. Trent Williams is number one. If Trent Williams goes down, that offensive line is no longer a top-five offensive line in the league. But with Trent, you can survive it. Now, if all of your veterans stay healthy, you’ve got all your rookies that need to pop. The [Los Angeles] Rams got it with Puka Nacua, and now all of a sudden, they’re back in the mix. And that needs to happen [for the 49ers].”
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Injuries were a huge part of San Francisco’s struggles in 2024, with Williams, Greenlaw, Hufanga, Javon Hargrave, Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk missing significant time. As Young points out, if most of the 49ers’ stars can be on the field for the majority of the season, they should see better results, and seeing some young players pop, like first-round pick Mykel Williams, in 2025 could get them back to the postseason and erase the memory of an abysmal year.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Steve Young: 49ers handled their 2025 offseason perfectly
