Although there is just four weeks from the NFL draft, offseason grades have already started to come out of media outlets. Teams can bring their poor stock up with a solid draft, and the San Francisco 49ers are one such franchise hoping for a reappraisal after failing to make positive headlines this offseason.
That’s somewhat surprising considering the front office was moving at breakneck speed bringing in Chip Kelly to replace Jim Tomsula as head coach. From there, the offseason was mostly non-news and speculation regarding the quarterback situation. Will Colin Kaepernick stay or won’t he? Rumors alternated sides faster than San Francisco’s gold rush, and despite being fully guaranteed $11.9 million this year, the attention is still centered on Kaepernick who hasn’t played since Week 9.
But the 49ers didn’t do themselves any favors with big signings despite having the capital to make some moves. While most teams made at least one big move, the biggest out-of-house move despite having a plethora of needs was signing guard Zane Beadles from Jacksonville. He does fulfill the role Mike Iupati left vacant last year to a degree — one draft need off the board.
Still, the 49ers have an estimated cap space of $56.8 million yet, and there aren’t any players that will demand figures to come close to that level. The incoming rookie class will command roughly $10 million, leaving a lot of headroom and nothing to show for it but questions of which only a few can be addressed in the draft.
Granted, teams don’t have to max out their cap to be successful. Both ends of the spectrum have had their pros and cons. But for the most part, teams that are reluctant or incapable of spending haven’t been on the winning end of the deal.
Of the eight teams with over $20 million in remaining cap space, only the Cincinnati Bengals ($20.8 million) made the playoffs last year. Last year’s numbers showed that every team with more than $10 million in cap space failed to make the playoffs, and each including the 49ers is picking in the top half of this year’s draft.
This isn’t to suggest the team go out and spend every last dime for the sake of doing so. The talent pool isn’t as viable as it was when the market opened. Free agent wide receivers, both offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs have all been exhausted. Now it’s up to the franchise to look deep into the draft to come up with something big after failing to do so when players were up for grabs.
There is hope, though. The last team to make the playoffs with more than $20 million left to spend was the 2013 Philadelphia Eagles with Kelly in his first year on the sideline. So while there isn’t much eye-popping talent on the roster right now, the possibility remains that maybe all the team needs is a change of pace. Kelly will provide that, to what end remains a mystery.
Things get further complicated when you consider the likelihood the 49ers draft a quarterback like Jared Goff. He fits rather nicely for the team, but without many other picks until late in the draft, getting someone to boost the receiving corps or offensive line to aid his progression becomes more difficult, and something that could have been addressed earlier.
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