Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Friday, February 23, 2024
We’ll start getting more and more into NFL Draft analysis as the NFL Combine is right around the corner.
49ers’ Controversial 3rd-Round Pick Already on ‘Roster Bubble’
Now, it would be a shocker for the 49ers to give up Moody after one year. In last year’s draft, he became only the second kicker in the last 15 years to be chosen in the Top 100, when the 49ers pulled a surprise–they were roundly criticized for it–and made him a third-round pick.
But, as Spotrac noted: “Will the Niners front office give up on a 2023 3rd round pick this quickly? In most cases this answer would be no, but San Francisco’s reluctance to utilize Moody in big spots down the stretch has to be a factor in how they feel about him long-term. None of the $3.7M due over the next 3 seasons is guaranteed.”
49ers QB Purdy rides John Deere tractor in SF filming commercial
Purdy’s 2023 salary was ranked 40th on the 49ers at just under $900,000. As much as he is essential to the success of the offense, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement prohibits any contract changes or extensions through a player’s first three seasons.
The Pro Bowl selections salary goes up incrementally in each of the four years of his contract, but Purdy will remain one of the lowest paid players on the roster in 2024. Supplementing his income makes sense and the Iowa State product already has inked partnerships with Toyota and FedEx along with John Deere.
Purdy or Kaepernick? Which QB does 49ers great Patrick Willis pick?
“I’m going to have to take Kap,” declared Willis.
The former linebacker elaborated, “A lot of people can go back and [nitpick] towards what it looked like towards his last couple years and whatnot with the Niners, or his last year with the Niners. He did what he needed to do. It may not have been in a way that—in a traditional quarterback throwing way, but, man, him, you (Griffin), you guys were something electrifying.”
Willis admitted it was a “tough decision,” expressing his admiration for the 49ers’ current young quarterback.
“I love them 1A and 1B,” Willis added.
Potential notable cuts
DL Arik Armstead
Why they might be gone: Armstead revealed after the season he had been playing through a torn meniscus since early December, and will have surgery this offseason. With a $28.35 million scheduled cap hit in 2024, and having just turned 30, it’s no guarantee the 49ers will bring him back, at least without looking at a contract restructure first.
“He taught that when you’re in Lambeau Field, down by four in the last minute. It’s 3rd and 10. It’s sleeting rain and windy and you’ve never been colder in your life. Across the huddle, when you’re in that huddle, you want to look across to someone that you have an element of love for,” Young told Kevin Clark, who hosts a show called “This is Football” for Omaha Productions and ESPN, during a recent interview.
“He always said … ‘That element of connection is what’s going to make us great,’” Young added.
But again, Vrabel or Belichick are practically guaranteed to leave after one year. I think the 49ers would like to look at a coach that will be there for at least two seasons. That means an internal hire would be their ideal avenue first and foremost. Part of what made Wilks a failed experiment is because he was an outsider. The fact that he was brought down from the booth to the sidelines indicated that he needed to conform.
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