Given the 49ers’ past, I don’t think there’s much politics in playing time
One thing is certain, the San Francisco 49ers probably won’t have a need for receiver for awhile. They drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round and later took Jacob Cowing in the fourth. Add those to a unit with Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and others means that group is set, barring a training camp disaster. So Willie Snead IV, who was bounced from the 49ers practice squad to main roster for two years, probably won’t be back in 2024.
Snead took to X on Friday to voice where he’d like to be in 2024 and left a cryptic shot at the 49ers and possibly the Carolina Panthers/Las Vegas Raiders, the two teams he was on in 2021.
I pasted it below in case it gets deleted.
Snead followed this up mentioning he was playing consistent politics over the last three years, something he didn’t do when playing for then-New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton from 2014-2018. He also said his last year of consistent playtime in 2020 gave him better numbers than receivers today.
Just for the record, Snead also followed up saying he had “nothing but love for the Bay.”
Hey, I get how things can be a boys’ club in some teams and such, but the 49ers? This is the team that offloaded a quarterback they burned three first round picks for because they felt he wasn’t good enough to be the backup after four starts in two years. They instead went with a sixth-round pick.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m left scratching my head on this one. Sorry, Snead. You are a great player and you worked hard during your time in the NFL to make it out of undrafted free agent hell, but you were simply buried on a depth chart containing Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk, or even Chris Conley.
Maybe he’s talking about players like then-rookie Ronnie Bell? Well, using Bell as an example, the 49ers were trying to utilize him as a punt returner and they also drafted him. That meant they had him for a cheap three-year contract while Snead was on and off short-term deals. That’s not entitlement, that’s managing a football team.
Furthermore, if there’s anything we’ve learned about Kyle Shanahan it’s that he tends to play veterans over rookies. Anyone remember that Josh Norman debate when he started over Deommodore Lenoir?
So who was Snead competing with here? Who was he expecting to compete with?
All I’m saying is, if Snead really was good enough to play more, he probably would have. If we’re bringing up numbers, I’d like to know how good a blocker he was compared to the other wide receivers who got the nod. Could have have ran the Deebo play that got Jauan Jennings blown up in the NFC Divisional?
Now, all that said, I’m not on the field and I certainly don’t have these “sources” that everyone seems to have these days, so I have no way of knowing if there’s some truth to what Snead suggests. I just write a sports blog on the weekends. So on the surface, this seems like sour grapes. When you see not just the names, but the level of production on the field, salaries aside, you have a better chance of beating Battletoads without using a continue than you do getting into the starting lineup with that wide receiver group.
One has to wonder though: you think there’s some truth to Snead’s bitterness? Do you think maybe he’s part of a lot of politics in the league on why some players get playtime over others? Especially the 49ers?
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