\u201cWe feel really good about our offseason. We took a hard look at our roster and said, \u2018Where do we need to be better?\u2019 And we think we\u2019ve addressed those areas. I think a common theme was we wanted to be better, holistically, on special teams, but we never just want to have special teams players. We want guys that are fits into our offense or defense. <\/p>\n

I think a lot of people see that correlation between the money that Jimmy is due and that is somehow prohibiting us from doing what we wanted to do, that wasn\u2019t the case. We had a plan, we\u2019ve been very aggressive, top five, top ten team in terms of cash. And we\u2019ve had the pedal down for five years. It was time to probably, on the whole, take a step back in terms of the amount of cash and cap we were spending. And so that was planned all along. And still, I think despite those kinds of challenges we were able to have, what I believe, is a really productive offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was always hard to believe that spending an extra $18.5 – $25 million wouldn\u2019t have helped in a salary cap league especially when Lynch himself said in March that keeping Garoppolo\u2019s salary on the books would<\/em> change the team\u2019s approach to free agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly tradeoffs,\u201d he told Matt Maiocco on the 49ers Talk podcast, \u201cBut we budgeted for a lot of different things with Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and one of those scenarios and a couple of those scenarios has included Jimmy. Yes, we can [keep him]. It will curtail what we are able to do, the aggressiveness in free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, two possible scenarios exist here that are hard to reconcile. In scenario one (as Lynch said today), the 49ers were never going to use any extra money from trading\/releasing Jimmy Garoppolo. Despite it being a salary cap league with fixed labor costs, the team was going to keep that money in its back pocket for…reasons.<\/p>\n

In scenario two (as Lynch told Maiocco in February), they were perfectly willing to spend that money, but the team had to \u201ccurtail their aggressiveness\u201d because they refused to let go of Jimmy Garoppolo and thus didn\u2019t have that extra money to spend.<\/p>\n

Neither outcome makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Now is the time when the team should be gobbling up free agents because they have a starting quarterback on a rookie deal. You want as many great players on the team as possible, both for depth and so that there\u2019s nothing in the way of getting an accurate evaluation of Trey Lance\u2019s abilities going forward.<\/p>\n

Instead, the team is telling you that that was never the plan in any way. Instead, they\u2019re pinning their hopes on an inexperienced quarterback, Nick Bosa being healthy for all 17+ games, and the special teams not being among the worst in the league. And that\u2019s if <\/em>Deebo Samuel can be convinced to stay with the team.<\/p>\n

What do you think of that plan? Do you think the 49ers have had a good offseason? Vote in our poll and leave us a comment below.<\/p>\n