Three of the San Francisco 49erst most valuable players over the years are apparently moving on from the team. And despite public denials, a prized young quarterback’s future may be uncertain.
It started with reports Sunday that veteran running back Frank Gore was leaving his home of 10 years to take a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. It continued with information being released that the team is listening to potential offers for quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
That was in just a few-hour span on Sunday.
Then on Monday, various reports indicated that both Justin Smith and Patrick Willis are retiring. That’s three of the team’s best players gone within a 24-hour span. This comes just a couple months after the 49ers and former head coach Jim Harbaugh “mutually” parted ways.
Let’s start with Gore. San Francisco was not going to match the Eagles offer for the soon-to-be 32-year-old running back. With Carlos Hyde on the roster and San Francisco considering cheaper veteran options, this shouldn’t be a major issue on the field. However, it was a major blow to the team’s fan base. As the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, many in Northern California wanted to see Gore retire in the red and gold.
We ran a story late Sunday night that indicated the 49ers were listening to offers for Kaepernick. This obviously drew some criticism, especially considering the idea of trading the young quarterback doesn’t make much sense.
But a couple things are important to note here.
Jayson Braddock has a recent track record for getting inside scoops. He was the first to report Byron Maxwell’s deal with the Philadelphia Eagles and beat multiple national writers to the Houston Texans quarterback story.
San Francisco has publicly denied these rumors, but this is a familiar stance from its front office. It previously denied that there was a rift between the team and Harbaugh. In addition to this, the 49ers front office also denied reports that Harbaugh was on the trade block last offseason.
Simply put, we can’t take much of what San Francisco’s front office says publicly too seriously. The track record simply isn’t there.
Whether Kaepernick is traded, no one really knows at this point. However, this piece of news tells us a story of a team that might not be sold on its recently extended signal caller.
Moving on to Monday’s stories.
Pro Bowl defensive lineman Justin Smith had been contemplating retirement since the end of the 2014 season. His decision to step away from the game shouldn’t be considered a surprise. San Francisco might have also been planning for this reality when it inked Darnell Dockett to a free-agent contract earlier this month.
The biggest stunner in all this is All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis deciding to step away from the game after just eight seasons. Despite suffering a toe injury that forced him to miss half of the 2014 season, Willis’ retirement comes completely out of left field.
Heck, Willis indicated just a few short months ago that he felt like he had six more seasons remaining in the NFL (via CSN Bay Area).
I don’t look to play this game for just another year,” Willis said on Nov. 11. “I feel like I have five or six more great years of football left in my body. Unfortunately, this toe was telling me otherwise.
Some may point to the toe injury, but other reports indicate that his retirement has little to do with football, and is primarily based on a “religious awakening.”
Here’s a team that just a few years removed from the Super Bowl and legitimately 14 months removed from nearly defeating the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. The core of that team—Harbaugh, Willis, Gore and Smith—are no longer with the team. And the quarterback that took San Francisco from playoff contender to Super Bowl contender could very well be on his way out of town.
It would be unfair to blame San Francisco’s front office for everything that has happened since a substandard 2014 season concluded. With that said, the complete and utter lack of apparent stability within the organization itself has surely played a role here.
One could say that general manager Trent Baalke and CEO Jed York are putting their reputations on the line here—reputations that have already taken major hits over the months. If that’s true, the short-term future should be darn interesting in Santa Clara.
Until then, don’t expect this one scribe to talk you off the ledge.
Photo: USA Today