Since we got Brad and Dan, SF has spent a ton more money on their roster than we have, so we are in much, much better shape going forward than the 49ers (Eagles fall in the same category). The 49ers spent a total of more than $100M more in their roster than we did in 2022 and 2023. We are close this year and they were way ahead of us in spending in 2021, as BH cut the fat from the quintricia era.
Going forward, they’ll need to do Brock after the season and we’ll need to give Aiden a raise from his $9M salary (starting with his 5th year option) next year or the year after.
All in all, we are in much better shape than the 49ers, they are going to have to start making some tough decisions going forward, we have cap space to play with.
I think the Aiyuck contract along with the Trent Williams raise required are going to push SF into an all in year. They will have to make major cuts to pay their QB next year.
In my opinion it was a mix of both Aiyuk handcuffing SF, but ultimately it’s SF who caved. In my post above I have a link from PFT stating how the 49ers messed this up. Instead of setting a deadline like they did with Nick Bosa last year, they tried to wait out Aiyuk thinking that he will sign once the season came up and the real fines begin. However, during that time you had St. Brown sign for 30 million per seaosn which basically reset the market, and the cost jumped up.
Per the article, the belief was that Aiyuk would’ve signed for 27 million per year until Saint got paid. When Aiyuk requested a trade, it was reported teams were offering to pay him 28 million but the 49ers refused to trade him. Then Aiyuk began rejecting bigger money offers because he didn’t want to play for certain cities. As the back and forth went on, more WR’s signed and the price kept getting higher. Ultimately Aiyuk signed before the season fines began, and basically got the same deal Amon Ra got. Considering the original asking price was 27 million per season, he gets 30 and the 49ers will lose an extra 12 million over the course of the contract.
Now the 49ers still have to pay Trent Williams, who has 3 years left on his deal and is 36 years old but wants a new contract to match what the current price structure is. Williams has already said he will extend his holdout into the season and has more than enough money to make that true. This is really rough on the 49ers because this isn’t a young guy they are building for the future with, and while Trent Williams is excellent and a top 3 tackle, he is also by FAR their best offensive line player. The 49ers offensive line has really fallen off in quality and losing Williams for any time would be crushing for the entire offense. Purdy will be running for his life, McCaffery will take a lot of big hits as the 49ers run to protect Purdy, and Aiyuk won’t be getting many quality throws if the 49ers can’t pass protect.
Money is definitely getting tight in SF and so far they’ve managed to hold most of their roster together. I assume the hard negotiations are a result of them knowing they can’t pay everyone.
To answer this and @Humberto’s point, the 49ers have had some really dark days mixed in that I think are being forgotten. Remember the Mike Singletary 49ers?
For the current 49ers, they were flat terrible as of 2015 after they blew Harbaugh out. Harbaugh’s last year was 2014 and they went 8-8. That’s when Baalke won the power struggle and Harbaugh came to Michigan. 49ers hired Jim Tomsula who sucked, and went 5-11 in 2015. Tomsula was fired after 1 year, and they hired Chip Kelly. Chip Kelly was worse than terrible, and went 2-14 in 2016. 49ers fired him, second time in 2 seasons firing one year coaches and then fired Baalke to start all over with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch in 2017.
2017 they were 6-10 but started 0-9. Here is where the draft picks begin showing up though. 2017 draft was the draft they fleeced the Bears who wanted Mitch Trubisky. SF didn’t do much better by getting Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster, but they did get Kittle in this draft.
2018 SF goes 4-12, but this was the year Jimmy G got hurt. In the draft they get Mike McGlinchey, Dante Petis and Fred Warner. Warner is a huge steal, he is a stud.
2019 draft as above is where they get Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurd and Dre Greenlaw. All good players, and now a rebuilt SF goes 13-3.
As you can see, the draft picks from the terrible years of 2016-2019 are what built the current team. However, those players are now aging, and they’ve had very poor drafts since then. That’s why they’ve had to overpay guys to stay, make big trades or sign big money free agent signings to stay on top. Those big salaries are coming home to roost and they are in serious cap trouble. They have a major decision to make on Purdy. Either pay him 60 million a year which he is not worth, or start over again at QB and pray.
I think it is a mix of both.
The 9ers could have done the deal earlier and signed Aiyuk at the top of the market in the high $20’s AAV before all the other contracts hit.
this is the approach that Holmes took with ARSB, Penei, and Goff.
That would have saved the drama and saved millions.
Ultimately it was Aiyuk who caved and accepted a deal that had been on the table for almost 3 weeks.
It’s almost alway the player that caves (unless the owner is Jerry).
The team can just plug another player in and keep playing and making the same amount of money.
The team may not play as well but ultimately it doesn’t hurt the team much.
The player stands to lose millions of dollars that can never be recouped in a career that has only so many years.
LeVeon Bell’s holdout was a turning point in his career.
He sat out the entire season, missing out on over $10M. Furthermore, he never got the big long term contract he was seeking and was never the same player.
that’s a big victory parade your taking when the 49ers were VERY close to trading Aiyuk away…. BEFORE the season.
I had guessed they wanted him here for 1 more season…
and couldn’t really pay him the money needed to keep him.
Now that they have caved… they are going to really have go full “Brees Saints” supernova cap hell mode… or they will have to start letting really good players leave when Purdy gets paid.
I also think that the Trent Williams holdout ended up helping Aiyuk. If Trent wasn’t holding out, there would be less motivation to get Aiyuk’s situation figured ASAP… because Aiyuk’s refusal to go to the Browns or Patriots would have limited his leverage. Was Aiyuk going to hold out and cost himself $830,000 per game?
BTW… you also bet his deal would be larger than ARSB’s in that not-so-humble brag… and it wasn’t bigger.
UM, what? Big victory parade? Just wanted to put a bow on our discussion. Wasn’t even giving you shit…
Again, where was I being not humble? Bc I posted it and tagged the person I was having the conversation with? Don’t be so butt hurt.
And yes, I was off by $10,001 in a $120 million contract extension… Darn… At least I didn’t proclaim he wasn’t going to be a 9er after this year… or get an extension… and that his replacement (who’s a completely different type of receiver) was drafted in round one… WHOOPS!
There’s your not so humble brag, might as well go there if you think I already did.
In the end… it worked for Aiyuk and the RESULT reflects the prediction you made.
Was it the plan all along???
If Pearsall hadn’t missed the entire training camp with injury…
and the big Gorilla didn’t also hold out…
I think the 49ers wouldn’t have caved on a long term deal.
I might be wrong.
However… nothing about the sequence of events that occurred this summer would indicate the 49ers planned along to keep Aiyuk on a long term deal at that number. Teams don’t let players negotiate contracts with other teams… if they truly consider them to be a key part of their future.
There are two systems in this league that can get very good results with middling quarterback talent - Kyle Shanahan’s and Andy Reid’s.
Even so, both of those guys spent a buttload of draft capital to try to get “the guy” at QB.
While I think SF could get by with a journeyman or low-ceiling prospect, I would bet that they’d prefer to stay with Purdy.
I guess it depends on their assessment of the guy. If Shanahan thinks Purdy is a JAG that his system makes look good, they may opt to try the value QB route and cross their fingers. I doubt it, though.
Can’t we all just be happy that San Fran had to overpay Aiyuk and now have a 1 year championship window before they have to overpay Purdy? The Lions have things set up for long term contention.
If I were the GM for SF, you have to see the writing on the wall, and go all in this year. Trade picks, buy talent, max out the cap if you must, but you have to go for it all this year. Next year you are already locked in with Bosa, Williams (I am sure he gets extended. Your best hope is he gets a front loaded deal, you win SB, he retires) Deebo, and Aiyuk. Purdy will be your next big payday. If you win the Super Bowl, I would let him walk, trade Deebo and start over.
I do not think Purdy is worth 57-60 per year, which is the expected payout for him. To me, Purdy is as only as good as the players around him and that’s fine, I can work with that. You do not however, get top dollar. I need to pay those other guys around you.
It’s not homerism, but the Lions are built for sustained success. Their leaders are young. Their QB is good enough to win if surrounded by talent, and he is. Their offensive line is young, their defense is young, they’ve got a good coach and good enviornment. Their GM has proven to be very shrewd with contracts. He pays guys who are keys to success, and if someone comes along that is cheaper and can replace a higher priced option, he takes it. Jamaal Williams for sure found that out. He led the NFL in TD’s, wanted a big deal, and immediately got replaced by a cheaper, younger and better version. Jamaal was a great solider and a huge part of our culture rebuild. He also was replaceable. A LOT of old Lions teams ended up overpaying guys because “We can’t just let him leave for nothing” and then got stuck with overpriced and underperforming talent. Then they go to free agency to buy more talent, get stuck with more bad deals and now you are in cap hell.
