Seems like this team needs its own thread, and as the resident 49er fan I'll start it. Coming off a bizarre and largely disastrous 8-8 season, the team has had a totally bizarre and mostly disastrous off-season so far:
1) They fired Jim Harbaugh, who was 44-19-1, made three straight conference championship games and one Super Bowl, and resurrected the franchise from a decade of oblivion. Owner Jed York then gave an interview in which he repeatedly stressed that "Winning isn’t the only thing matters. Winning with class is what matters."
2) After a lengthy, at times wacky search, they hired as his replacement Jim Tomsula, their defensive line coach whose only HC experience is one season in NFL Europe and has never even been an NFL coordinator. Tomsula's intro press conference was a debacle and reassured exactly nobody that he had the ability and experience to handle the job.
3) Tomsula's hiring also cost them elite defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who got passed over for the HC role and left for Chicago. It also cost them Adam Gase, who supposedly had an agreement to be HC until the 49ers insisted that Tomsula would have to be Gase's defensive coordinator, at which point Gase refused and backed out, and then not surprisingly had no interest in being offensive coordinator under Tomsula. The team promoted Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator and QB coach Geep Chryst to offensive coordinator.
4) 5-time all-pro middle linebacker Patrick Willis has retired
5) Franchise rushing record holder Frank Gore is leaving in free agency
6) There were rumors recently that the team was trying to trade Kaepernick.
7) Standout DE Justin Smith is considering retiring.
8) They signed WR Jerome Simpson in free agency. Simpson did not play last season after being cut by Minnesota while suspended for a reckless driving arrest and has a lengthy rap sheet.
9) FB Bruce Miller was arrested yesterday on spousal battery charges.
It's hard to think of a team that has fallen farther faster than this one.
1) They have a deal free agent WR Torrey Smith, which
2) They signed DT Darnell Dockett.
Remaining important free agents: Pro-bowl LG Mike Iupati seems likely to sign with Arizona. WR Michael Crabtree is unlikely to return. CBs Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox are UFAs and they need to either be resigned or replaced. Both played well last year and Cox especially was a pleasant surprise.
They've signed Torrey Smith and Darnell Dockett in FA so far. Smith fills a big hole by [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]providing a speedy deep threat on the outside that the team badly needed; [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Dockett is 33 and missed last season with an ACL tear but was an excellent player prior to his injury. Dockett gets bonus points for having one of the NFL's most interesting twitter accounts. They restructured Aldon Smith's contract to give them flexibility in case he gets into trouble again. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Biggest holes: Even with all the turmoil, this is still a strong roster with few glaring weaknesses They have to replace Iupati. The in-house candidate is Brandon Thomas, whom they drafted last year in the third round as one of Baalke's redshirt picks after Thomas tore his ACL in pre-draft workouts. He was considered a high 2nd/low 1st prospect before getting hurt, but nobody knows if he'll be actually be any good, so they could also bring in a FA. They need CBs, especially if they don't resign Culliver and Cox. Smith filled the deep-threat need, and the WR depth chart now looks like Boldin, Smith, Ellington, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Simpson, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Patton. They need DL depth, even after signing Dockett, and especially if Justin Smith retires. And they may need a new FB if they have to cut Miller after his arrest.[/SIZE]
1) They fired Jim Harbaugh, who was 44-19-1, made three straight conference championship games and one Super Bowl, and resurrected the franchise from a decade of oblivion. Owner Jed York then gave an interview in which he repeatedly stressed that "Winning isn’t the only thing matters. Winning with class is what matters."
2) After a lengthy, at times wacky search, they hired as his replacement Jim Tomsula, their defensive line coach whose only HC experience is one season in NFL Europe and has never even been an NFL coordinator. Tomsula's intro press conference was a debacle and reassured exactly nobody that he had the ability and experience to handle the job.
3) Tomsula's hiring also cost them elite defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who got passed over for the HC role and left for Chicago. It also cost them Adam Gase, who supposedly had an agreement to be HC until the 49ers insisted that Tomsula would have to be Gase's defensive coordinator, at which point Gase refused and backed out, and then not surprisingly had no interest in being offensive coordinator under Tomsula. The team promoted Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator and QB coach Geep Chryst to offensive coordinator.
4) 5-time all-pro middle linebacker Patrick Willis has retired
5) Franchise rushing record holder Frank Gore is leaving in free agency
6) There were rumors recently that the team was trying to trade Kaepernick.
7) Standout DE Justin Smith is considering retiring.
8) They signed WR Jerome Simpson in free agency. Simpson did not play last season after being cut by Minnesota while suspended for a reckless driving arrest and has a lengthy rap sheet.
9) FB Bruce Miller was arrested yesterday on spousal battery charges.
It's hard to think of a team that has fallen farther faster than this one.
1) They have a deal free agent WR Torrey Smith, which
2) They signed DT Darnell Dockett.
Remaining important free agents: Pro-bowl LG Mike Iupati seems likely to sign with Arizona. WR Michael Crabtree is unlikely to return. CBs Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox are UFAs and they need to either be resigned or replaced. Both played well last year and Cox especially was a pleasant surprise.
They've signed Torrey Smith and Darnell Dockett in FA so far. Smith fills a big hole by [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]providing a speedy deep threat on the outside that the team badly needed; [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Dockett is 33 and missed last season with an ACL tear but was an excellent player prior to his injury. Dockett gets bonus points for having one of the NFL's most interesting twitter accounts. They restructured Aldon Smith's contract to give them flexibility in case he gets into trouble again. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Biggest holes: Even with all the turmoil, this is still a strong roster with few glaring weaknesses They have to replace Iupati. The in-house candidate is Brandon Thomas, whom they drafted last year in the third round as one of Baalke's redshirt picks after Thomas tore his ACL in pre-draft workouts. He was considered a high 2nd/low 1st prospect before getting hurt, but nobody knows if he'll be actually be any good, so they could also bring in a FA. They need CBs, especially if they don't resign Culliver and Cox. Smith filled the deep-threat need, and the WR depth chart now looks like Boldin, Smith, Ellington, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Simpson, [/SIZE][SIZE=14.4444446563721px]Patton. They need DL depth, even after signing Dockett, and especially if Justin Smith retires. And they may need a new FB if they have to cut Miller after his arrest.[/SIZE]