Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Sunday, February 7, 2021
As you’ll read below, it doesn’t seem like Niners fans are a fan of Wentz. As far as D.J. Jones, is it expected that he’s going to walk in free agency? Let’s start with Frank Gore.
Should the 49ers Bring Back Frank Gore?
When I first heard what Gore said, I admit I was down on the idea of the 49ers bringing him back for a few reasons.
1. He turns 38 in May.
2. He averaged only 3.5 yards per carry last season.
3. His longest run of 2020 was a mere 17 yards.
4. He’s not as good as Raheem Mostert or Jeff Wilson Jr.
5. He turns 38 in May.
Seems to me the 49ers should continue signing and developing undrafted free agent running backs, because they’ve had success doing just that.
D.J. Jones
Jones is extremely athletic for his size, an attribute that helped the fourth-year defensive tackle lead all 49ers interior defensive linemen with three sacks in 2020, a career high, and tackles for loss at seven. Jones also had career highs in games played with 14 and snaps with 419.
Keep or Release: Likely won’t be back
Jones will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and it is unlikely that he will be back with the 49ers due to salary cap constraints and potential replacements that are already under contract for 2021.
49ers shouldn’t be among teams involved in reported Carson Wentz trade
The 49ers have two issues under center that’ve led to a potential overhaul of their quarterback room. They haven’t been able to keep Garoppolo on the field, and their turnovers were far too frequent the last couple of seasons.
Wentz is a solution for neither of those things.
While he’s been healthier than Garoppolo, he still missed time with a torn ACL in 2017. He missed five games in 2018. He played a whole season in 2019 before suffering a concussion in their first playoff game. Then last year he wound up getting benched after tossing a league-worst 15 interceptions in just 12 starts. Garoppolo in 2019 despite his faults was substantially better than Wentz was in 2020, making it hard to imagine the 49ers are going to move off the former just to bring in the latter.
49ers GM Lynch receives knock to enter Pro Football Hall of Fame
Lynch’s election into the Hall of Fame was revealed during NFL Honors, the annual awards show held on the eve of the Super Bowl. The Class of 2021 is scheduled to be formally enshrined in Canton on Sunday, Aug. 8.
A decade before Lynch became the 49ers’ general manager in 2017, he was a versatile, hard-hitting NFL safety.
He played college ball at Stanford before entering the league as a third-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993. A year earlier, he was the No. 66 overall draft pick of the Florida Marlins as a right-handed pitcher. After two seasons in baseball’s minor leagues, Lynch turned all of his attention to football.
Over the course of his 15-year NFL career — 11 with Tampa Bay and four with the Denver Broncos — Lynch was a nine-time Pro Bowl performer and four-time All-Pro. He is recognized in the rings of honor for both franchises.
Carson Wentz makes zero sense for SF 49ers in multiple regards
The problem, though, is the Niners would have to absorb over $25 million in Wentz’s 2020 contract even after the Eagles would take on over $9 million in dead cap for his prorated bonus this season, per Over the Cap. When considering a would-be Garoppolo release/trade frees up $24.1 million in cap space, the differential isn’t too much.
Yet that sort of move would only make sense if Wentz was much younger and not coming off multiple years where injuries hindered his efforts. On top of that, assuming San Francisco thinks its Super Bowl window is open now, why would general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan entertain the idea of dishing out that kind of money for a reclamation project?
That’s essentially what Wentz is right now.
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