The San Francisco 49ers had a serious case of a Super Bowl hangover in 2024. After being one of the more dominant teams in the league over the past three seasons, Kyle Shanahan’s team will finish in last place in the NFC West this year, having struggled in all three phases of the game.
There will be some tough decisions that the front office will have to make during the coming spring and summer. The biggest question mark will be the size of the contract that they offer to their quarterback, as Brock Purdy is in line for a raise by way of an extension.
Three 49ers Players Who Might Not Be Back Next Season
But that isn’t the only player that the team will be evaluating. The team will likely do some major re-tooling this off-season as the money owed to their high-priced players grows, and some familiar names could find themselves on the chopping block rather than being brought back for next year.
Here are three players that might not be back on San Francisco’s roster for the 2025 campaign:
49ers LB Dre Greenlaw now has been ruled out after suffering an Achilles injury here: pic.twitter.com/YNGx3DTXSe
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 12, 2024
Dre Greenlaw:
Dre Greenlaw has been an outstanding compliment at the linebacker position next to Fred Warner. He racked up a combined 247 tackles between 2022 and 2023, ranking second on the team in that span, and was even ranked as the 79th best player in the NFL by his peers on the Top 100 NFL Players List in 2023.
But disaster struck for the 26-year-old during last year’s Super Bowl. Greenlaw suffered a non-contact Achilles tear as the second half of the big game began, which limited his availability in 2024 to just two games. The 49ers not only misses his presence on the field, but are now faced with his expiring contract. Given the money that they’ve doled out to other players on the defense, it is unlikely that they’ll show Greenlaw a lucrative offer. He’ll probably find greener pastures this off-season, and there is a good chance that he’s played his final game with San Francisco.
Legendary game by Jake Moody. Misses 2 FGs an XP and then booms the onside kick straight out of bounds to finish off his masterpiece
— Stuckey (@Stuckey2) December 31, 2024
Jake Moody:
The front office was questioned when they spent a 3rd round pick on a place kicker in the 2023 NFL Draft. He became a star with his leg during his time at Michigan, but Jake Moody has struggled mightily at the next level, and could his time with the 49ers could be expiring.
There was hope for improvement after missing 4 of his 25 field goal attempts during his rookie season, but he has been even worse in his second year. Moody has converted just 23 of his 32 attempts so far in 2024, good enough for a 71.8% success rate, which is the second-worst mark in the league of any player with 20+ attempts this season.
Based on the Kyle Shanahan’s reactions to the missed kicks, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 49ers part ways with the 25-year-old in the coming months.
Deebo Samuel
In order to keep their core intact for at least a couple of more seasons, the 49ers will have to cut ties with some of the players that are no longer producing numbers that match their contracts. One of those players is Deebo Samuel, who has yet to reproduce the one productive season that earned him a big contract back in 2022. His sub-3.5 catch per game average is the lowest of his career, and it is likely that he’ll wind up with the fewest scrimmage yards of any healthy season that he’s played.
The team already signed wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a lucrative deal, and they could save roughly $5 million if they were to trade Samuel with a post-June 1st designation.
