NFL insider Jason La Canfora: Why the 49ers look set for a long season

Cause for concern surrounding the San Francisco 49ers was already mounting before training camp even began. Those worries only deepened when a controversial car accident temporarily sidelined their head coach, right as another wave of major injuries hit the roster.

League executives have long maintained that San Francisco’s Super Bowl window was slamming shut after their latest championship loss—even after handing quarterback Brock Purdy a massive contract extension.

Nothing since has changed that consensus. Despite a 2025 playoff return, the franchise remains burdened by roster atrophy, recurring injuries, draft misfires, and the NFL’s worst QB pressure rate—all while the Seahawks and Rams surge in the NFC West.

That deterioration comes despite an offense that completely lost its explosive ground game—an unfathomable flaw in Kyle Shanahan’s proven outside zone scheme. The offensive line is in clear decline, dynamic back Christian McCaffrey is aging, and elite blocking tight end George Kittle is battling through another major injury.

The health concerns extend far past the backfield. Former first-round pick Ricky Pearsall, who struggled to stay on the field as a rookie, has already been ruled out for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Kittle is attempting a long road back from a January Achilles tear, and pass rusher Nick Bosa is trying to rebound from a lost season and avoid the late-career injury bug that plagued his brother, Joey.

“I think they’re in trouble,” one GM said to me about the 49ers this offseason even before Kyle Shanahan’s accident and Pearsall’s diagnosis. “The ‘window’ stuff gets thrown around too much by you guys (in the media) … That roster looks old. They haven’t drafted well.”

It remains to be seen what comes of the Shanahan situation, with the local authorities trying to keep evidence and details of the crash under wraps.

The 49ers remain at odds with former star receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who received a huge contract extension from them before going AWOL on his recovery from an injury, and given this he likely won’t be playing for them ever again.

Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams has been remarkably healthy in recent years, but is nearing the end of his career and has a deep history of injury issues.

So what did the 49ers do in the face of this?

The 49ers also brought back wide receiver Deebo Samuel—the same playmaker whose hefty contract they were eager to shed a year ago. After a physical breakdown in San Francisco and an underwhelming 2025 campaign in Washington, the 30-year-old looks long past his prime.

To make matters worse, San Francisco doubled down on another draft class filled with prospects rival evaluators largely dismissed—a draft strategy that has continually failed to pay off.

“Speed wins in this league, that’s not a secret,” said one NFL advance scout who has watched the 49ers incredibly closely over the years. “You can’t scheme it up … Kyle is one of the best with the headset on (calling plays on offense), but he can’t overcome that roster.”

With few viable alternatives—and despite an aging Christian McCaffrey entering the season less than 100%—Kyle Shanahan leaned heavily on his star running back throughout a middling campaign. McCaffrey’s durability had been a concern dating back to his final years in Carolina, yet he still led the NFL with 413 touches last season, 44 more than any other skill player.

That workload set a new personal high for McCaffrey, topping the 403 touches from his 2019 MVP-caliber season—an astonishing figure considering he was limited to just four games due to injury in 2024. Expecting him to endure that volume again is naive, but with a offense short on explosive playmakers, Shanahan had little choice.

If San Francisco’s offense has indeed regressed to average—lacking dynamic creators who elevate those around them—it poses a serious threat to Brock Purdy’s trajectory. Fair or not, a strong contingent of NFL executives and coaches still view Purdy as a beneficiary of Shanahan’s scheme, operating in a quarterback-friendly ecosystem that inflated both his stats and his contract.

“You know he’s never been a franchise quarterback for me,” said one longtime NFL general manager. “On pure ability, he’s closer to a back-up than a top-10 guy.”

Beyond the offense, San Francisco faces equally concerning questions on defense, where steady roster turnover since their Super Bowl loss to Kansas City has left the unit thin on game-changers.

That places an immense burden on Nick Bosa—who enters his eighth NFL season having had two years largely wiped out by injuries, including an ACL tear that limited him to just three games last season.

The defense temporarily steadied under Robert Saleh, but his second stint as coordinator was short-lived before taking the Titans’ head-coaching job.

Navigating another defensive leadership change won’t be easy, especially with a brutal opening slate: a long-distance season opener against the Rams in Australia, followed by matchups against the Broncos and Seahawks within the first five weeks. A slow start feels almost inevitable.

Color me highly skeptical they sniff last year’s total of 12 wins, or return to the postseason.