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The 49ers' Biggest Question Mark Entering the 2025 Season

The 49ers' roster construction is a bit perplexing.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers center Jake Brendel (64) blocks New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley (57) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers center Jake Brendel (64) blocks New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley (57) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers' roster construction is a bit perplexing.

They just gave Brock Purdy a contract extension that makes him the seventh-highest-paid player in the NFL -- you'd think they'd want to give him a terrific offensive line. And yet, they lost starting left guard Aaron Banks and swing tackle Jaylon Moore in free agency this offseason and didn't find upgrades for either player. Instead, the replacements are cheap. Which is strange, considering the 49ers have more than $46 million in salary cap space.

That's why Pro Football Network says the interior offensive line is the 49ers' biggest question mark entering the 2025 season.

"Aaron Banks departed for Green Bay this offseason, leaving a hole at guard for the San Francisco 49ers in 2025," writes PFN's Jacob Infante. "They seem to have trust in Ben Bartch taking over, seeing as though they didn’t draft an offensive lineman until Round 7 this year. However, Bartch and center Jake Brendel have yet to solidify themselves as quality NFL starting offensive linemen."

Infante is correct about Brendel, although at least he hasn't missed a game in three seasons since becoming the starting center.

Bartch is different. Bartch has had major injury issues in his career and never has stayed healthy for an entire season. That's why he has started just 22 games in five years. And if he gets injured, it's unclear who would step in as the starting left guard. It could be Spencer Burford, although he played left tackle during OTAs and minicamp, or it could be Nick Zakelj, who has two career starts.

Maybe the 49ers will spend some of their cap space on another interior lineman before the trade deadline.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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