Why the 49ers Should Have Started Rebuilding Last Year

Bill Walsh always said it's better to get rid of a player a year too soon than a year too late. Too bad the 49ers didn't follow his advice.

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have had a terrific run the past eight seasons with the 49ers.

They deserve a ton of credit for building a roster that won two NFC Championships. In 2023, they legitimately had the best roster in the NFL -- nine of their players ranked in the NFL's top 100. And yet, they lost to the Chiefs by three points in overtime of the Super Bowl.

That's why the 49ers tried to run it back one more time with the same group of old players. They were emotional and couldn't accept that they had missed their window. Now, they're rebuilding a year too late. The best they could do was trade Deebo Samuel for a fifth-round pick and let lots of free agents sign with other teams.

The 49ers also were open to trading Brandon Aiyuk, who tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus after signing a four-year, $120 million extension with the 49ers last year. But no teams were interested in taking on such an expensive wide receiver coming off such a brutal injury. Go figure.

In retrospect, if the 49ers had unemotionally assessed their situation after losing a second Super Bowl, they would have seen that they had the perfect opportunity to rebuild last year. They could have traded Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams and received first-round picks for each of them. Instead, the 49ers extended all three and all of them got injured. And now, they're untradeable.

Bill Walsh always said it's better to get rid of a player a year too soon than a year too late. Too bad the 49ers didn't follow his advice.