Why the 49ers are Being So Cheap this Offseason

Until now, the owners -- Denise, John and Jed York -- seemed to always say yes to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan.

Feb 10, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; San Francisco 49ers chief executive officer Jed York at the Super Bowl LIX host committee handoff press conference. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For the past eight years, the 49ers spent more on their football than just about any other franchise. Now they're having a fire sale. What changed?

Until now, the owners -- Denise, John and Jed York -- seemed to always say yes to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. The Yorks would pay for any player Lynch and Shanahan wanted. Last year, the Yorks spent $334 million on the team only to watch it go 6-11.

Now, executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe seems back in charge. Last year, Marathe and the front office wanted to trade Brandon Aiyuk but Shanahan overruled them. Now, Shanahan probably doesn't have that power anymore.

So what's Marathe's plan for 2025?

It doesn't seem to include much spending on football. Instead, it seems to be all about spending on soccer.

In addition to being the executive vice president of football operations, he also is the president of 49ers Enterprises, which purchased a controlling share in the Scottish soccer team Rangers FC earlier this year. They also own 100 percent of Leeds United, an English soccer team that could get promoted to the Premier League soon.

If Leeds gets promoted, it will become an incredible revenue stream for the 49ers. But to stay in the Premier League and not get relegated after one year, they'll have to spend lots of cash to bring in good players in the next few months.

So the 49ers aren't being cheap. They're just spending most of their cash on other investments this year.

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