One Overlooked Departure that will Hurt the 49ers the Most

For the most part, the 49ers are having a good offseason.

On paper, they improved their wide receiver corps, linebacker corps, secondary and defensive line. Granted, most of the players they added are older and signed short-term deals. Still, the 49ers seem better now than they did a few weeks ago, with one major exception.

The 49ers offensive line has gotten worse.

It already was the weakest position group on the team. Now, it's losing starting left guard Spencer Burford and replacing him with Brett Toth. That's a downgrade.

August 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Spencer Burford (74) during the first quar — Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Burford is the most overlooked soon-to-be departure on the 49ers. He's an unrestricted free agent and they've shown no interest in re-signing him, presumably because he'll be too expensive for them. They want the cheapest starting offensive linemen they can find, other than Trent Williams.

That's why they signed Brett Toth to replace Burford. Toth will get paid $2.5 million this year, which is a fraction of what Burford will get on the open market. And that's because Toth will be 30 in September and has started just six games in his entire career. Three of those starts came at left guard, the position he will play for the 49ers.

Meanwhile, Burford is just 25, he has 38 career starts, and he's improving. It took the 49ers four years to find his best position -- left guard -- and once they put him there, he was solid. Now, some other team will get the best years of Burford's career after the 49ers spent so much time developing him, all so they could replace him with a cheap 30-year-old who has minimal experience.

Aug 7, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Brett Toth (64) against the Cincinnati Ben — Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

To be fair to the 49ers, they might draft a guard with one of their top picks this year and start him over Toth. In 2021, the 49ers drafted Aaron Banks in Round 2, sat him for a year and they started him from 2022 to 2024. Perhaps the 49ers will spend their second-round pick this year on another guard and have him compete with Toth. That would be smart.

But young offensive linemen often take a while to develop -- see Burford and Banks. It seems highly likely that whoever the 49ers play at left guard next season, that player probably won't be as good as Burford right away. Which means the 49ers' offensive line will take a step back before it can take steps forward.

Good thing they still have Trent.