Weston Richburg's Legacy on the 49ers

The Weston Richburg Era, such that it was, will come to an end this offseason.

He recently restructured his contract to help the 49ers create $6.875 in salary cap space. And he did this because he intends to retire, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Richburg, 29, missed the entire 2020 season with a torn patellar tendon in his knee, an injury he suffered against the New Orleans Saints during the 2019 regular season. It most likely will end his career.

Richburg was a solid center when healthy, and he did the 49ers a solid by restructuring his deal. The 49ers offseason' outlook certainly just got brighter.

But now it's clear what a terrible signing Richburg really was. I don't blame Richburg. He did nothing wrong -- he simply got injured. The 49ers were the ones who made the mistakes, not him.

Mistake No. 1: The 49ers gave Richburg a five-year, $47.5 million contract in 2018. Richburg was coming off a season during which he had missed 12 games with a concussion. So durability already was an issue. The 49ers signed him anyway.

Mistake No. 2: The 49ers did nothing to address the center position last offseason when Richburg was hurt. They said they were hopeful he would return from a torn patellar tendon, but he didn't, and now he never will. Why were they so hopeful? How could they have been so wrong about Richburg's future? How did they decide to sign zero centers and draft zero centers last year? How much of last season's debacle could have been avoided had they simply replaced Richburg with another solid center?

Because that's all Richburg ever was -- a solid center. Not a Pro Bowler. Not a stud. A good run blocker and a sub-par pass protector. When he was healthy.

In three seasons with the 49ers, Richburg missed 20 games and played 28. And the 49ers paid him $29.9 million. Which means they spent more than $1 million per game on a solid center who was coming off a serious injury when they signed him.

That's their legacy.