The Worst Move the 49ers Made this Offseason

It's easy to see why the 49ers made most of their moves this offseason.

Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch before the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

It's easy to see why the 49ers made most of their moves this offseason.

Once they decided to give Brock Purdy a five-year, $265 million contract extension, they had to purge their roster of all the older, expensive, injury-prone players. That's why they traded Deebo Samuel and didn't re-sign Dre Greenlaw. They wanted to get younger and more cost-effective.

So, while the 49ers didn't get better on paper this offseason, they made the necessary moves to ensure that they have hope for the future while still being good enough to contend for a playoff spot now.

But there was one move that didn't make sense, and that was trading Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings.

Mason isn't old -- he turned 26 in March. And he isn't expensive -- he signed a two-year, $12 million extension with the Vikings this offseason. That's chump change for the 49ers who currently have more than $46 million in effective cap space -- second most in the league.

Mason was the 49ers' leading rusher last season. He's an excellent backup for a team whose starter is Christian McCaffrey because McCaffrey is 29 and he's coming off bilateral Achilles tendonitis and a torn PCL. He needs a good backup at this stage of his career.

Now, his backups are Isaac Guerendo, who's unproven, and Jordan James, who's a rookie. The 49ers got worse at a critical position just to save a few million dollars. Strange.

In retrospect, the 49ers simply should have kept Mason. No brainer.