Biggest Surprises of the San Francisco 49ers' Offseason so Far

Some NFL franchises have had nice, quiet offseasons where things have mostly gone according to plan. This has not been the case for the San Francisco 49ers in 2015.

This has not been a great offseason for the 49ers. It’s been one of the largest talent drains in franchise history, and it represents a total sea change from the team that went to three NFC Championships from 2011 through 2013. While reports of the death of the franchise have been greatly exaggerated, this offseason has been full of negative surprises for 49ers fans.

What hasn’t gone according to plan? Well, almost everything, but it hasn’t been all bad. There have been a couple decent surprises mixed in with the wailing and gnashing of teeth. There’s also plenty of time left before opening day begins, and more potential surprises could occur—rookies like Trent Brown or Mike Davis could make a larger-than-expected impact, for example.

Still, we can’t overstate how many negative surprises the team has had to absorb since December of 2014. Here, in chronological order, are five of the biggest surprises for fans of the team as the Jim Harbaugh era ended and the Jim Tomsula era began.

Jim Tomsula Hired as Head Coach

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Jim Harbaugh being fired was not a surprise. It may or may not have been a good decision, and it’s certainly odd to see someone with his record losing his job after one poor season, but the signs were all in place that a battle between ownership and the coaching staff had begun, and Harbaugh was never going to win that battle.

What was odd was the manner the 49ers went about replacing the head coach. When Harbaugh was fired, we looked at all six head-coaching vacancies. Compared to the other teams looking for a head coach, the 49ers had an above-average quarterback situation, with Colin Kaepernick arguably holding more potential at this point than Jay Cutler, David Carr, E.J. Manuel or Geno Smith. They had the most talented roster of the group—this coming before the wave of retirements that swept through the defense. They had the most young talent for any team looking for a head coach. They arguably had the best general manager. The salary cap situation and difficult division were negatives, but overall, they were the most enticing job entering the 2015 season.

However, did the 49ers keep their ultra-successful defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio? No. Did they get the wunderkind offensive coordinator, Adam Gase? No. Did they get a veteran head coach like Mike Shanahan, or a top offensive mind like Rob Chudzinski or a top defensive mind like Dan Quinn? No, no and no again.

Instead, they went with longtime positional coach Jim Tomsula. Tomsula does have some head coaching experience in NFL Europe, but on an NFL level he has never even advanced to coordinator. The fact that the 49ers would seem to have settled for an inexperienced coach like Tomsula rather than making a splash hire certainly was surprising.

That doesn’t make the Tomsula hire bad, by any stretch of the imagination. While he’s inexperienced, Tomsula is beloved by his players and fits the front office’s requirements of being someone who can teach young players. It was just a surprise to see the 49ers make the least splashy move possible, especially when their last head coaching hire was Harbaugh, a high-profile college coach.

Torrey Smith Comes in Free Agency

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Since Trent Baalke took over player acquisition prior to the 2010 season, the 49ers have not spent big in free agency. Before this season, their highest-profile free agents each year were Brian Westbrook, David Akers, Mario Manningham, Phil Dawson and Antoine Bethea. While there are some good players in that group, none of them exactly make a huge dent in the salary cap or inspire people to rush out and buy season tickets. The philosophy has been to build through the draft and occasionally sign a free agent to fill depth roles.

Torrey Smith is, by leaps and bounds, the biggest free agent the 49ers have brought into the team in Baalke’s tenure. He is the first true deep threat the 49ers have had arguably since Gene Washington in the 1970s, and he might well be the best deep threat the franchise has ever had. 

Yes, Smith battled drops last season and was dealing with a lingering knee injury, but he’s still one of the top five deep-threat receivers in the NFL. This is not the caliber of player the 49ers usually add in free agency. This is the caliber of player fans want and then watch go get overpaid somewhere else.

The 49ers also didn’t overpay for Smith. Smith isn’t a true number one receiver like a Dez Bryant; while he is a starter, he plays one particular role rather than being a do-everything type of player like a Dez Bryant or Calvin Johnson. As such, the 49ers didn’t go overboard with the contract, giving Smith a deal with only $8.75 million fully guaranteed, according to Over The Cap.

Getting a player who gives the offense an entirely new dimension without breaking the salary structure?  That’s a great move and a very un-49ers one. Seeing a desired name actually come in free agency is one of the more pleasant surprises 49ers fans have enjoyed this offseason.

Everybody Retires

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Justin Smith retiring was more or less expected; while it’s sad to see a team legend leave while still playing at a high level, 36-year-old defensive linemen aren’t exactly in large supply around the league.

But Patrick Willis? Chris Borland? Anthony Davis? These moves hit the fanbase like a ton of bricks. Willis is another team legend who seemed to be in the middle of a Hall of Fame career. Borland was in the argument for Defensive Rookie of the Year and looked poised to have a fantastic career. Davis, while not as good as the other two, is only 25 and was penciled in at the right tackle position.

Willis, Borland and Davis headline the absolute exodus of talent the 49ers have lost this offseason, be it willingly or via retirement or free agency. Joining them and Smith as ex-49ers are Andy Lee, Michael Crabtree, Stevie Johnson, Mike Iupati, Frank Gore, Brandon Lloyd, Dan Skuta and Jonathan Martin, among others. While the 49ers have plans in place to replace most of or all of these players, that’s still asking for a lot of talent to step up at one time.

Are these retirements, especially those of Borland and Davis, harbingers of a new era in the NFL? Players under 30 retiring was almost unheard of before this offseason, but all of a sudden, there’s a trend emerging. They join Jake Locker and Jason Worilds as ex-NFL players in their 20s, walking away from millions of dollars. Borland, especially, cited long-term health concerns as being the primary reason for his retirement.

Only time will tell if this was a one-year blip, a case of players on one team talking to one another and deciding to retire or the start of a massive, NFL-wide trend. Whatever the case, they represented one blow after another for a 49ers team trying to maintain some on-field continuity despite changing head coaches this offseason.

No Replacement for Willis or Borland

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The retirement of Anthony Davis came too late for the 49ers to do anything about it, but Patrick Willis and Chris Borland retired before the draft and during free agency. The thought was that the 49ers would have to spend some time replacing at least one of them.

Yes, the 49ers have NaVorro Bowman returning, but he’s coming off of a gruesome knee injury, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back at 100 percent. Yes, Michael Wilhoite got plenty of experience starting last season, but ideally, he’s a key reserve and not a regular starter.

The 49ers did bring in two borderline players in free agency in Nick Bellore and Philip Wheeler. In my initial 53-man roster predictions, I have Wheeler making the final roster and Bellore not making it out of camp, but either way, neither of these players are exactly ready to step up and start immediately.

It seemed like the 49ers' strategy would be to start Bowman and Wilhoite, and then draft a player to groom behind them, but none of San Francisco’s 10 picks were used on an inside linebacker. Notably, the 49ers used their second-round pick on Jaquiski Tartt over Denzel Perryman, their third-round pick on Eli Harold over Jordan Hicks and a fourth-round pick on Mike Davis over Damien Wilson. While all these picks are individually justifiable, it’s odd that the 49ers would pass over selecting any inside linebacker over the three days of the draft.

Nor did they bring in a high-profile free agent to cover the spot. It’s a full vote of confidence for Bowman’s recovery and Wilhoite’s development.

Drafting a Punter

Uncredited/Associated Press

Andy Lee did, eventually, have to be replaced.  He was still performing well, but his contract was gradually becoming untenable for a special teams ace. He was slated to count $2.55 million against the salary cap in 2015 and $3.333 million against the cap in 2016, with his cap number jumping over $4 million by the time the contract ended in 2018, according to Spotrac.

A salary number of $2.55 million is not terrible for a punter, however, especially one as good as Andy Lee. Eleven punters have a higher cap value in 2015 than Lee would have, according to Over The Cap.  He was still the eighth-best punter in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. He may not have been at the All-Pro form he was in 2011 or 2012, but he was still a very good punter on a reasonable salary charge. The 49ers also didn’t need his cap room for anything in particular, as they still have $10.9 million to spend under the 2015 cap, according to Over The Cap.

But Lee’s value was set to keep spiraling, so perhaps the team just wanted to be proactive and find a replacement sooner rather than later. That’s justifiable; at least, some competition never hurt anyone, and maybe they find the next Andy Lee in training camp. At the very least, the 49ers could have had competition for the next two or three years, with someone eventually taking Lee’s job.

That sounds like the job for an undrafted free agent or a flier at the end of the third day of the NFL draft; not something you handle in the fifth round. Instead, the 49ers took Bradley Pinion with the 165^th overall selection of the draft.

This isn’t to say Pinion won’t become a good punter; from everything I’ve seen, he’s your average good prospect coming out of college. It’s a question of value. Other top punting prospects like Portland State’s Kyle Loomis, North Carolina State’s Wil Baumann and Florida’s Kyle Christy went undrafted. Even if Pinion is far and away the best of the bunch, which he might well be, the team would likely be better off with a different rookie punter and a fifth-round selection like cornerback Tye Smith, who went 170^th overall to Seattle.

Fifth-round picks are essentially guaranteed to make the roster, forcing the 49ers’ hands in trading Lee for a 2017 seventh-round draft pick. Had the 49ers simply brought in a punter for competition, they might have been able to get a better deal for Lee—or just kept Lee around if their rookie didn’t pan out.  Now, all the pressure is on Pinion.

Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.