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Tag: Deebo Samuel

  • When will McCaffrey return to 49ers? No one knows, but it’s headed in the wrong direction

    When will McCaffrey return to 49ers? No one knows, but it’s headed in the wrong direction

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    SANTA CLARA — There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the 49ers in the wake of a 1-2 start even if many of their issues are self-inflicted and remain correctable with 14 games remaining.

    Yet a leaky defense, poor special teams play and myriad injuries don’t come close to the biggest reason to be worried about a franchise looking to reach its fourth straight NFC Championship Game with an eye toward a long-awaited sixth Lombardi Trophy.

    It’s of some consolation that Deebo Samuel and George Kittle look as if they’ll play Sunday against the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium, but Christian McCaffrey’s cloudy long-term status is a major concern.

    Hall of Famer Steve Young tried his best to put a good face on McCaffery’s battle with Achilles tendinitis Wednesday during his weekly spot on KNBR-680.

    “Even with our depletion, with guys running around trying to get healthy in Germany, we can still thrive because we have the people,” Young said.

    Whether the 49ers can actually thrive without McCaffrey, the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, is a fair question. It’s also fair to wonder how much we’ll see McCaffrey this year. If McCaffrey does return, when will that be? And even if he does, will he be anything approaching what the 49ers have come to expect in the 33 mercurial regular season and postseason games since he arrived by trade on Oct. 20, 2022?

    McCaffrey hasn’t been healthy for a long time, rendering the ultimate practice warrior unable to feed his obsessive nature for repetition.

    To review, McCaffrey was a spectator at the 49ers’ mandatory minicamp for an unspecified medical issue. McCaffrey told an on-site NFL Network crew not to worry, that he’d be on the field if there were a game to play.

    Then came training camp, when he was out with a “calf/Achilles” problem. McCaffrey said his absence was a precaution.

    When the regular season began, McCaffrey stated his intentions of playing in Week 1 against the New York Jets. He didn’t. Then before the 49ers faced Minnesota in Week 2, he said sitting out the first week was a “chess move” to be ready for the rest of the season and that his mentality was always going to be that he would play if humanly possible.

    Shanahan, meanwhile, initially rejected the notion of McCaffrey going on injured reserve to give him four extra weeks to heal. Two days later, McCaffery was indeed on injured reserve, guaranteeing a five-game absence to start the season.

    Then it was off to Germany for treatment. Athletes such as Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant and others have undergone blood treatments to promote healing in Germany that are not available in the United States.

    Tight end George Kittle said Thursday he’s been in contact with McCaffrey, but imparted no other information.

    “I think he’s doing really well,” tight end Kittle said. “Time zones are funny – I think I talked to him yesterday. But he’s doing really solid. Just looking forward to seeing my really good friend.”

    While McCaffery is eligible to play on Oct. 10 when the 49ers visit Seattle on a Thursday night, Shanahan said Thursday on KNBR that the absence was open-ended. It sounds as if the Seattle game is a pipe dream.

    “I think we’ll have a better idea over the next couple of weeks,” Shanahan said.

    And the 49ers are good with whatever McCaffery determines is the best for his own body because of how serious he takes his health and recovery. It sounds as if the visit to Germany was only one of McCaffery’s stops as he looks for a way to get back on the field.

    “Christian is seeing every specialist he can,  doing all the little stuff more than anybody I’ve ever been around,” Shanahan said. “He has a full-time commitment to everything for his body year-round. He’s been doing that stuff while not pushing it hard in rehab. Now we’ll probably turn it up in the next couple of weeks.”

    As of Wednesday, Shanahan said he hadn’t talked to McCaffery. When asked if there was a possibility McCaffery wouldn’t play at all in 2024, Shanahan said, `Not that I know of.”

    Young, however, stated the obvious.

    “It’s a bad thing that you have to do such desperate measures,” Young said. “You go to Germany for a particular procedure . . . if it’s something you can’t get in the U.S. then something’s not right . . . it’s super worrisome. You can easily say, ‘Where’s this season going to go for Christian?’”

    If and when Christian McCaffery returns, Jordan Mason (24) will probably have a big role in the 49ers’ offense. Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group

    Shanahan was just fine running an offense with multiple running backs the way his father did for so many years with the Denver Broncos. Then McCaffrey came along, and in the words of general manager John Lynch “unlocked” the 49ers offense.

    McCaffrey is one of the NFL’s top runners from scrimmage. His receiving skills and route running are such that he would instantly be one of the league’s top slot receivers if moved there full-time. And at its most basic, McCaffrey’s nose for the end zone — he’s got 39 touchdowns in 33 regular-season and postseason games — enabled the 49ers to put games away by capitalizing on scoring opportunities and gave Shanahan another versatile option aside from Samuel.

    The 49ers were a playoff team before McCaffrey arrived, but it’s hard to imagine them making another run to the Super Bowl without him. And given McCaffrey’s “practice makes perfect” approach, it remains to be seen if and when he can get back up to speed with such a long layoff in terms of physically working on his craft.

    The best hope may be easing him into a role that includes Mason doing a lot of the between-the-tackles running, something Shanahan said he was considering anyway because of McCaffery’s NFL-high 339 touches (rushing and receiving) last season.

    Flash back to Feb. 11 and a 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII. McCaffrey rushed 22 times for 80 yards and caught eight passes for 80 yards including a 21-yard touchdown from Jauan Jennings. McCaffrey also lost a fumble on the 49ers’ opening possession deep in Chiefs territory.

    “I’m still a little numb and angry and going through all of the emotions,” McCaffrey said afterward. “I’ll just have to wake up tomorrow and try again.”

    That was eight months ago. When McCaffrey takes the field again is anybody’s guess. An anxious fan base awaits an answer that could determine the course of the season.

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    Jerry McDonald

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  • Super Bowl LVIII: San Francisco 49ers Saturday Pool Report

    Super Bowl LVIII: San Francisco 49ers Saturday Pool Report

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    LAS VEGAS — The San Francisco 49ers wrapped their week of Super Bowl LVIII prep with a final walkthrough at UNLV’s Fertitta Football Complex on Saturday.

    Shortly after noon, the team’s buses pulled up to the complex for the roughly one-hour walkthrough to review their game openers and certain situations.

    After a 10-minute warmup period, the 49ers spent 40 minutes with the offense running through plays on the far end of one of the practice fields, and the defense working at the opposite end.

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    Nicki Jhabvala and Pro Football Writers of America

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  • Super Bowl LVIII: A guide to the 49ers’ championship rematch against the Chiefs

    Super Bowl LVIII: A guide to the 49ers’ championship rematch against the Chiefs

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    The stage is set for a Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Las Vegas. Both teams overcame a season of peaks and valleys, nonstop headlines and the pressure to sustain the success they’ve enjoyed over the past several years. The Chiefs are looking to solidify a dynasty, while the 49ers have an opportunity to avenge their heartbreaking loss to Kansas City in Superbowl LIV. If the game itself doesn’t excite you, a highly anticipated Usher performance, wacky commercials and Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce schedule conflicts might. Super Bowl LVIII has just about everything. Here’s what to know. Details on kickoffSometimes, you can get so caught up in planning your Super Bowl that you can lose track of the time the game actually starts. Super Bowl LVIII is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be telecast on CBS. | SAVE MONEY | Score major deals on TVs in time for the Super BowlThere will be an alternate telecast airing at the same time on Nickelodeon. The telecast will open with an animated performance of the song “Sweet Victory” from “Spongebob Squarepants.”Spongebob or Tony Romo? The choice is yours.| MORE | Tom Brady speaks about the ‘respect’ he has for Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy ahead of Super Bowl LVIIIWhat colors are each team wearing?The Chiefs will wear their red jerseys, while the 49ers will wear white.Each season, the winners of the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) alternate between which conference representative will be considered the home team in the Super Bowl. The home team gets the first pick over the away team of which color jersey they will wear.The Chiefs represent the AFC and are considered the home team this year.Kansas City also wore red while the Niners wore white when they met in Super Bowl LIV.| MORE | Cheer on Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers at home with Niners-themed party itemsFree Usher concert!Usher was announced in September as the headlining performer for the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show. The NFL released a series of ads promoting his performance that included a callback to his iconic “Confessions, Pt. II” music video. A Las Vegas performance makes all the sense in the world for Usher, who had a residency in the city from June 2022 to December 2023. Earlier in his superstar career, Usher said it was a goal of his to one day take over Las Vegas and put on an unforgettable show. He’s already been doing this, but now, the world will be watching. “It definitely has been a challenge to squeeze 30 years into 13 minutes,” he said when he addressed the media Thursday in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl.He said he’s been asking himself, “What songs do people know me for, what songs have been a celebration of all of the journey?”| MORE | Making the trip to Super Bowl LVIII? Check out these things to do in VegasHow much does it cost to attend the game?Prices for a seat at Allegiant Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday start no lower than $5,000 across multiple ticket vendors. Below is a roundup of prices As of the morning of Feb. 5. Vivid Seats: Tickets are selling from $5,307 on Vivid SeatsStubHub: Tickets are selling from $5,394 on StubhubSeatGeek: Tickets are selling from $5,773 on SeatGeekTicketmaster: Tickets are selling from $5,800 on TicketmasterTickPick: Tickets are selling from $6,944 on TickPickTicket Network: Tickets are selling from $7,282 on Ticket NetworkKeep in mind these are the lowest ticket prices. The average price of a ticket ranges from $9,000-$12,000 across multiple vendor sites.KCRA 3’s Del Rodgers said that when he played in Super Bowl XXIII, ticket prices were $100. Both teams’ road back to the Super BowlOften in team sports, greatness can be taken for granted. Each season ends with just one champion, they’re celebrated for a few months, and then the pressure to do it again is immediately back on as if it never happened. No teams have won more playoff games than the Chiefs (13) and 49ers (8) since the 2019 postseason. The writing was probably always on the wall for them to meet in the Super Bowl again, but you wouldn’t know it based on the discourse around both teams since last spring. The Niners entered this season with a quarterback controversy on their hands. | MORE | What to know about 2 Niners players with Sacramento-area tiesBrock Purdy was thrown into the fire in 2022 as a rookie and helped San Francisco make a push to the NFC Championship Game, but he tore a ligament in his elbow in the first quarter and the team got blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles. Purdy, the last pick in his draft, went undefeated as a starter in the 2022 regular season and brought the team within one game of the Super Bowl, but ahead of the 2023 season, he was coming off an injury to his throwing arm and the 49ers still had to figure out what to do with Trey Lance, who they drafted in 2021. | MORE | Sacramento’s Bark Purdy makes Puppy Bowl finals for Most PupularPurdy and Lance competed for the starting quarterback spot in training camp. After months of media speculation, 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear Purdy had won the starting spot, telling Sports Illustrated in August: “He would have to melt in practice to lose .”Trey Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys weeks before the season and the Niners came out the gates on a roll. The Niners won their first five games, lost the next three and then won eight straight to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 (when most of the Niners key players were resting for the playoffs). Despite a 13-4 season where San Francisco blew their opponents out more often than not, some still poked holes at their success.Purdy was named a finalist for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award. Still, some argued he was being carried by his supporting cast, particularly Christian McCaffrey, who is also a finalist for MVP. The 49ers defense is loaded with talent, but they weren’t as statistically dominant as they have been in years past. In the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions, the Niners trailed 24-7 at halftime and it looked like the team was going to fall a game short of reaching the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season. But in the second half, the script flipped. The Niner defense got stops, Purdy made plays and his supporting cast did too. Now all the doubters are going to have to wait a week. As for Kansas City, the reigning Super Bowl champs have been facing doubt since the first game of the season, a loss to the Detroit Lions at home. Much was made all year long of the Chiefs’ lack of reliable wide receivers. The offense in the regular season was the least dynamic it looked since Patrick Mahomes won league MVP in his first year as the starter in 2018. Mahomes still had a reliable security blanket in Travis Kelce and the guidance of one of the greatest NFL coaches ever: Andy Reid. But as the season progressed, narrow victories against weaker teams became memorable losses to playoff teams. The spotlight has been on the Chiefs since they beat the 49ers in Super Bowl 54, opening the door for them to be the next great NFL team after 20 years of dominance from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s Patriots. But this year, they were under the microscope like never before. Between Kelce’s headline-grabbing relationship with Taylor Swift and Mahomes’ increasing frustration with the offense’s struggles, the stage was seemingly set for the best team of the past five years to melt down. | MORE | Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl? There’s a gambling line for thatIt looked like this may not be the Chiefs’ season and they would crack under the pressure to keep their success going. It turns out, the playoffs removed all of that pressure. While much was said of the struggling Chiefs offense this season, the emergence of a truly dominant defense flew under the radar. That defense has held Kansas City’s playoff opponents to a combined 41 points in three games. Mahomes and Kelce returned to their typical playoff form and have willed the offense to victories, along with running back Isaiah Pacheco, who has had a rushing touchdown in all three games. | MORE | 49ers legend Jerry Rice had a hilarious response to Travis Kelce breaking his recordThe Niners’ quest for the sixth Super Bowl in franchise history has led them to the same destination it did four seasons ago: A matchup with a Chiefs team that keeps finding new ways to break their opponent’s hearts. But who’s to say this time won’t be different? We’re just going to have to watch and see. Daily Super Bowl Coverage The San Francisco 49ers are just one win away from securing the franchise’s sixth championship. KCRA 3 is going all in on Niners coverage live from Las Vegas every day this week leading up to the Super Bowl. Watch our specials at 7:30 p.m. from Monday through Saturday.

    The stage is set for a Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

    Both teams overcame a season of peaks and valleys, nonstop headlines and the pressure to sustain the success they’ve enjoyed over the past several years.

    The Chiefs are looking to solidify a dynasty, while the 49ers have an opportunity to avenge their heartbreaking loss to Kansas City in Superbowl LIV.

    If the game itself doesn’t excite you, a highly anticipated Usher performance, wacky commercials and Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce schedule conflicts might.

    Super Bowl LVIII has just about everything. Here’s what to know.

    Details on kickoff

    Sometimes, you can get so caught up in planning your Super Bowl that you can lose track of the time the game actually starts.

    Super Bowl LVIII is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be telecast on CBS.

    | SAVE MONEY | Score major deals on TVs in time for the Super Bowl

    There will be an alternate telecast airing at the same time on Nickelodeon. The telecast will open with an animated performance of the song “Sweet Victory” from “Spongebob Squarepants.”

    This content is imported from Twitter.
    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    Spongebob or Tony Romo? The choice is yours.

    | MORE | Tom Brady speaks about the ‘respect’ he has for Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy ahead of Super Bowl LVIII

    What colors are each team wearing?

    The Chiefs will wear their red jerseys, while the 49ers will wear white.

    Each season, the winners of the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) alternate between which conference representative will be considered the home team in the Super Bowl. The home team gets the first pick over the away team of which color jersey they will wear.

    The Chiefs represent the AFC and are considered the home team this year.

    Kansas City also wore red while the Niners wore white when they met in Super Bowl LIV.

    | MORE | Cheer on Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers at home with Niners-themed party items

    Free Usher concert!

    LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 15: Singer/songwriter Usher performs during the 2022 Lovers &amp&#x3B; Friends music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds  on May 15, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)

    Usher was announced in September as the headlining performer for the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show.

    The NFL released a series of ads promoting his performance that included a callback to his iconic “Confessions, Pt. II” music video.

    This content is imported from Twitter.
    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    A Las Vegas performance makes all the sense in the world for Usher, who had a residency in the city from June 2022 to December 2023.

    Earlier in his superstar career, Usher said it was a goal of his to one day take over Las Vegas and put on an unforgettable show. He’s already been doing this, but now, the world will be watching.

    This content is imported from Twitter.
    You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

    “It definitely has been a challenge to squeeze 30 years into 13 minutes,” he said when he addressed the media Thursday in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl.

    He said he’s been asking himself, “What songs do people know me for, what songs have been a celebration of all of the journey?”

    | MORE | Making the trip to Super Bowl LVIII? Check out these things to do in Vegas

    How much does it cost to attend the game?

    Prices for a seat at Allegiant Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday start no lower than $5,000 across multiple ticket vendors.

    Below is a roundup of prices As of the morning of Feb. 5.

    Keep in mind these are the lowest ticket prices. The average price of a ticket ranges from $9,000-$12,000 across multiple vendor sites.

    KCRA 3’s Del Rodgers said that when he played in Super Bowl XXIII, ticket prices were $100.

    Both teams’ road back to the Super Bowl

    Often in team sports, greatness can be taken for granted.

    Each season ends with just one champion, they’re celebrated for a few months, and then the pressure to do it again is immediately back on as if it never happened.

    No teams have won more playoff games than the Chiefs (13) and 49ers (8) since the 2019 postseason. The writing was probably always on the wall for them to meet in the Super Bowl again, but you wouldn’t know it based on the discourse around both teams since last spring.

    The Niners entered this season with a quarterback controversy on their hands.

    | MORE | What to know about 2 Niners players with Sacramento-area ties

    Brock Purdy was thrown into the fire in 2022 as a rookie and helped San Francisco make a push to the NFC Championship Game, but he tore a ligament in his elbow in the first quarter and the team got blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles.

    Purdy, the last pick in his draft, went undefeated as a starter in the 2022 regular season and brought the team within one game of the Super Bowl, but ahead of the 2023 season, he was coming off an injury to his throwing arm and the 49ers still had to figure out what to do with Trey Lance, who they drafted in 2021.

    | MORE | Sacramento’s Bark Purdy makes Puppy Bowl finals for Most Pupular

    Purdy and Lance competed for the starting quarterback spot in training camp. After months of media speculation, 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear Purdy had won the starting spot, telling Sports Illustrated in August: “He would have to melt in practice to lose [the job].”

    Trey Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys weeks before the season and the Niners came out the gates on a roll.

    The Niners won their first five games, lost the next three and then won eight straight to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 (when most of the Niners key players were resting for the playoffs).

    Despite a 13-4 season where San Francisco blew their opponents out more often than not, some still poked holes at their success.

    Purdy was named a finalist for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award. Still, some argued he was being carried by his supporting cast, particularly Christian McCaffrey, who is also a finalist for MVP.

    The 49ers defense is loaded with talent, but they weren’t as statistically dominant as they have been in years past.

    In the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions, the Niners trailed 24-7 at halftime and it looked like the team was going to fall a game short of reaching the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.

    But in the second half, the script flipped.

    The Niner defense got stops, Purdy made plays and his supporting cast did too. Now all the doubters are going to have to wait a week.

    As for Kansas City, the reigning Super Bowl champs have been facing doubt since the first game of the season, a loss to the Detroit Lions at home.

    Much was made all year long of the Chiefs’ lack of reliable wide receivers. The offense in the regular season was the least dynamic it looked since Patrick Mahomes won league MVP in his first year as the starter in 2018.

    Mahomes still had a reliable security blanket in Travis Kelce and the guidance of one of the greatest NFL coaches ever: Andy Reid. But as the season progressed, narrow victories against weaker teams became memorable losses to playoff teams.

    The spotlight has been on the Chiefs since they beat the 49ers in Super Bowl 54, opening the door for them to be the next great NFL team after 20 years of dominance from Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s Patriots.

    But this year, they were under the microscope like never before. Between Kelce’s headline-grabbing relationship with Taylor Swift and Mahomes’ increasing frustration with the offense’s struggles, the stage was seemingly set for the best team of the past five years to melt down.

    | MORE | Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl? There’s a gambling line for that

    It looked like this may not be the Chiefs’ season and they would crack under the pressure to keep their success going. It turns out, the playoffs removed all of that pressure.

    While much was said of the struggling Chiefs offense this season, the emergence of a truly dominant defense flew under the radar.

    That defense has held Kansas City’s playoff opponents to a combined 41 points in three games. Mahomes and Kelce returned to their typical playoff form and have willed the offense to victories, along with running back Isaiah Pacheco, who has had a rushing touchdown in all three games.

    | MORE | 49ers legend Jerry Rice had a hilarious response to Travis Kelce breaking his record

    The Niners’ quest for the sixth Super Bowl in franchise history has led them to the same destination it did four seasons ago: A matchup with a Chiefs team that keeps finding new ways to break their opponent’s hearts.

    But who’s to say this time won’t be different? We’re just going to have to watch and see.

    Daily Super Bowl Coverage

    The San Francisco 49ers are just one win away from securing the franchise’s sixth championship.

    KCRA 3 is going all in on Niners coverage live from Las Vegas every day this week leading up to the Super Bowl.

    Watch our specials at 7:30 p.m. from Monday through Saturday.

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  • Christian McCaffrey Trade To The San Francisco 49ers: Analyzing The Fit And Finances

    Christian McCaffrey Trade To The San Francisco 49ers: Analyzing The Fit And Finances

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    If you have followed this page over the past couple weeks, you know full well that a certain someone has been advocating for the San Francisco 49ers to trade for Pro Bowl running back Christian McCaffrey.

    I won’t go as far to say that general manager John Lynch and Co. heeded my call. But late Thursday evening, news broke that pretty much shattered the NFL news cycle.

    Multiple media reports indicated that San Francisco did indeed acquire McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers in a blockbuster trade. Both San Francisco and Carolina made the deal official a bit while later.

    In return for one of the game’s most-electric players, San Francisco sent second-and-third-round picks in 2023, a fourth-round pick next April and a fifth rounder in 2024 to Carolina.

    To be clear, this is a high price to pay for an injury-plagued back who had suited up in a combined 10 games in the previous two seasons ahead of the 2022 campaign.

    But it’s also a move that San Francisco viewed as a necessity following an ugly Week 6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and with the team set to welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to town on Sunday.

    A first-round pick of the Panthers out of Stanford back in 2017, McCaffrey has returned to pre-injury form this far this season with 670 total yards and three touchdowns through six games. Let’s break down this deal below.

    MORE FROM FORBESSan Francisco 49ers on the Forbes NFL Team Valuations List

    Christian McCaffrey’s Fit With The San Francisco 49ers

    Objectively, it couldn’t be more ideal for both sides. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has always fancied himself dual-threat running backs dating back to his days as the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator all the way back in 2008.

    McCaffrey is just that. In fact, his 33 receptions this season would lead the 49ers. Prior to the injuries of the past two seasons, McCaffrey caught a combined 223 passes while hauling in 83.8% of his targets in 2018 and 2019.

    It’s also not like McCaffrey doesn’t do damage on the ground. He’s averaging 61 rushing yards per game at a clip of 4.6 yards per attempt throughout his career.

    McCaffrey has loads of experience in San Francisco’s outside zone-blocking scheme, too. That should make it a seamless transition for the star back.

    The addition of McCaffrey changes the dynamics for San Francisco’s offense in a big way. Once he returns from injury, Elijah Mitchell will be used a change-of-pace back. The 49ers can also utilize current RB1 Jeff Wilson as a short-yardage guy. He’s scored a whopping 19 touchdowns in his past 37 games.

    More importantly, opposing defenses are now going to have major issues game-planning against the 49ers.

    Deebo Samuel likely won’t need to see much action in the backfield with McCaffrey in the mix. He can now focus primarily on being a wide receiver opposite breakout player Brandon Aiyuk.

    The idea of defenses having to plan for formations with the likes of McCaffrey, Kittle, Samuel and Aiyuk all on the field is a thing of nightmares for coordinators.

    Finances Of The Christian McCaffrey Trade

    From a salary cap perspective, this deal does very little in 2022. McCaffrey is due a mere $1.035 million base salary after restructuring his conract with Carolina back in the spring. San Francisco is on the hook for a pro-rated version of that (roughly $669,705.00).

    The long-term outlook is different. McCaffrey is playing under a four-year, $64 million contract that he signed back in April of 2020. He’s set to count $19.55 million against the cap in 2023 with cap hits of $19.55 million in 2024 and $15.45 million in 2025.

    In terms of the 49ers responsibility for that, he’ll count $12 million against their cap in 2023 and 2024 with a $12.2 million hit in 2025.

    By taking on McCaffrey’s contract, Lynch and Co. are now committing top-end cash to yet another position.

    Even prior to this blockbuster trade, the likes of fullback Kyle Juszczyk, tight end George Kittle, left tackle Trent Williams, linebacker Fred Warner, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and defensive lineman Arik Armstead were among the highest-paid NFL players at their respective positions.

    This doesn’t even take into account the need to sign Pro Bowl edge rusher Nick Bosa to what would be a record-breaking contract extension next summer. His new deal will likely come in at somewhere near $25 million annually.

    Prior to this deal, San Francisco was projected to have roughly $18.5 million in cap room for next season. The McCaffrey trade brings this to well under $10 million.

    Financial gymnastics would have to be part of the game for the 49ers’ front office. This would likely include restructuring the contracts of Williams, Armstead, Warner, Kittle and Charvarius Ward, who are set to count a combined $76-plus million against the cap in 2023.

    As it stands, the 49ers have avenues that could help with the cap next spring. The increase in the NFL salary cap moving forward due to its historic television contracts will help here, too.

    Remaining San Francisco 49ers Draft Picks Following Christian McCaffrey Trade

    On the surface, this deal seems to deplete San Francisco’s draft capital, especially with its first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft already gone due to the Trey Lance deal.

    That’s just on the surface. The 49ers are projected to pick up two third-round compensatory picks under the guise of the NFL’s minority hiring program. It should also pick up a fifth, sixth and seventh via the NFL free-agent compensation loophole.

    This should leave the 49ers with a nice amount of selections once all is said and done. Sure they’ll be without picks in the first two rounds. But the question becomes whether anyone selected in that range would have anywhere near the same impact as a healthy Christian McCaffrey over the next three-plus seasons. It seems highly unlikely.

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    Vincent Frank, Contributor

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  • Deebo Samuel trolls Jalen Ramsey and Los Angeles Rams

    Deebo Samuel trolls Jalen Ramsey and Los Angeles Rams

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    Deebo Samuel went off against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football — and he isn’t letting Jalen Ramsey forget about it.

    In the second quarter in San Francisco, the 49ers wideout scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo that ended up being one of the most memorable plays of the game, which the 49ers won 24-9.

    Samuel recorded 51 yards after the catch on the touchdown and actually ran 79.7 total yards, per NFL Next Gen Stats. It was also the longest passing touchdown the Rams have allowed since Week 7 of last season (D’Andre Swift, 63 yards).

    He evaded nearly the entire Rams secondary — Ramsey included — during his scamper to the end zone, and had a fairly level-headed answer when asked about the play after the game.

    “It was just me and the ball out there,” Samuel said. “I just go out and break some tackles like I do all the time.”

    Read more: Week 4’s top NFL Twitter trolls

    He made a celebratory post about it Tuesday that seemingly singled out Ramsey in particular.

    Including the playoffs, Samuel has scored five touchdowns against the Rams since 2021 — tied for the most by any player against any team since the start of last season.

    “I always feel that Deebo [can step up and make big plays],” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Regardless of the practice, he had a good week, but he tends to do that especially versus them.”

    Ramsey caught wind of Samuel’s post and didn’t seem too thrilled, but his displeasure didn’t affect Samuel’s jovial mood.

    The 49ers and Rams will meet again Oct. 30 in Inglewood, California.

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