It wasn’t an easy offseason for the San Francisco 49ers.

After a five-year window where Super Bowl contention was the goal each offseason, the 49ers spent the 2025 offseason starting a retooling of its roster that saw a mass exodus of veteran talent. Fan favorites like Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward and Dre Greenlaw all left the building. So did three of the team’s four starting defensive linemen from last season.

On the other hand, the 49ers made 11 picks in the 2025 NFL draft and made strides toward rebuilding their defensive line. They also handed out contract extensions to quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner. That reset and recommitment to their core was enough to earn the 49ers a strong A- grade from ESPN’s Seth Walder.

Walder listed the addition of Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator as the move he liked the best, but Purdy’s extension was their biggest move of the offseason.

Via ESPN:

But San Francisco’s biggest move came when Purdy’s long-awaited extension finally happened, as the 49ers gave their quarterback a deal worth $53 million per year, with $100 million fully guaranteed. There are mixed opinions about Purdy’s exact level of responsibility for the 49ers’ passing success, but he’s a perfect fit for what they want to do.

San Francisco reached elite levels of passing efficiency with Purdy in 2023, performing at a higher level than it managed with Jimmy Garoppolo. The deal was also cheaper than I expected. If it had been $60 million per year, it would have been in line with Trevor Lawrence’s and Jordan Love’s 2024 deals when adjusting for salary cap inflation, and I wouldn’t have blinked.

Perhaps the biggest key in the 49ers’ grade is that there wasn’t a move Walder disliked. He even credited the team with letting players like Greenlaw, Hufanga and Ward walk.

It was clear the 49ers had a plan this offseason. General manager John Lynch has laid out that the team executed the offseason the way it wanted to. A good offseason grade in mid-July is fine. Now they need to win once the regular season begins. If they do that, the A- will be quickly justified.

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