Kurtenbach: The 49ers' roster-building plan was a brash bet. The bill is coming due

"This isn't just a slump or a one-week blip for the 49ers. This is the bill coming due. The Niners entered 2025 with a plan. It was a strange, sour combination of arrogance and cheapness. San Francisco was going to lock in their aging, expensive future Hall of Famers and quarterback Brock Purdy to massive contracts and, well, that would be the extent of their serious offseason spending."

"Sunday, folks, is what happens when Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and your first-round rookie, Mykel Williams, all go down for the season or defense can't stop the run or rush the passer. And what happens when Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall vanish for six weeks? You might still be able to move the ball a bit, but you're limited in what you can do on the offensive side, and you give the ball to Christian McCaffrey 500 times in a season."

"In short, you're left overextending those few stars who survived the purge and are trying to make due with the scrubs. And those scrubs are being exposed. Rookie safety Marques Sigle? Benched. Rookie guard Connor Colby? Also benched. Second-year corner Renardo Green is being picked on, and rookie Upton Stout often looks completely lost. That's merely a few of the many, many names I could list. Are the 49ers developing these young players or merely tossing them to the wolves and seeing who survives?"

The 49ers entered 2025 locking aging, expensive future Hall of Famers and quarterback Brock Purdy into massive contracts while minimizing other offseason spending. The team planned to rely on modestly paid special teamers and recent draft classes for depth. Multiple season-ending injuries to Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and rookie Mykel Williams, plus extended absences for Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall, exposed severe depth problems. The defense struggles to stop the run or rush the passer, and the offense becomes limited, overusing Christian McCaffrey. Several rookies and young players have been benched or repeatedly exposed, raising questions about development versus being thrown into untenable situations.

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