Torrey Smith Believes Chip Kelly Will Stick Around
- Despite the team’s 1-11 record, 49ers receiver Torrey Smith is convinced that head coach Chip Kelly will be sticking around. “He ain’t going anywhere anyways,” Smith told Eric Branch of SFGate.com. “I don’t think it’s a situation where guys are really concerned about that.”
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Browns, 49ers In Race For Top Pick
The 1-11 49ers also loom as a contender for the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, with Seifert giving them a 14.1-percent chance at the top pick and a 99.7-percent chance at a top-5 pick. The organization will likely be making their highest pick since they drafted Alex Smith first overall in 2005.
49ers: Kaepernick To Remain Starting QB
49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins says Colin Kaepernick will remain the starting quarterback this week against the Jets (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). Kaepernick was benched this past weekend against the Bears, but the Niners still want to continue with him as their primary signal caller. 
In a snowy game against Chicago, the 49ers’ offense was unable to get anything going. After going 1-for-5 for four yards and taking five sacks, coach Chip Kelly benched No. 7 in favor of Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert did better, but not by much. He completed four of his ten passing attempts for 35 yards and was also brought down in the end zone for a safety.
This is, of course, a lost season for San Francisco. However, they are still trying to figure out how to proceed at quarterback in 2017 and beyond. This year, as Kaepernick started the year on the bench and made headlines for his polarizing political stances, it seemed quite unlikely that he would be the QB solution after this season. However, after a string of quality games last month, some observers called for the Niners to consider Kaepernick for next season. This final month of action should give us an indication of whether have any interest in retaining Kaepernick. If they don’t, then Kaepernick could be in position to land a decent contract on the open market.
NFL Spending By Team Over Last Four Seasons
The NFLPA has released the official data on team spending over the last four seasons. The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that each team must utilize 89% of the salary cap over two four-year periods, 2013-16 and 2017-20. As previously reported, the Raiders are the only team that has yet to satisfy that requirement for the closing period. The CBA also requires the league, as a whole, to spend 95% of the cap, in cash, for the same period. That requirement has been easily met.
Here is the full rundown of every team’s spending in declining order:
Philadelphia Eagles – $613,928,134
Denver Broncos – $587,712,791
Seattle Seahawks – $584,305,975
Green Bay Packers – $583,138,740
Miami Dolphins – $577,975,260
Kansas City Chiefs – $575,541,332
Buffalo Bills – $573,647,850
Chicago Bears – $568,301,610
Cincinnati Bengals – $567,289,411
Baltimore Ravens – $562,425,698
San Diego Chargers – $562,232,116
Indianapolis Colts – $556,335,689
Atlanta Falcons – $550,614,572
New York Giants – $543,787,033
Arizona Cardinals – $543,327,538
Los Angeles Rams – $541,957,711
New Orleans Saints – $539,836,498
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $539,736,102
Minnesota Vikings – $539,162,454
New York Jets – $533,151,519
Washington Redskins – $532,545,662
Pittsburgh Steelers – $530,698,171
Detroit Lions – $530,210,549
Tennessee Titans – $524,505,256
Dallas Cowboys – $523,033,036
Houston Texans – $517,212,166
Jacksonville Jaguars – $516,908,734
Cleveland Browns – $516,158,864
San Francisco 49ers – $514,488,198
New England Patriots – $500,083,836
Carolina Panthers – $495,149,346
Oakland Raiders – $491,433,408
Kaepernick Could Still Be In 49ers' Future
- Despite Colin Kaepernick being ready to test his value on the free agent market, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk envisions a path for the polarizing passer back to San Francisco. The sixth-year veteran voiding the contract still leaves the 49ers in charge of his rights until March, so the team could re-sign the 29-year-old quarterback. But that option, per Florio, likely stalls if the 49ers oust their power structure after the season. Florio also writes other teams might not be as quick to sign off on the former Pro Bowl performer due to the backlash that could come from fans as a result of his anthem protests.
“Growing Belief” 49ers Will Fire Trent Baalke
As the 49ers’ post-Jim Harbaugh swoon plunges toward rock bottom, the franchise may be angling for a full-scale rebuild — one that would not include Trent Baalke.
A “growing belief” exists the 49ers will move on from the sixth-year GM after this season, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears. Such talk should not exactly be unexpected considering San Francisco’s freefall over the past three years.
The last update on Baalke’s status came in October, when the 49ers had lost merely five games in a row, and the GM was not considered to be bound for the front office unemployment line. The 49ers are now preparing to snap a franchise-record 11-game losing streak, leading to Baalke’s tenuous status.
Florio points out, though, the organization could look to promote assistant GM Tom Gamble. That would create a smoother transition since Chip Kelly is not expected to be let go after one season despite said said unfolding historically poorly. Bringing in an outside hire and refusing to allow him to hire his own coach for at least a season would certainly bring an awkward arrangement.
Kelly benched Colin Kaepernick, about whom it was reported earlier today would opt out of his restructured contract after this season, and the 49ers on Sunday finished with a net six passing yards — the second-fewest in the franchise’s 70 years of existence. The loss dropped them to 6-22 without Harbaugh after the team started 44-19-1 in Baalke’s first four years.
Colin Kaepernick To Opt Out At Season’s End
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick restructured his contract back in October, a restructure that allows him to opt out of the deal at the end of this season and bars San Francisco from using the franchise tag on him in 2017. At the time of the restructure, we heard that Kaepernick fully planned to exercise his opt-out clause, and as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes, those plans have not changed.
Per Rapoport, Kaepernick will void his contract before the start of the 2017 league year in March and become a free agent. And it makes sense. Although the 49ers have not won a game since Week 1, Kaepernick has played well since reprising his role as the club’s starting quarterback, and he appears to be regaining his old form. Over the last four games, he has completed 86 of 145 passes for 1,110 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also rushed for 223 yards over that span. It makes sense, then, that he would want to test the free agent waters, as next year’s crop of available quarterback is topped by the likes of Geno Smith, EJ Manuel, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Mike Glennon (assuming, of course, that the Redskins don’t let Kirk Cousins get away). Even if veteran QBs like Tony Romo and Jay Cutler become available, Kaepernick would still stand to make a great deal of money on the open market.
But Rapoport indicates that Kaepernick could return to the 49ers, a scenario that seemed entirely implausible not too long ago. After all, his talents have played well in head coach Chip Kelly‘s system, and Rapoport writes that the once-strained relationship between the franchise and the quarterback is in a very good place. Kaepernick apparently appreciates the fact that the team supported him as he took a controversial social stance, and Rapoport suggests that the issues that precipitated his near trade to Denver this offseason have all but gone away. Plus, San Francisco will have plenty of money to spend.
Other scribes, however, are more skeptical of the possibility that Kaepernick returns to the Bay Area. Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, for instance, says that he cannot envision Kaepernick playing for the 49ers next season under the current front office regime (Twitter link). If Kaepernick does decide to move on, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report lays out a few potential destinations, which include the Bears, Broncos, Cardinals, Jets, and Browns.
Opinion: Impending UFAs 49ers Should Re-Sign
- Of the 49ers’ 17 players scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason, the team should try to re-sign six – defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey, tight end Vance McDonald, linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong, wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, and quarterbacks Christian Ponder and Thaddeus Lewis – opines Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Armstrong has a fan in defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil, who gives the 25-year-old “two thumbs up,” but the coach’s uncertain future could affect whether the defender returns, writes Barrows.
Vance McDonald Having Strong Contract Year
- Currently amid a career-best season, 49ers contract-year tight end Vance McDonald is making a strong case that he’s worth re-signing, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. With 22 catches in nine games – all starts – the fourth-year man is on pace to easily eclipse the career-high 30 receptions he posted last season. McDonald has already found the end zone a personal-best four times, too, and is averaging a tremendous 17.4 yards per catch. “He’s one of our weapons on the offensive side of the ball and he runs better than most tight ends in this league,” head coach Chip Kelly said of McDonald, who’s on track to net a sizable raise over the roughly $800K salary he’s raking in this season.
49ers’ Chip Kelly Rules Out Return To Oregon
The University of Oregon fired head football coach Mark Helfrich yesterday, but former Ducks — and current 49ers — head coach Chip Kelly won’t be returning to Eugene anytime soon. “Yep,” said Kelly, when asked by reporters, including Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, whether he would remain with San Francisco. “So we’re done with that, I hope. The only person I’ve talked to is [Helfrich]. So we can talk about the Bears. I have not talked to anybody at Oregon expect Mark Helfrich.” 
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Kelly has already been forced to deny rumors that he would leave the NFL and return to the collegiate ranks, as he told reporters last month that he isn’t “going anywhere.” However, as the 49ers continued to struggle this season, NCAA clubs have reached out — privately and indirectly — and been informed that Kelly has no interest in becoming a college coach. Kelly signed a four-year, $24MM contract prior to the 2016 season, but San Francisco has played uninspired football during the first year of his tenure, posting only a single win so far.
Kelly, of course, did experience success during his four seasons with Oregon, managing a 46-7 record while appearing in one National Championship game, a loss to Auburn. Since joining the NFL as the Eagles’ coach in 2013, Kelly has registered a 27-31 overall record, earning one playoff appearance during that stretch.