The San Francisco 49ers announced that Paraag Marathe has been named the President of 49ers Enterprises, which they say means he will “oversee outside business ventures, advisory efforts, and major investment opportunities for the club.” They also announced that he would remain in his current role as Executive Vice President of Football Operations, serving as the team’s “chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, among other football duties.”
Marathe is generally well-liked among the fanbase, I feel, though he took some hits when all the Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly stuff went down. The word at the time, at least as I heard it, was that Trent Baalke and Marathe were Jed York’s top lieutenants, and that perhaps there were issues keeping everyone in check.
Marathe is very good at what he does, but when Baalke was let go, some were worried that the past regime would still be represented poorly with Marathe in the mix. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case. York seems to be allowing his personnel to do their jobs, and I haven’t heard about any overreaching from anybody. Things are good right now, with a very smart and popular hire in Kyle Shanahan.
The 49ers have extended multiple players this offseason, and while some of them aren’t the best players, there’s a method to the madness. Most of the deals have many team-friendly provisions, like Daniel Kilgore and Garry Gilliams’ essential one-year deals, as well as the front-loading of Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract. I’m pleased with those deals, and pleased that Marathe will continue in his same football capacity.
This other stuff will basically have nothing to do with football, but it’s a sign the 49ers still really respect Marathe and what he brings to the table from a contracts and dollar signs perspective.
“I am extremely proud of the significant growth our organization has experienced in recent years and the direction we are headed,” said 49ers CEO Jed York. “Paraag has been vital to our success in all facets of our organization for the last 17 years, and it is no surprise that his work towards growing our business and broadening the scope of our brand has been tremendous. I have great confidence in Paraag’s ability to continue to discover and develop valuable new opportunities for the 49ers organization outside of our football interests.”
Marathe also oversaw the development of Levi’s Stadium, according to the release by the team. That’s a good thing overall, but the stadium is not without its issues. There are a few that are extremely significant, and hopefully the 49ers continue to improve on their home.
“The last three years have been very exciting as we have seen significant business development in addition to that of our football team,” said Marathe. “In that time, our outside business interests have branched into a number of areas including consulting, technology development and venture investing. We will continue to seek new opportunities that are strategically aligned and expand the brand of an iconic organization such as the 49ers.”
Marathe should be pretty busy with his football duties for the next couple months, however.