When John Lynch took over the San Francisco 49ers, replacing the recently fired Trent Baalke, the abrupt roster turnover was expected. The first thing to go was the ACL All Stars. While the group has been revived with the recent pick of Kentavius Street, 2.0 is definitely not 1.0.
With the Zane Beadle’s release, another facet of the Baalke regime has been purged: his free agent signings.
When Baalke first took over with Jim Harbaugh as coach, his free agent signings were solid. In 2011 they signed Carlos Rogers--an addition that had fans up in arms until Rogers’ lights out play in 2011 garnered him a long-term extension, Jonathan Goodwin who would help make one of the better offensive lines in the league,and David Akers who had the most trusted leg in the league for 2011. But then Baalke signed players like Braylon Edwards who only lasted nine games before being released. Regardless, he put together a decent class. 2012 got some great outside the box additions with signings like Randy Moss, but as the years wore on, the signings grew more and more underwhelming. 2015 brought Torrey Smith, but it also brought Eric Pears and Reggie Bush. And 2016?
Well that brought none other than Zane Beadles himself along with Thad Lewis.
Most of the free agents were outright released, some were left to walk in their contract years. In any case, Beadles continues ushering out an era in the building.
Hopefully Lynch’s free agents pan out better.