The 49ers are in a good spot going into the 2023 offseason. They’ll have most of their key starters back, 10 draft picks to work with, and a little bit of salary cap flexibility.
It shouldn’t take a Herculean offseason from general manager John Lynch and Co. to put together another club that can make a run at a Super Bowl.
Still, going into the offseason there are a handful of questions the 49ers will need to answer if they’re going to go into next season with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations:
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All indications point to Purdy needing surgery on his elbow after an MRI revealed a completely torn UCL. There are two types of surgery though – a repair that would keep him out for six months, and a reconstruction that would push his recovery timeline to somewhere between nine months and a full year. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded optimistic about the six-month timeline, but it’s still uncertain. This question should get answered quickly, but the team’s plan under center would change dramatically if the recovery is significantly longer than that.
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This will be a question regardless of Purdy’s prognosis. Even if he returns at the six-month mark, QB Trey Lance will have gotten all of the OTA reps and all of the first-team reps for the portions of camp Purdy misses. If Lance wows as the starter in the offseason and continues to impress in camp, the team will have a decision to make about what they want to do under center. It sounds like Purdy is the obvious frontrunner with an inside track to the job, but a possible second-year regression and how his arm recovers from a significant elbow injury are both potential hinderances to Purdy starting Week 1.
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This is another question that should be answered pretty quickly. The club has an interview lined up with veteran coordinator Steve Wilks. They’ve also requested to interview up-and-coming former Commanders DB coach Chris Harris. A handful of other names could be in the mix, but finding a capable defensive coordinator who can keep the 49ers at or near the top of the league on that side of the ball will be paramount to their continued success under Shanahan.
(AP Photo/Josie Lepe)
This is less about whether the 49ers should invest in their offensive line and more about how…
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