49ers center Weston Richburg and cornerback D.J. Reed both recently underwent surgery, leaving their availability for the start of training camp in question, San Francisco announced today. Richburg’s operation addressed an ongoing knee issue, while Reed went under the knife to correct a shoulder injury.
Richburg inked a five-year, $47.5MM contract with the 49ers last offseason, and proceeded to play in 15 games despite dealing with his knee injury. His production wasn’t great, as Pro Football Focus assigned Richburg the lowest grade (51.9) of his five-year career, but it’s fair to assume his health questions factored into his reduced level of play.
Although Richburg could return for training camp, knee injuries can often last longer than initially expected. The 49ers don’t have a ton of depth along the interior of their offensive line, so they could potentially be in trouble if Richburg is forced to miss any regular season action. Erik Magnuson would presumably take over at center, but San Francisco could look to free agency and/or the draft to shore up their line in case Richburg isn’t ready for the 2019 campaign.
Reed, a fifth-round pick last year, appeared in 15 games (two starts) for the Niners. At 5’9″, 188 pounds, he’s mostly suited for the slot, and that’s where he primarily played in 2018. All told, Reed saw action on roughly a third of San Francisco’s defensive snaps and 43.2% of the club’s special teams plays.
Another classic example of a ‘salary cash rich team’ blowing money. Down with the QB, RB, and C.
Keep your excitement up Jets fans, they’re free to blow tons of money AND still draft in the top 10 next year. Trust me, I watched the salary cap rich Jags blow threw their cap space for 1 division title with more 3rd or 4th place finishes. Only to be cash strapped again this offseason.
49ers have $60+ million in cap space don’t see how they blew through it
My point, like the Jags, they made bad investments. Just having a lot of money to spend, doesn’t mean the people spending it are good at it.
The NFL has a minimum salary cap. If these non-guaranteed signings don’t work out, the 49ers can waive them to take upfront hit and still be way under.