Ben Bartch‘s time in Duval County is set to come to an end. The veteran offensive lineman has agreed to depart the Jaguars’ practice squad on a deal with the 49ers, reports Mia O’Brien of 1010 AM.
The 25-year-old has made 41 career appearances, all with Jacksonville. That includes 21 starts, three of which have come in the 2022 season. Jacksonville made a depth addition at the guard spot during the trade deadline, acquiring Ezra Clevelandfrom the Vikings. In the aftermath of that move, Bartch has seen his path to an active roster spot grow more challenging, and he will head elsewhere.
The latter has bounced on and off the Jaguars’ active roster recently, after starting at left guard for each of the first three weeks of the season. The LG spot has been Bartch’s most common one over the course of his career, but he has also seen time at right guard. Both Cleveland and Walker Little, who slid inside after beginning the year at left tackle due to Cam Robinson‘s PED suspension, can operate at guard for the Jaguars moving forward.
Bartch, a former fourth-round pick, earned a starting spot in the 2021 season. He again operated as a first-teamer at the start of the following year before a knee injury cost him the remainder of the campaign. Set to reach free agency at the end of the season, he will now join San Francisco’s O-line in a bid to at least offer depth along the interior for what could be a deep postseason run.
The 49ers have 2021 second-rounder Aaron Banksand 2022 fourth-rounder Spencer Burfordin place as starters at the guard spots. They also have veteran Jon Felicianoas a fill-in option. Bartch – who has posted a PFF grade of 55.5 in 2023, roughly in line with past marks – will look to carve out a role in the Bay Area before hitting the open market in the spring.
November 21st, 2023 at 11:18am CST by Sam Robinson
Through 11 weeks, this NFL season has not produced an MVP favorite. Oddsmakers have slotted a number of usual suspects as frontrunners, but the stretch run will be important to generating a lead candidate.
No non-quarterback has won this award since Adrian Peterson‘s 2,097-yard rushing season edged Peyton Manning‘s Broncos debut in 2012, though J.J. Watt did finish second in voting in 2014. A quarterback will be expected to claim the honors this season, but that player has not declared himself just yet.
Two of the favorites faced off Monday night, with Jalen Hurts‘ Eagles besting the Chiefs in a Super Bowl LVII rematch. The Chiefs stifled Hurts for much of Philadelphia’s 21-17 win, but the dual-threat passer came through late. He is also the quarterback on the NFL’s only one-loss team. Hurts would have represented a strong MVP challenger to Patrick Mahomes last year, but a late-season shoulder injury led to the Chiefs superstar pulling away. QBR ranks the Super Bowl LVII QBs fifth and sixth, respectively, with Mahomes slipping to No. 5 after Kansas City’s loss.
After Hurts’ breakthrough 2022, the Eagles gave the fourth-year QB a then-record five-year, $255MM extension — one that set the market for Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow. Hurts has accounted for 24 touchdowns — nine on the ground, as he makes a case as the most unstoppable short-yardage QB rusher in NFL history — and has upped his completion percentage (68.5) from 2022.
Mahomes responded to the Tyreek Hill trade by notching the first MVP-Super Bowl MVP since Kurt Warner in 1999, and the Chiefs updated his contract to fall in line with the market Hurts helped set. Kansas City, however, has seen its oft-questioned wide receiver setup play a big role in both its home losses this year. Mahomes ranks 20th in yards per attempt, at 6.9; he cleared eight in each of his two MVP campaigns. With Travis Kelce in his age-34 season, will the seventh-year QB be able to overcome a suspect receiver setup?
Brock Purdy is leading the NFL (by a wide margin, at 9.7) in yards per attempt. After a midseason slump, Purdy has put together two strong games. He accomplished the 49ers’ first perfect passer rating in a game since 1989. Last year’s Mr. Irrelevant has been a revelation for the 49ers, who have his seventh-round contract on the books through 2025. Purdy also leads the league in QBR, providing an efficient season while blessed with an elite skill-position corps. Although this skill group could end up working against Purdy, he would become the most unlikely MVP since Warner.
No. 2 in QBR, Dak Prescott has put together a strong stretch since the Cowboys endured a blowout loss in San Francisco. After four straight one-touchdown showings, the eighth-year Cowboys starter has 13 TD tosses over his past four games. At this pace, the 30-year-old passer will be in position for another monster contract. With the franchise tag off the table and a $59MM cap hit awaiting in his 2024 contract year, Prescott is in one of the most player-friendly extension positions in league history.
Jackson sits ninth in QBR but has the Ravens perched as the AFC’s top seed for the time being. Given a $52MM-per-year deal that differed from his peers’ 2023 re-ups — in that it contains no extra years of control due to it coming after a Ravens franchise tag — Jackson is still operating a run-oriented offense. His 12 touchdown passes rank 16th, though his yards per attempt (8.1) and completion rate (69.5) figures are in the top six. Among this year’s contenders, Jackson joins Mahomes as the only former MVPs.
No rookie has claimed this award since Jim Brown in 1957, but this particular season does keep the door slightly ajar for C.J. Stroud. Almost no one expected the Texans to be in the playoff race, and the team sweeping the Jaguars would move an AFC South title closer to reality. Stroud has run away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year race, doing so despite numerous O-line injuries. The No. 2 overall pick’s 2,962 passing yards sit second, but QBR places the Ohio State product 12th. Stroud’s three-INT game against the Cardinals hurt his cause, but the Houston rookie still has some time to make a historic push.
While Jared Goff (seventh in QBR) was once the throw-in in a trade that keyed a Matthew Stafford-led Rams Super Bowl charge, the Lions are 8-2 for the first time in 61 years. Detroit is 1-2 against teams with winning records, but a favorable schedule down the stretch stands to allow Goff — in Year 2 with OC Ben Johnson running the show — to make a case. The Lions ending up with home-field advantage in the NFC would obviously strengthen the former No. 1 overall pick’s cause. Regardless, the 29-year-old QB has moved into position for a lucrative Lions extension.
How the AFC East plays out stands to produce a contender. Although Josh Allen‘s turnover issues helped lead the Bills to fire OC Ken Dorsey, the sixth-year superstar leads the NFL with 22 TD passes (while pacing the league with 12 picks) while adding seven more scores on the ground. Tua Tagovailoa ranks just 10th in QBR — six spots behind Allen — and the Dolphins have fallen short in matchups against the Bills, Chiefs and Eagles. That said, the Bills have five losses to the Dolphins’ three. Miami first-place scoring ranking will obviously benefit its ascending passer, though Tua could conceivably split votes with Hill.
No wide receiver has ever won MVP acclaim, and Hill’s off-field history will not help his case. But his impact on the Dolphins has been undeniable. The former Chiefs speed merchant has changed Tagovailoa’s career trajectory, and the eighth-year wideout leads the NFL with 1,222 receiving yards — in front by 209 — despite the Dolphins already resting during a bye week. While Jerry Rice and Calvin Johnson could not parlay their receiving yardage records into MVP honors — respectively losing out to Brett Favre (1995) and Peterson (2012) — this QB pace persisting would stand to keep Hill going. Christian McCaffrey also makes sense as a candidate. His midseason 2022 arrival catalyzed the 49ers, and despite missing a game, the ex-Panthers extension recipient leads the NFL with 825 rushing yards. No other RB has posted more than 700, and this would obviously be an interesting year to see a running back emerge as a true MVP candidate.
Could this be the year a defender sneaks through? Only Alan Page and Lawrence Taylor have done so, but with no QB residing as a clear frontrunner, is a door ajar for Myles Garrett or T.J. Watt powering offensively limited teams? Is there an off-grid player who shapes up as a late-season threat? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on the race in the comments section.
NOVEMBER 20: Shanahan confirmed on Monday that Hufanga did indeed tear his ACL. His third season with the team – one in which he appeared to be on his way to a second straight Pro Bowl nod – is over as a result. San Francisco’s secondary will be significantly shorthanded for the rest of the campaign.
NOVEMBER 19: It’s safe to say the 49ers have rebounded strongly from their three-game losing streak with two straight wins as they’ve continued to get healthy. That march towards perfect health will take a step back, though, as it looks like San Francisco will be without starting safety Talanoa Hufanga for the remainder of season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that Hufanga “most likely” suffered an ACL injury, per Jake Hutchinson of KNBR.
Hufanga has quietly become one of the league’s top safeties. After a quiet start to his rookie year as a fifth-round pick, Hufanga found playing time filling in for an injured Jaquiski Tartt in the middle of the season. After that, the 49ers staff got creative in trying to fit Hufanga into more packages for the rest of the year. When Tartt’s contract expired at the end of the season, San Francisco decided to invest a bit more in the youthful option out of USC.
Hufanga became a starter in his sophomore season and exploded onto the scene. During a season in which he demonstrated his physicality with nearly 100 tackles, two sacks, five tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles, Hufanga showed his true range as a safety with nine passes defensed and four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, as well. He was rewarded for his efforts with a Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selection.
So far this year, Hufanga has continued his stellar play. Before falling to injury today, he was well on track to match or exceed his tackle-total from last year and could’ve surpassed last year’s four-interception performance with three already and seven games to go. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) even noted an improvement in Hufanga’s game this season, rating him as the league’s 13th best safety after ranking him at 23 last year.
With Hufanga out today, the 49ers relied on a two-man front to replace him in Ji’Ayir Brown and George Odum. Odum had gotten more run than Brown so far this season, but Brown put up such a stellar performance in the team’s win over the Buccaneers today that a bigger role could be in the works for the third-round rookie out of Penn State. Given his most playing time of the year, Brown was all over the field with four tackles, three passes defensed, and his first career interception. If Brown continues to play like that, the 49ers should feel pretty good lining him up next to Tashaun Gipson as a starter. If not, a rotation with Odum, a veteran with some starting experience, could ensue.
This isn’t Hufanga’s first time suffering a season-ending injury as a broken collarbone ended his freshman year with the Trojans. An ACL tear is a different monster, though. Hopefully, the young All-Pro will prove his resilience with a relatively quick recovery from what seems to be a season-ending injury.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:49am CST by Adam La Rose
The 49ers made one of the largest additions at the 2023 trade deadline by acquiring Chase Youngfrom the Commanders. Given his status as a pending free agent, though, the possibility remains Young ends up being a half-year rental as the team turns to other players in need of a new deal in the offseason.
One of those is wideout Brandon Aiyuk. The 25-year-old is playing out the final year of his rookie pact in 2023, after the 49ers elected to exercise his fifth-year option. That decision tied him to a cap number of $14.1MM this year, and demonstrated the organization’s commitment to him in at least the short term. Reaching agreement on a multi-year pact will require a larger AAV figure, but such a move would represent a logical priority for the team.
Aiyuk has posted 831 yards and four touchdowns on 43 receptions this season. Those figures put him on track to surpass his career-best statline of 78-1,015-8 from 2022. The Arizona State alum comfortably leads the team in receiving, and he has developed into a key member of the 49ers’ vaunted skill-position group. For that reason, Matt Barrows of The Athletic predicts Aiyuk will be seen as a higher priority than Young in the event only one is retained for 2024 and beyond (subscription required).
As Barrows notes, Aiyuk has progressed from head coach Kyle Shanahan‘s doghouse to a major contributor on one of the league’s top offenses. The length of time which would be required to draft and develop an Aiyuk successor in 2024 or down the road could outweigh the risk of letting Young walk in free agency. The latter – brought in for a compensatory third-round pick – arrived in the Bay Area with high expectations given his status as a former Defensive Rookie of the Year and his health in 2023. Young posted five sacks in seven games in Washington, and he has added 1.5 in two 49ers contests.
Continuing that production will help his market with San Francisco or other interested teams. The former No. 2 pick is comfortable waiting until the offseason to discuss a new contract, something which would be quite challenging to afford for the 49ers. Young’s former Ohio State teammate, Nick Bosa, is attached to the most lucrative contract ever given to a defensive player ($34MM AAV), making it difficult to justify another lucrative investment along the edge. By contrast, the team’s top WR commitment is to Deebo Samuel, whose $71.5MM deal runs through 2025 (though no guaranteed salary exists on the final year of that pact).
The 49ers will have a number of key financial decisions to make this offseason, with Aiyuk and Young comprising only two members of their free agent class. For now, at least, the former could be considered the likelier of the two to find himself in the Bay Area next season.
Evans had been called up from the practice squad three times by the Cowboys, meaning he needed to be added to the 53-man roster this week to continue suiting up. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports “several teams” attempted to poach the veteran off the taxi squad, but his decision to remain with Dallas has culminated in today’s move. Evans has logged 74 combined defensive and special teams snaps with the Cowboys so far, recording three tackles.
James was out of the lineup for one game after being designated for return, but he will be eligible to suit up for the upcoming Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles. Mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this year, he will be able to add depth to a WR corps which has underperformed to date, and add to his single catch recorded in his two Kansas City games at the start of the campaign.
After 32-year-old cornerback Jason Verrettparted ways withDeMeco Ryans, who served as his defensive coordinator in San Francisco and his head coach in Houston, Verrett looked to return to his home of the past four years. The 49ers hosted Verrett for a workout this week, and according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, the team is hoping to add the veteran to their practice squad.
Verrett, a former first-round pick for the Chargers back in 2014, has had a career defined by injury. Currently in his tenth season of NFL play, Verrett has never appeared in every game of a season. In fact, he’s only appeared in at least half of a team’s games in any given year twice. Not counting the time he’s spent on the Texans’ practice squad this season, Verrett has only made an appearance in 40 of a possible 146 career games.
In his rookie year, it was a shoulder injury as he would require surgery for three labrum tears and a tear to his rotator cuff, missing 10 contests due to the injuries. In a Pro Bowl sophomore campaign, Verrett missed one game with a foot injury before sitting out of the team’s season finale. In 2016, Verrett started the first four games of the season but is believed to have played through a partially torn ACL for the latter half of that time before being placed on season-ending injured reserve. After a Week 1 start in 2017, continued knee soreness forced Verrett towards another surgery that would hold him out for the remainder of that season. His 2018 season was over before it began after Verrett suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the first day of training camp.
In 2019, San Francisco took a flier on Verrett. Unfortunately, they would only get 14 snaps out of the defensive back before he was placed on season-ending IR with an ankle injury. 2020 finally saw a return to play for Verrett. He started 13 games for the 49ers, broke up seven passes, and intercepted two. His lucky streak would end there, unfortunately, as Verrett would tear his ACL once again in a Week 1 start of the 2021 season. He spent the first two months of the 2022 season on the physically unable to perform list as he continued to recover, but about two weeks after his activation, Verrett would once again tear his Achilles tendon, ending his season early for an appalling seventh time and marking the second season in his career in which he would fail to make a regular season appearance due to injury.
According to David Bonilla of 49ers Web Zone, head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted to keeping track of the updates to Verrett’s recovery from the Achilles injury during his time in Houston. “I heard they were good in Houston,” Shanahan said about the reports on his former player’s injury. “And they’ve been, when we worked him out, everyone said it was good…so it’s amazing that he’s even back and able to do that stuff. So, if we got a chance, we’d love to get him in here.”
It sounds like the team is optimistic about where Verrett’s health is at during this stretch of his career, but there may be a bit of homework left to do. Shanahan told reporters that while they “don’t have him signed yet,” they’ll “work through that over this weekend and see how it ends up for next week.”
Regardless of his injury history, Verrett’s perseverance made him a locker room favorite among 49ers players. His impression on the team over the years was so strong that there were reportedly seven or so of his former teammates watching and supporting him during his tryout. If he gets to rejoin them in the locker room, it sounds like we’ll find out about it sometime after the weekend.
Joining Verrett in a team tryout today was free agent quarterback Chris Streveler, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Streveler, who started a game for the Jets last season, also has in-game experience with the Cardinals. New York waived the 28-year-old during the preseason this year.
Verrett, a veteran cornerback, has been stuck on the Texans practice squad for just over a month now without making an appearance. Despite following former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to Houston, he reportedly didn’t fit the plan for the team moving forward, mostly due to the fact that he doesn’t play on special teams. This extends Verrett’s NFL absence as he has still not seen regular season action since September of 2021.
The 49ers were aggressive in pursuing an upgrade ahead of the trade deadline, and that effort resulted in the acquisition of Chase Young. The now-former Commanders edge rusher has increased expectations for an already talented San Francisco defensive front, but he was not added at the original asking price.
Washington lowered the ask for Young before the 49ers deal was finalized, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The Commanders received a compensatory 2024 third-round pick for the former No. 2 selection. Schefter notes Washington initially wanted a package of a second- and fifth-round pick for Young, whose value was hindered by his injury history. While fellow edge rusher Montez Sweatyielded a Day 2 selection from the Bears, Young was moved at a comparative discount.
Throughout the lead-in to the deadline, it was clear the Commanders were willing to move at least one of their former first-rounders. Both Young and Sweat were set to see their rookie deals expire this offseason, though the latter has already worked out a lucrative pact in Chicago. Young, on the other hand, has expressed a willingness to wait until the spring to negotiate a new deal. His play in the Bay Area to close out the campaign will dictate his value with the 49ers or on the open market.
The 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year missed considerable time in each of the following two seasons, leading to the Commanders’ decision to decline his fifth-year option. Young managed to play seven games in Washington this season, though, and he made his 49ers debut in Week 10. The 24-year-old posted five sacks during his final weeks in the nation’s capital, increasing expectations for his reunion with former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa.
With the latter having signed a record-breaking extension on the eve of the 2023 season, it will be interesting to see how willing and able the 49ers are to retain Young on a new deal. His performance in San Francisco will certainly affect his market value considerably, but it is noteworthy that, despite interest shown from multiple other teams, the Commanders were prepared to come a long way off their initial asking price to move on from Young.
The 49ers will welcome back left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Deebo Samuel for the club’s Week 10 game against the Jaguars, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com subsequently wrote that Williams is facing an “uphill battle” to suit up, but Schefter doubled down on his earlier report and noted that while Williams is not fully recovered from his sprained ankle, he will be back on the field for the Jacksonville matchup.
Both Williams and Samuel were injured in the Niners’ Week 6 loss to the Browns, the first of three consecutive defeats that turned a 5-0 Super Bowl frontrunner into a 5-3 outfit facing plenty of scrutiny. While Williams was able to finish the Cleveland contest, he found himself in an orthopedic walking boot afterwards and was then sidelined for San Francisco’s next two games against the Vikings and Bengals.
Samuel, meanwhile, sustained a hairline fracture in his shoulder in the early stages of the Cleveland game and was unable to return. Like Williams, Samuel missed both the Minnesota and Cincinnati matchups. A well-timed Week 9 bye allowed the high-profile duo to sufficiently recover for today’s battle with the 6-2 Jags.
It is perhaps no coincidence that quarterback Brock Purdy has struggled without his top wideout for most of the last three games and his 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle for the last two. After throwing nine TDs and zero interceptions over the first five games of the season, a stretch in which he posted QB ratings of well over 100.0 four times, Purdy has thrown three TD passes against six interceptions during the 49ers’ losing streak. Obviously, the return of Williams and Samuel could go a long way in helping the 2022 seventh-rounder right the ship.
Williams may be in his age-35 season, but he is still playing at an elite level. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2010 draft has earned a stellar overall grade of 81.9 from Pro Football Focus for his work this season, which positions him as the fifth-best tackle among 77 qualified players. While the Oklahoma product suggested that he was considering retirement in the immediate aftermath of San Francisco’s NFC Championship Game defeat to close out the 2022 campaign, he said right before the start of the current season that he hopes to play until he is 40. He is presently under contract through 2026.
Samuel, a First Team All-Pro in 2021 who led the NFL in yards-per-reception rate that year, has 20 catches for 302 yards (15.1 YPR) and a score through five games and part of a sixth in 2023. The 27-year-old dual-threat weapon has added 18 carries for 95 yards and a rushing TD.
