49ers head home early following a trying season that started with Super Bowl hopes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - After three straight seasons of long playoff runs, the San Francisco 49ers are packing up and heading home early for a change.

A season that started with contract disputes that kept stars out of training camp, was a rough one until the end with the 49ers enduring several off-field tragedies, injuries to key players and inconsistent play that left one of the preseason Super Bowl favorites playing out the string the final few weeks of a 6-11 campaign.

"Our standards for this organization are significantly higher," tight end George Kittle said Monday. "Our expectations for ourselves are higher. Our goals were higher. We didn't achieve any of these. So it's disappointing.”

The 49ers never looked quite like a contender this season, starting when Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams held out of training camp practices looking for new contracts.

Then rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest in San Francisco a week before the opener, sidelining him for the first half of the season.

Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey missed the first half of the season with Achilles tendinitis and then hurt his knee in his fourth game back and was shut down for the rest of the season.

Aiyuk, Williams, Javon Hargrave, Nick Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Jordan Mason are among the other key players who missed significant time with injuries.

There was also personal tragedy with Williams’ wife giving birth to a stillborn son and cornerback Charvarius Ward’s 1-year-old daughter dying.

The play on the field also wasn’t up to the usual standard as many of the players who played a big part in the team’s trip to the Super Bowl last season weren’t able to match that play in 2024.

"We didn't do it. It stings," quarterback Brock Purdy said. "But more than anything, how I'm looking at it and a lot of guys are is we have some time away to reflect on it and come back hungry, ready to do what it takes to get back on track of playing Niner football and winning and being excellent across the board."

After finishing fourth in MVP voting in his first full season as a starter in 2023, Purdy was far less productive this season. He took steps to become a more vocal leader and showed off even more mobility to extend plays, but wasn’t nearly as efficient as a passer. His passer rating dropped nearly 17 points to 96.1 and he had only 20 TD passes and 12 INTs on the season. He also came up short in several late-game scenarios when the Niners had a chance for a comeback win.

San Francisco has excelled defensively the previous five seasons, ranking first in yards per play allowed, fourth in points allowed and seventh in takeaways. The Niners had significant drops in all three areas in the first season under coordinator Nick Sorensen. The issues were particularly glaring in the second half of the season when San Francisco had the fewest takeaways (two) and allowed the third-most points per game (28.2) over the final nine games.

"It's just a lack of execution, lack of takeaways, lack of everything, honestly," linebacker Fred Warner said. "It wasn't even close to the standard of what I've known."

One of the few bright spots for San Francisco has been the play of the rookie class. After two years of almost no impact from the draft class outside of Purdy, the Niners found several key contributors.

Third-rounder Dominick Puni was a day one starter at right guard and looks poised to hold down that job for years to come. Second-round cornerback Renardo Green, fourth-round safety Malik Mustapha and fourth-round running back Isaac Guerendo all made key contributions and should have key roles next season.

Pearsall’s production was limited after missing time, but he finished strong with 14 catches for 210 yards and two TDs the last two games.

A recurring issue all season has been the play of San Francisco’s special teams. The team has been beaten on two fake punts, allowed a blocked punt, gave up a kickoff return TD and had three turnovers on returns, raising questions about whether special teams coordinator Brian Schneider will return for a fourth season.

A more concerning question revolves around kicker Jake Moody, who was picked in the third round of the 2023 draft. His missed a league-high 10 field goals was 5 for 14 on FGs from at least 40 yards since returning from a high ankle sprain in Week 10.

The first immediate question of the offseason will be about Purdy’s contract as he is now eligible to negotiate an extension from his rookie deal that has one year left and has been paying him about $1 million a year.

The next deal for Purdy will be far richer with nine quarterbacks in the league having contracts worth at least $50 million a year.