2021 Preseason Assessment

 What went right: The 49ers made their big move at quarterback, trading three first-round picks to move up in the draft and grab North Dakota State product Trey Lance. Lance gives Kyle Shanahan a cheap, high-upside quarterback to build the rest of his team around over the next few years 

The other big move of the offseason was re-signing star left tackle Trent Williams, who inked the richest contract for an offensive lineman in history. Williams hasn't played a complete season since 2013, but on a snap-by-snap basis, he's still one of the league's best tackles. 

What went wrong: It seemed like Jimmy Garoppolo's days with the 49ers were numbered after the organization traded up, but the team has decided to keep him around for the time being in the hopes of having an Alex Smith/Patrick Mahomes-style transition. In doing so, the Niners lost out on the opportunity of trading Garoppolo to a team such as the Patriots or Bears, costing themselves draft capital.

if he stays on the roster through Week 1, they will be on the hook for his $25 million in compensation. Given that Jimmy G has made it out of September without getting injured just once in four tries as a starting quarterback, the nightmare scenario in which he stays on the cap and then gets hurt almost immediately seems like the most likely outcome.

While it wasn't a great year for the 49ers in 2020, their success in 2019 spurred teams to pick apart their coaching staff this past offseason. The Jets hired Robert Saleh, who then took Mike LaFleur and John Benton to help run the offense in New York. Former Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans was promoted to the defensive coordinator role, where he'll be debuting and filling Saleh's considerable shoes.

What's left to do: Re-sign Warner. The star linebacker has been a bargain over the past three years and would be for one more season even with a proven performance raise to $3.3 million.

Source: https://www.espn.co.uk/nfl/insider/story/_/id/31547952/ranking-best-worst-nfl-offseasons-2021-how-bucs-patriots-improved-why-raiders-packers-stumbled dated 9 June 2021