The San Francisco 49ers are going to look nearly unrecognizable next season.
Gone are Jim Harbaugh and most of his coaching staff, Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, Chris Borland, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Chris Culliver, Dan Skuta and possibly Justin Smith.
In their stead are Jim Tomsula, Torrey Smith and Reggie Bush.
Seems like they've done plenty to plug any holes created by the initial departures, right?
Maybe not, as a report from Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report paints the picture of a league full of executives concerned that the Niners are headed right back to the perennial doldrums from which they came.
"Across the sport, interviews with team executives show a general shock at what's happened to the 49ers. That's the word used over and over: shock. One team executive said, 'the 49ers are f----d.' But generally, the emotion was shock," writes Freeman.
"Other teams look at the 49ers and, to a person, everyone I interviewed assigned blame for the current predicament to the front office. The 49ers are seen by others in the league as a dysfunctional unit: It was corralled by Harbaugh, and the absence of Harbaugh led to the current unraveling. But that is another story for another day."
A team that was once a bully to those they faced and a standard by which the elite measured themselves, a team that appeared in the NFC Championship Game three seasons in a row, culminating in a Super Bowl XLVII berth, has been torn down, dismantled and will, presumably, be stitched together anew by GM Trent Baalke and owner Jed York.
Along those lines and among other still-to-come changes Freeman foresees is the lingering possibility of a trade of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
"None of this includes the fact that some team officials still believe the 49ers will trade Colin Kaepernick despite the team's denials they will."
The 27-year-old Kaepernick regressed somewhat last season. His touchdowns dipped and his interceptions increased as his QBR dropped to a career-low of 55.9.
He still managed 289 completions for 3,369 yards and added 104 rushes for 639 yards even in a down year for the entire Niners franchise. He'd be certain to bring back a quality return, though it's difficult to say what, exactly, that would return be or who the team would replace him with under center - or in the shotgun - for that matter.
The one thing that is certain, is the Niners that take the field on opening day next year will be a far cry from the team that jogged dejectedly off after finishing 8-8, facing an offseason of certain change and the expected dismissal of their grating, but hugely successful, head coach.
