The San Francisco 49ers have gone through about as tumultuous an offseason as is possible within the physical parameters of the known NFL universe.
Jim Harbaugh was effectively pushed out. Patrick Willis called it quits. His presumed replacement, Chris Borland, did the same. Justin Smith hung up his helmet and cleats and then Anthony Davis up and decided he needed to take some time away from the NFL and football as well.
While no one would ever, ever, fault these players for putting their own health and safety above money or a game, the smattering of retirements combined with several key departures - Mike Iupati, Frank Gore, Andy Lee - do leave the Niners with some significant question marks for 2015.
One of the most important players on the San Francisco roster, who is a question mark in terms of performance, if not status for next season, is quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick spent this offseason working with Super Bowl-winner and possible future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in the hopes of elevating his game heading into his fifth NFL season. The 49ers, now under the control of former defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, are facing what many expect to be a down season as the combination of so many new faces are likely to make cohesion a rare and difficult to find thing in a new-look San Fran place.
Ultimately, one season of struggles won't be so bad for the Niners faithful, who can dull the pain with beer and nachos and go back to hoping for better results next year, but could it spell the end for Kaepernick in California?
"Any team with a good defense -- which I expect the 49ers to have -- and a talented quarterback can sustain success on the field, and an 8-8 season is unlikely to force a QB change unless there are viable replacement alternatives," writes John Clayton of ESPN. "But the 49ers might still be tempted to trade Kaepernick to a quarterback-starved franchise for two or three high draft choices, if they found the right deal. They could then look to find a way to come away with a top quarterback prospect in the draft, while retooling other parts of the roster"
Clayton is among those who suspect Tomsula and the newfangled Niners are probably facing a difficult year in 2015, and with good reason.
"The reality is the current 49ers championship run is over," writes Clayton. "Pro Football Focus recently published 32 depth charts with ratings for each player. The 49ers lost one elite player (Willis), three high-quality players (Lee, Chris Borland and Chris Culliver), three good players (Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis and Justin Smith) and four players with average ratings (Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Dan Skuta and Perrish Cox)."
Per PFF's ranking system, the Niners fall smack dab in the middle of the pack and look much more like an 8-8 team than an 11 or 12-win squad.
With Kaepernick operating under a big new contract extension - that really isn't a big, new contract extension, but may potentially become one the longer he remains with the organization and the more he produces - the young quarterback could, depending on the Niners fortunes next season and the outlook thereafter, ultimately mean more to the franchise as a trade chip than as their de facto leader.
If Tomsula views him as the future of the franchise, then this whole conversation is moot, but considering the structure of the deal handed to Kaepernick by GM Trent Baalke and the rest of the Niners brass, it's more likely than not that they're prepared to part ways with him at the first sign of trouble.
