Sad News: 49ers Star Says He Will Never Play With 49ers Again If Kyle Shanahan Coach….

Like many of you, I was elated when I found out the San Francisco 49ers had signed defensive lineman Javon Hargrave a year ago. Pricey, yes, but Hargrave seemed like an upgrade on the defensive line, even if he wasn’t an elite run stuffer.

Then 2023 hit. It wasn’t awful, but for an $84 million contract, it was definitely underwhelming. It wasn’t anything bad enough to get him benched, but or cut to take a dead money hit, but it certainly felt like an off year for Hargrave.

Of course, this is the 49ers, so your results may vary depending on who you ask. Go to social media and you can find all sorts of the nasty overreactions about Hargrave and how fans weren’t too happy with his performance.

Over at SI.com, Gilberto Manzano compiled a list of the worst free agent signings in the NFL for 2023. Number One, Numero Uno, top of the list was none other than the 49ers pass rusher:Four years, $84 million

The 49ers likely expected more from Hargrave, who signed one of the most lucrative contracts of last offseason. Hargrave had a dominant 2022 season during his last year in Philadelphia, but the 49ers’ decision to add him was a gamble since he was on the wrong side of 30. Hargrave and the 49ers’ stacked defensive line disappointed in ’23. The 31-year-old recorded seven sacks and 14 QB hits last season.

Rather interesting (or laugh-inducing depending on your humor level), was Number 2: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who departed from the 49ers in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders. We don’t need to go into the entire Shanahan-era QB history here in this post, but given how Garoppolo went from the 49ers front office thinking the team get a high draft pick once Trey Lance was ready, to salvaging the 2022 season, to getting the bag with the Raiders and then near-subsequently benched, is rather amusing turn of events.

Back to Hargrave. I don’t necessarily think he was bad; the 49ers defensive line as a whole had motivation issues (See: NFC Championship). Hargrave was never a big run stuffer and the 49ers just couldn’t penetrate like they used to in prior years (what’s D.J. Jones up to?) . Probably one of many reasons Steve Wilks wasn’t working as defensive coordinator that season.

Now, Hargrave definitely had an off season, but he’s got a four-year contract and that’s just the first year. If we’re looking at it from the body of work, yes, he deserves on this list. I just don’t think he’s in first place. I base this on the fact he didn’t get benched, unlike Garoppolo.

Hargrave’s cap numbers don’t really get obnoxious until years three and four. Over The Cap has him with estimated cap hits of $26.5 million for 2025 and $28 million for 2026. He has plenty of time to right the ship and with Nick Sorensen taking over, maybe the scheme will work to his benefit.