Former Pro Bowl WR still sees San Francisco 49ers as Super Bowl contenders
The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the NFL's premier teams over the last 14 years, making it to three Super Bowls, and despite losing all three, they've spent half of those years recording at least 10 wins in a season.
Unfortunately, the team stumbled a bit in 2024 after making a Super Bowl run the year prior, finishing with a 6-11 record and in fourth place in the NFC West. This poor performance led to multiple key players leaving in the offseason, including Deebo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Charvarius Ward, Leonard Floyd and many others.
With those changes, many believe that the 49ers will continue their struggles from last year and miss the postseason for a second year in a row for the first time since 2017-18. However, former NFL wide receiver, three-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Keyshawn Johnson believes San Francisco can still be contenders to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2025.
"They didn't lose the type of pieces that we think," Johnson said recently on FOX Sports 1's "Speak." "They lost some numbers, but they replaced those numbers in free agency and through the draft. I don't think they're going to fall off at all. I think the culture's still there and the window for the Super Bowl is still wide open.
'Everybody for the most part from the leadership standpoint is in place. In terms of the guy that they may miss the most, probably just Deebo."
While the 49ers moved on from so many contributors, they also made it a priority to sign tight end George Kittle, quarterback brock Purdy and linebacker Fred Warner to long-term extensions that should keep the core together for a while.
'You still got Christian McCaffrey, you still got [Brandon] Aiyuk, you still got Fred Warner, you still got Brock Purdy and Kittle and Trent Williams,' Johnson said. 'So you still got [Nick] Bosa and company, they're still there.'
If the 49ers are going to contend for the division in 2025, they'll need their veterans to be healthy (which is a big ask for a few of them), and their rookies, including first-round pick Mykel Williams, to hit the ground running.
More 49ers: NFL playoff predictions highlight rapid demise of San Francisco 49ers
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