Another Window Shuts in the NFL

purplefaithful wrote:
The Vikings are on the front end of a rookie contract that enables an NFL team to spend money like tipsy toddlers. 

The 49ers? Not anymore. 

Any shift in power in the NFC includes the 49ers – or what’s left of them – at the bottom starting over now that former Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, will no longer be toiling for less than $1 million a season. 

At one point Tuesday, the exodus from San Francisco reached a milestone. Eleven of the 22 players who started in Super Bowl LVIII just 13 months ago were gone. 

Among those 11 departing this year are Hargrave, receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., guard Aaron Banks, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Tashaun Gipson. Safety Talanoa Hufanga, who was on injured reserve for that Super Bowl, also is gone. 

Kyle Shanahan had two Super Bowl cracks in five years. He led Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter both times. And lost both times. So, tick-tock, Vikings. 

Even if McCarthy is as good as KO the QB Whisperer claims, his contract won’t be team friendly forever.

Startribune

Debbie downer. What a way to go through life.

Yes, the Vikings need to win a Super Bowl in the next few years, but that's why they're going all in now. 

It won't be long before the Darrisaw, Jefferson, Greenard and Murphy cap hits start to escalate. But considering the fact that even when he gets his bag, JJ's cap hit in the first year or two of his new contract will be kept low. So the Vikings really have about 3-5 years to do it.

Just for reference, Mahomes has been in the league for 8 going into 9 seasons and none of those 9 seasons has he had a cap hit over $37.5M.
Josh Allen, 7 years so far. 6 years under $20M, 7th was $30M.

In all reality, we should be able to get 3 more rookie contract years and then probably another 3 years of years with low to moderate cap hits before we really need to think too much about cap shenanigans.

The 49ers probably could have kept pushing the can down the road, and then had a bigger rebuild, but I think they’re recognizing that the magic was gone with the current squad, they needed to get younger, they needed to refresh the vibes, so rather than stretching out a rebuild, just tie up all the bad cap stuff into a short period of time.

That said, I do think that with an elite or elite-adjacent QB, you are most likely to get that first SB early in their career. You don’t need to wait 6 years for them to develop.