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Ranking the worst contracts in 49ers history in Lynch-Shanahan era
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- Ranking the worst contracts in 49ers history in Lynch-Shanahan era
Ahead of the 2024 season, the San Francisco 49ers signed receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a four-year, $120 million contract after a long offseason standoff.
At the time it looked like a necessary deal to lock down the 49ers' top receiver following three consecutive NFC champion appearances and one Super Bowl loss. But just two years later, Aiyuk's deal will likely go down as one of the worst contracts in the history of the John Lynch-Kyle Shanahan era.
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When the 49ers inevitably move on from Aiyuk, either with a trade or release, he'll have played just seven total games on that deal. Now, the 49ers didn't end up giving him much after voiding his guarantees when he refused to report to the team in 2025, but the decision will still live in infamy in recent team history.
But is it the worst contract Lynch and Shanahan have ever given out during their tenure together in San Francisco ? Let's explore the top-10 worst 49ers contracts since 2017. It should be noted that most of these are injury-related more than simply overpays.
No. 10: DE Nick Bosa — 5 years, $170M (2023)
Bosa's contract was recently ranked one of the worst deals in the NFL — and for good reason. After a Defensive Player of the Year season in 2022, Bosa's production declined in back-to-back years before he missed all but three games in 2025 with his third ACL tear. While the 49ers restructured the deal to reduce Bosa's 2026 cap hit to just $17.7 million, it also increased in future years by $4.29 million. Bosa is one of the best defensive players in the NFL when heathly, but he simply hasn't been since signing this mega extension.
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No. 9: QB Trey Lance — 4 years, $34.1M (2021)
Maybe this is technically cheating, but the 49ers still paid Lance a lot of money on his rookie deal for just four starts in eight appearances over two seasons. Trading all of those draft picks to take Lance at No. 3 hurts his case, too. Injuries ruined Lance's chances in San Francisco, and he finished with a 54.9% completion rate, 797 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. The only reason this isn't higher is because the 49ers drafted Brock Purdy in the same class, and we all know how that turned out.
No. 8: DT Javon Hargrave — 4 years, $84M (2023)
The 49ers took a big swing with Hargrave in free agency that bore fruit almost immediately before bottoming out after two seasons. Hargrave finished with seven sacks, 44 tackles, and two passes defended in 16 games in 2023, where he was also named to the Pro Bowl and added a sack in Super Bowl LVIII. But three games into 2024, he partially tore his right triceps against the Los Angeles Rams , requiring surgery and ending his season. Over two seasons total, he appeared in 19 regular season games and recorded eight sacks. The 49ers cut him in March 2025, carrying $8.6 million in dead money in 2025 and $17.5 million in 2026.
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No. 7: DL Arik Armstead — 5 years, $85M (2020)
Armstead peaked and got paid after a 10-sack season in 2019. However, he never replicated that success. What followed was a steady decline, and he never cracked more than five sacks in any subsequent season while his cap hit escalated to over $20 million per year. The 49ers released him ahead of the 2023 season.
No. 6: WR Deebo Samuel — 3 years, $71.55M (2022)
This one is more complicated than a straight bad contract. Samuel was an All-Pro in 2021, and the deal was fair market value at signing. But the 49ers didn't see the same star in Samuel they had a year before, after he tallied just 864 total yards and five touchdowns in 13 games during the 2023 season. He had a great 2024 with 1,117 total yards and 12 touchdowns, but had another 800-yard season in 2024 before the 49ers traded him away before the 2025 season. All to say, the 49ers went 1-for-3 on quality years of this deal despite the big investment.
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No. 5: LB Malcolm Smith — 5 years, $26.5M (2017)
This is a Shanahan-era entry that doesn't get enough attention in his first free agency class. Smith signed a five-year, $26.5 million deal in March 2017 with $11.5 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $7 million. He then tore his pectoral during training camp in August and missed the entire 2017 season. While Smith came back in 2018, he dealt with Achilles tendinitis and hamstring issues throughout, finishing with just 35 tackles in 12 games and five starts. The 49ers released him before 2019, absorbing a $4.2 million dead cap hit.
No. 4: RB Jerick McKinnon — 4 years, $30M (2018)
McKinnon tore his ACL during a team workout months after he signed a big deal to start for the 49ers, ending his season before it started. He then suffered a setback in the 2019 training camp and missed that season entirely, too. By the time he got healthy, the team had moved on. McKinnon finished third in carries in his only healthy season in 2020 behind Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert and finished his 49ers tenure with 81 carries for 319 yards and five touchdowns in 16 total games.
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No. 3: LB Kwon Alexander — 4 years, $54M (2019)
Alexander was sold as the linebacker to pair with Fred Warner , but ended up playing just 13 games for the 49ers. He tore his pec in November of his first season and missed the second-half of the season before rejoining them for the Super Bowl run. However, the 49ers traded Alexander to the New Orleans Saints five weeks into the 2020 season in exchange for a fifth-round conditional pick in the 2021 NFL draft and linebacker Kiko Alonso . Alexander finished his time in San Francisco with 64 combined tackles, four passes defensed and 1.5 sacks.
No. 2: WR Brandon Aiyuk — 4 year, $120 million (2024)
Aiyuk's landing spot on this list is a combination of injury issues, production and off-field problems. Not only did Aiyuk miss more than half of the 2024 season with a torn ACL and all of 2025 after failing to report to the team, but he wasn't even playing well when he was on the field. The former first-round pick had just 25 receptions for 374 yards and no touchdowns in seven games before his injury after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Now, Aiyuk is posting on social media as he tries to bait the 49ers into trading or cutting him.
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No. 1: DE Dee Ford — 5 years, $87.5M (2019)
The crown jewel of bad contracts. Over three seasons with the 49ers, Ford made just 18 appearances, totaling 9.5 sacks. The team also surrendered a second-round pick to get him. At his healthiest, Ford played 11 games in 2019 — his first with the 49ers — where he tallied 6.5 sacks. But then he fell apart. In 2020, Ford played one game before landing on injured reserve with a neck and back injury, then six games in 2021 before hitting IR again, and the 49ers released him in July 2022. While a lot of the issues stem from injury issues, Ford never came close to justifying the deal.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Ranking the worst contracts in 49ers history in Lynch-Shanahan era
