Roster Reality Check: Six 49ers Unlikely to Return in 2026
Six familiar 49ers faces are likely exiting after 2025. Find out who's on the chopping block as San Francisco retools for a championship run.
Video Transcript
The San Francisco 49ers may not have finished the twenty twenty-five season on top of the NFC West standings, but that hasn't slowed down Kyle Shanahan's influence on the decision.
If anything, it's only grown stronger, especially after Arizona Cardinals' recent hires.
Now, one of the NFL's longest-tenured head coaches, Shanahan's coaching tree continues to grow and spread across the league.
Now it touches every single team in the NFC West.
Arizona completes this picture after hiring Mike LaFleur as their new head coach, following Jonathan Gannon at the re- end of the regular season.
LaFleur's hiring firmly plants another Shanahan disciple inside the division.
He began his NFL coaching career under Shanahan in twenty fourteen with the Cleveland Browns as an offensive assistant, and followed Shanahan to Atlanta a year later.
When Shanahan was hired by the 49ers in twenty seventeen, LaFleur once again joined him, becoming a part of the offensive staff.
LaFleur remained with the f- 49ers until Saleh took him to New York in twenty twenty-one, where he served as the Jets' offensive coordinator.
Now he returns to the NFC West as a head coach.
Shanahan's fingerprints were already evident elsewhere in the NFC West.
Los Angeles Rams head coach, Sean McVay, shares deep roots with Shanahan as well, dating back to their time together in Washington.
While McVay technically falls under a parallel branch of the same offensive philosophy, the overlapping concepts, terminology, and approach has shaped the NFC West division for years.
With LaFleur now in Arizona, McVay is expected to target another offensive coordinator who fits this same mold and continues the cycle.
Seattle's situation further hits this point home.
Offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak, served as Shanahan's pass game coordinator during the twenty twenty-three season, another year that ended with a Super Bowl appearance for San Francisco.
Adding to that layer, Clint's brother, Clay Kubiak, currently serves as the 49ers' offensive coordinator.
The 49ers' on-field results under Shanahan have been well-documented, but his broader impact might be just as significant.
Even without a division title in twenty twenty-five, Shanahan remains the most influence- influential coach in the NFC West.
Every rival, in one way or another, is playing a version of his game.
