While the 49ers' 2024 NFL season is far from over, some outside the organization already have begun looking ahead to the team's offseason.
Maybe for good reason, but with six weeks remaining in the regular season and San Francisco just one game out of first place in the NFC West, there still is a path back to the playoffs, albeit a difficult one.
However, The Volume's Colin Cowherd has seen enough and declared on the latest episode of "The Colin Cowherd Podcast" that the 49ers need a franchise reboot in the offseason after its 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
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“49ers need a reboot”@colincowherd & @JohnMiddlekauff discuss the state of the 49ers after loss to Packers pic.twitter.com/j1BBgRoAzL
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) November 25, 2024
"San Francisco is like an old boxer. Last year, hanging on, had one last good fight," Cowherd told co-host John Middlekauff. "Stop drafting receivers, rebuild the O-lines and D-lines, [Nick] Bosa's hurt, [George] Kittle's hurt, [Christian] McCaffrey's hurt. I think San Francisco has to hyper-aggressively reboot the franchise."
Cowherd's criticism of the 49ers' draft strategy and his belief that the organization needs to reinforce the trenches certainly is fair, but he did not specify what a "hyper-aggressive reboot" entails.
Would that require the firings of coach Kyle Shanahan and/or president of football operations John Lynch? Or perhaps trading or cutting certain star players?
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It remains to be seen what the 49ers might do in the offseason, but with the playoffs still within reach and the return of key players possibly right around the corner, the topic of a franchise reboot, at least within the organization, likely is a discussion for a different day.