Photo: D. Ross Cameron
Take a moment to allow your mind to wander. It might be painful, but for the sake of this exercise let yourself imagine a world in which the 49ers enter the 2024 season as defending Super Bowl champions. Business would of course be on the agenda at training camp, a new season and the desire to repeat as champions would drive the daily workouts. But without a doubt, the vibes would be lighter. The Niners, specifically their longest tenured impact players, would skip from the facility out onto the practice field with a weightlessness that only hoisting the Lombardi can bring. For as good as the current runner up 49ers are, they have issues. Almost every one of those issues would be solved or at least shrugged off if a sixth Super Bowl championship was being celebrated.
Instead, the mood at 49ers training camp is a bit off by all accounts. It “lacks juice” according to Dieter Kurtenbach and John Dickinson filling in on Murph and Markus this week from camp. Of course, contract negotiations would still be a necessary chore even if the Niners had won. But perhaps Aiyuk, equipped with football’s grand prize and a feeling of satisfaction when it comes to team success, would be on another team by now, serving as the No. 1 receiving option for a lesser squad. He’d have a ring, and a lot more spending money. Trent Williams, maintaining elite production despite his advancing age, maybe rides off into the sunset with his last snap taken in Super Bowl 58. And Dre Greenlaw, who remained healthy in that game and expertly blanketed Travis Kelce in a winning effort, would be wowing the crowd and making big plays at camp alongside Fred Warner instead of rehabbing his torn achilles. That one is purely fan fiction, but the sentiment remains.
The Super Bowl hangover is far from a myth. Sufficient data exists to dictate that the team that loses the Super Bowl will struggle the following year. A mix of typical attrition from a deep playoff run, and the massive emotional letdown of losing the big game makes it tough to compete. On paper, (for now) the Niners shouldn’t have to take a step back. Their young quarterback will be even better. Many of their most impactful stars are still in their primes, albeit on the back nine. But the hangover seems to be breaking on camp as the preseason opener approaches.
The 49ers aren’t going to sit back and let this hangover dictate their season. The first sip of pedialyte, the first few bites of a greasy brunch, have come in the form of what seems to have been a positive meeting between Aiyuk and members of the coaching staff and front office earlier this week. A trade has been on the brink of possibility for a number of days now. So close that it seemed like a breaking tweet from Adam Schefter or Ian Rapaport could come down any second. If the Niners do hang onto their star wideout, it won’t be lost on fans just how close a deal was. When Aiyuk and his agent stationed missiles in Cuba, Niners’ brass to this point has kept its finger off the button.
On Saturday night, the Niners get to hit someone else – an adage as old as football itself. It describes players’ annual longing to get on the field in a game situation and take their angst out on a different colored jersey. There’s a solid chance that many of the Niners training camp issues with health and lack of juice are resolved as the preseason plays out — that come September 9, the defending NFC champions are foaming at the mouth to begin another journey towards the ultimate prize. They deserve that benefit of the doubt.
But it’s also prudent to take measures like expediting the Aiyuk situation to a prosperous solution and paying Trent Williams (they will). The window is open but it’s on its way down, not up. This team and all its dreams can’t afford to be hungover in bed all day — they’ve got work to do.