Did the 49ers Improve this Offseason?

The 49ers made lots of moves this offseason, but did they actually improve?

They traded Deebo Samuel to the Washington Commanders, and that was addition by subtraction to use a terrible cliche. Deebo Samuel no longer deserved to start for the 49ers, and yet he demanded the ball and the 49ers gave it to him like he was still in his prime. That won't happen anymore. Now, players who deserve the ball will get it. This is good.

In addition, the 49ers added two quality backup quarterbacks in Mac Jones and rookie Kurtis Rourke, plus they added two good backup tight ends in Luke Farrell and Ross Dwelley.

The rest of the offense got worse.

They lost Aaron Banks, who's a solid starting left guard, and replaced him with a pupu platter of backups who will compete for the job. They also traded Jordan Mason to the Vikings and replaced him with rookie Jordan James who seems like a smaller, diet version of Jordan Mason.

On defense, the 49ers lost Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw -- three impact players when healthy. And the 49ers replaced all of them with rookies and journeymen. So on paper, the defense got worse.

But mostly, it got much younger. Plus it got Robert Saleh back, and he was the biggest addition of the offseason for the 49ers. Under his direction, this young unit could be quite good by the end of the season.

The 49ers clearly took a half step backward this offseason. But by the end of next season, they should be significantly better than they were at the end of last season.