The 49ers Are Content to Let Some Talent Leave in Free Agency

The 49ers kept what could be their best quarterback talent in Shaun Hill so far, but they don't seem so urgent to hold onto their other free agents. You know that old adage about successful teams being built on the lines? Yeah, they're not buying into it.

Keep in mind, letting players reach free agency isn't necessarily an indicator that those players will definitely leave. But it's also a sign that said team isn't feeling much of a sense of urgency. So the news that the team is willing to risk losing defensive end Marques Douglas and tackle Isaac Sopoaga is sort of surprising.

Douglas -- who seems more willing to sign with the 49ers than vice versa -- was great last year, and while Sopoaga hasn't reached his potential yet, he's still a monster 26-year-old tackle who can be an absolute force up the middle. The two will get considerable attention once free agency begins.

The 49ers already lost their other starting end, Bryant Young, to retirement. Losing Douglas and Sopoaga (who's a part-timer) would do a lot of damage to the line's talent and depth. Why the team would open the doors for those two, tacking yet another step back in their development, seems beyond me.