It will take a long time for the San Francisco 49ers to get over their 25-22 defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58. Actually, that’s not going to happen. Teams don’t get over losing in the Super Bowl.

The best thing that head coach Kyle Shanahan and his players can hope to happen is a strong offseason and then making another run towards the championship in the 2024 season. The 49ers have come close in two losses to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in the last five years, and they have to believe that if they can get back to the Super Bowl next season, they will have an excellent chance to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy at game’s end.

The public believes in this team. They were slight favorites over the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and they are also the early favorites to win the championship next year. That’s not a surprise based on the talent the 49ers will bring back next season — especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Niners still have gamebreakers on offense
Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle form the nucleus of one of the most versatile and dangerous offensive teams in the league, and the Niners should be able to light up the scoreboard once again in the upcoming season.

However, changes come to every NFL team in the offseason, and the Niners will not be immune. They have a number of free agents who are likely to be looking for the best deals they can find, and if that means leaving San Francisco, that’s likely to happen.

One player who may have parlayed a memorable Super Bowl performance into a big payday is wideout Jauan Jennings. The little-used wide receiver threw a touchdown pass and caught a scoring pass against the Chiefs, and that had to open eyes around the league. He may or may not fit in San Francisco’s future plans.

However, free safety Tashaun Gipson an defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw are productive players and key contributors, and it would hurt the Niners to lose them.

Tashaun Gipson
While he is not a superstar at this point in his career, Gipson is a savvy veteran who understands how opponents are going to attack.

Gipson had a very solid year for the Niners recordin 60 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.

The 33-year-old has been to the Pro Bowl once in his career, and that came after the 2014 season when he was with the Cleveland Browns. Gipson had a career-high 6 interceptions that season and he returned one of them for a touchdown.

He is a steady force in the secondary, and he regularly attempts to inspire his teammates. However, in the Super Bowl 58 loss, Gipson may have overstated the case after teammate Ji’Ayir Brown intercepted Patrick Mahomes early in the second half.

Gipson attempted to minimize the quarterback who is regularly considered to be the best quarterback in the league and climbing the list of the all-time rankings.

“That is just a regular [expletive] quarterback,” Gipson said. “He’s regular, bro. And we gonna make his a** look regular.””

Gipson earned $2.1 million last year, and the four seasons he had remaining on his contract voided February 16.

The Niners would be smart to work a new deal with Gipson.

DT Javon Kinlaw
Kinlaw is not a superstar either, but he appears to be coming into his own after completing his fourth season with the Niners.

The 26-year-old from South Carolina was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft.He is coming off his best season. He played in all 17 games of the regular season and started six of them. Kinlaw had 25 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 3 passes defensed, and 6 quarterback hits.

He signed a four-year, $15 million contract after he was drafted, and it’s a bit of a challenge to say that he has been worthy of a first-round pick. However, the improvement he showed in 2023 means that it should be worth it to the team to bring him back.

Since the Niners fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, it might be helpful to the new defensive coordinator — Brandon Staley has been one of the names mentioned — to keep a defensive tackle who has shown he can cause havoc on a regular basis.