The 49ers are 1-8 this season, but GM Trent Baalke said that "fingers shouldn't be pointed at" CEO Jed York, according to Eric Branch of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Baalke addressed the 49ers' inactivity in the free-agent market prior to the season and said that he was "given no directive to take a fiscally conservative approach." The 49ers signed only one starter during free agency, and their $40M in salary cap space "ranks second behind the Browns." Baalke said, "The ownership gives us everything we need to be successful, everything we need. There's nothing financial holding us back from being successful." He added, "If people want to put blame, find it, look right here. Because I'm given everything I need to be successful in the job that I'm doing. Period" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/14). Baalke said that the 49ers "plan to spend some of that cap surplus on contract extensions." He noted that next spring's free agency should "offer some ways to help the roster, even though he still decries building a team through that typically overpriced avenue" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/14). In San Jose, Tim Kawakami wrote the stage is "now set for a classic 49ers internal battle." Baalke’s supporters "will do anything to make sure the blame isn’t directed at him and maybe [coach Chip] Kelly starts doing some of that himself." Kawakami: "I don't know if Baalke survives this one." If the 49ers "pull the plug again" on Kelly after "only one season, that would almost certainly make it even worse" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/10).
