The San Francisco 49ers' reunion with Deebo Samuel pushed the team into historically unusual territory when it comes to roster age at the skill positions.
According to the ******* ociated Press' Josh Dubow, the 49ers could now start five non-quarterback skill position players age 30 or older in the same game: Mike Evans, Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk.
That would put San Francisco in exceedingly rare company. Per Dubow, only three teams in the Super Bowl era have started five skill position players 30 or older in a single game: the Buccaneers did it once in 2004 with Tim Brown, Charlie Garner, Mike Alstott, Joey Galloway and Ken Dilger, the Broncos did it once in 20023 with Mike Anderson, Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Dwayne Carswell and Washington did it twice in 1992 with Gary Clark, Art Monk, Earnest Byner, Don Warren and Terry Orr.
The track record for those teams was mixed. The 2004 Buccaneers finished 5-11 and missed the playoffs, a steep decline from their Super Bowl ******* VII run two years earlier. The 2003 Broncos went 10-6 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2000, but were routed 41-10 by the Colts in the Wild Card round. Washington's 1992 club was the most successful of the three, going 9-7 and beating Minnesota in the Wild Card round before falling to the 49ers in the Divisional round.
San Francisco was already trending toward one of the NFL's oldest rosters heading into 2026 before the Samuel move, and adding a 30-year-old wideout to a group that includes 32-year-old Evans only reinforces that profile.
#mccaffrey
According to the ******* ociated Press' Josh Dubow, the 49ers could now start five non-quarterback skill position players age 30 or older in the same game: Mike Evans, Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk.
That would put San Francisco in exceedingly rare company. Per Dubow, only three teams in the Super Bowl era have started five skill position players 30 or older in a single game: the Buccaneers did it once in 2004 with Tim Brown, Charlie Garner, Mike Alstott, Joey Galloway and Ken Dilger, the Broncos did it once in 20023 with Mike Anderson, Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Dwayne Carswell and Washington did it twice in 1992 with Gary Clark, Art Monk, Earnest Byner, Don Warren and Terry Orr.
The track record for those teams was mixed. The 2004 Buccaneers finished 5-11 and missed the playoffs, a steep decline from their Super Bowl ******* VII run two years earlier. The 2003 Broncos went 10-6 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2000, but were routed 41-10 by the Colts in the Wild Card round. Washington's 1992 club was the most successful of the three, going 9-7 and beating Minnesota in the Wild Card round before falling to the 49ers in the Divisional round.
San Francisco was already trending toward one of the NFL's oldest rosters heading into 2026 before the Samuel move, and adding a 30-year-old wideout to a group that includes 32-year-old Evans only reinforces that profile.
#mccaffrey
2 days ago
