SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — After three straight seasons of long playoff runs, the San Francisco 49ers are packing up and heading home early for a change.
A season that started with contract disputes that kept stars out of training camp, was a rough one until the end with the 49ers enduring several off-field tragedies, injuries to key players and inconsistent play that left one of the preseason Super Bowl favorites playing out the string the final few weeks of a 6-11 campaign.
“Our standards for this organization are significantly higher,” tight end George Kittle said Monday. “Our expectations for ourselves are higher. Our goals were higher. We didn’t achieve any of these. So it’s disappointing."
The 49ers never looked quite like a contender this season, starting when Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams held out of training camp practices looking for new contracts.
Then rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest in San Francisco a week before the opener, sidelining him for the first half of the season.
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey missed the first half of the season with Achilles tendinitis and then hurt his knee in his fourth game back and was shut down for the rest of the season.
Aiyuk, Williams, Javon Hargrave, Nick Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Jordan Mason are among the other key players who missed significant time with injuries.
There was also personal tragedy with Williams' wife giving birth to a stillborn son and cornerback Charvarius Ward's 1-year-old daughter dying.
The play on the field also wasn't up to the usual standard as many of the players who played a big part in the team's trip to the Super Bowl last season weren't able to match that play in 2024.
“We didn’t do it. It stings,” quarterback Brock Purdy said. “But more than anything, how I’m looking at it and a lot of guys are is we have some time away to reflect on it and come back hungry, ready to do what it takes to get back on track of playing Niner football and winning and being excellent across the board.”
After finishing fourth in MVP voting in his first full season as a starter in 2023, Purdy was far less productive this season. He took steps to become a more vocal leader and showed off even more mobility to extend plays, but wasn't nearly as efficient as a passer. His passer rating dropped nearly 17 points to 96.1 and he had only 20 TD passes and 12 INTs on the season. He also came up short in several late-game scenarios when the Niners had a chance for a comeback win.
San Francisco has excelled defensively the previous five seasons, ranking first in yards per play allowed, fourth in points allowed and seventh in takeaways. The Niners had significant drops in all three areas in the first season under coordinator Nick Sorensen. The issues were particularly glaring in the second half of the season when San Francisco had the fewest takeaways (two) and allowed the third-most points per game (28.2) over the final nine games.
“It’s just a lack of execution, lack of takeaways, lack of everything, honestly,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “It wasn’t even close to the standard of what I’ve known.”
One of the few bright spots for San Francisco has been the play of the rookie class. After two years of almost no impact from the draft class outside of Purdy, the Niners found several key contributors.
Third-rounder Dominick Puni was a day one starter at right guard and looks poised to hold down that job for years to come. Second-round cornerback Renardo Green, fourth-round safety Malik Mustapha and fourth-round running back Isaac Guerendo all made key contributions and should have key roles next season.
Pearsall's production was limited after missing time, but he finished strong with 14 catches for 210 yards and two TDs the last two games.
A recurring issue all season has been the play of San Francisco's special teams. The team has been beaten on two fake punts, allowed a blocked punt, gave up a kickoff return TD and had three turnovers on returns. That led to the decision to fire special teams coordinator Brian Schneider, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't made an announcement.
A more concerning question revolves around kicker Jake Moody, who was picked in the third round of the 2023 draft. His missed a league-high 10 field goals was 5 for 14 on FGs from at least 40 yards since returning from a high ankle sprain in Week 10.
The first immediate question of the offseason will be about Purdy's contract as he is now eligible to negotiate an extension from his rookie deal that has one year left and has been paying him about $1 million a year.
The next deal for Purdy will be far richer with nine quarterbacks in the league having contracts worth at least $50 million a year.
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San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner answers questions after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (14) and quarterback Joshua Dobbs (5) celebrate a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan argues a call with an official during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) walks off the field after a loss to the Detroit Lions in an NFL football game Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new tariffs threaten to push up prices on clothes, mobile phones, furniture and many other products in the coming months, possibly ending the era of cheap goods that Americans enjoyed for about a quarter-century before the pandemic.
In return, White House officials hope the import taxes create more high-paying manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States. It is a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, and it would have to overcome tall barriers, such as the automation of most modern factories.
Even after Trump's U-turn on Wednesday that paused steep new tariffs on about 60 nations for 90 days, average U.S. duties remain much higher than a couple of months ago.
Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on all imports, while goods from China — the United States' third-largest source of imports — face huge 145% duties. And there are 25% taxes on imports of steel, aluminum, cars and roughly half of goods from Canada and Mexico.
As a result, the average U.S. tariff has soared from below 3% before Trump's inauguration to roughly 20% now, economists calculate, the highest level since at least the 1940s.
Should they remain in place, such high duties would reverse decades of globalization that helped lower costs for American shoppers.
Other trends, including factory automation and technological innovation, particularly in electronics such as TVs, have also brought down prices. But imports help keep prices in check, economists say, partly because of lower labor costs overseas and because increased competition in the U.S. market forces American companies to be more efficient.
“Freer trade has helped moderate inflation over the long term,” said Scott Lincicome, a trade analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. “If we are entering a more restricted supply side ... then you’re likely to see more expensive stuff," Lincicome said.
Bank of America estimates that the new duties could raise car prices an average of $4,500, even assuming that automakers absorb some of the tariffs’ impact. Such an increase would follow sharp price hikes of the past few years that have left the average price of a new car at a painful $48,000.
Aaron Rubin, CEO of ShipHero LLC, which provides software for merchants to help book shipments and track order deliveries, said his data indicates that retailers are already starting to raise prices to get ahead of the tariffs.
ShipHero's data captures prices on several million products equivalent to about 1% of overall U.S. e-commerce sales. Prices rose 3.9% on Sunday and Monday on a variety of goods compared with the week before Trump announced more tariffs, Rubin said.
If the tariffs hold, Apple is widely expected to raise the prices on iPhones and other popular products because the company’s supply chain is so heavily concentrated in China.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max could see one of the biggest sticker shocks, with its price potentially increasing by 29%. That could raise the starting price from $1,200 to $1,550, according to an estimate from UBS’s chief investment office.
After the double-digit inflation of the 1970s was defeated in the early 1980s, inflation still regularly topped 4% yearly until the mid-1990s, when freer trade and globalization began to intensify. From 1995 through 2020, it averaged less than 2.2%.
American shoppers reaped the benefits. Average clothing costs fell 8% from 1995 through 2020, at the same time that overall prices rose 74%, according to government data. Furniture costs were roughly unchanged. The average price of shoes rose just 10%.
Trump administration officials have at times acknowledged the prospect of higher prices from the tariffs.
In a speech last month to the Economic Club of New York, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream.”
The administration's willingness to downplay the allure of cheap goods is a risky move, coming after the worst inflation spike in four decades from 2021 to 2023. The jump in prices for essentials such as groceries, gas and housing soured many voters on the economy under former President Joe Biden, despite low unemployment.
According to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of voters last November, about half of Trump’s voters said the high price of gas, groceries and other goods was the single most important factor in their vote. Another 43% of Trump voters said it was an important factor, even if it was not the most important consideration.
Some consumers say they are willing to pay more for U.S. goods.
Alisha Sholtis, 38, a nurse-turned-social media influencer, used to shop heavily on China-founded fast-fashion e-commerce site Temu, scooping up polyester tops and dresses for $5 to $25 and grabbing cheap electronics and toys. Products from Temu will now face huge new tariffs.
Yet Sholtis, who lives in Davison, Michigan, said she got tired of the clothes that fell apart after one washing and the toys that broke easily. She now shops elsewhere.
She applauds Trump’s goal of bringing some manufacturing back to the U.S. because she feels the move will lead to better quality. And she said she wouldn’t mind paying higher prices as a result.
“I would buy less of more higher quality things,” she said.
Kevin Hassett, Trump’s top economic adviser, acknowledged Sunday that “there might be some increase in prices” from the president’s tariffs.
But he noted that there have been trade-offs from globalization: “We got the cheap goods at the grocery store, but then we had fewer jobs,” he said on ABC's “This Week.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted tariffs would force a manufacturing shift.
“The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America,” Lutnick said during an April 6 appearance on CBS.
Analysts doubt that Apple could build phones in the U.S.
“The concept of making iPhones in the U.S. is a non-starter,” asserted Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, reflecting a widely held view in the investment community that tracks Apple’s every move. He estimated that the current $1,000 price tag for an iPhone made in China or India would soar to more than $3,000 if production shifted to the U.S.
Shannon Williams, CEO of the Home Furnishings Association, a furniture trade group, said it can take years to set up a factory in the U.S. It's not clear if there would be enough workers either, given the low U.S. unemployment rate of 4.2%.
The most innovative furniture makers in the U.S. are using technology to reduce their labor needs. “They're going through it and completely automating their assembly line,” she said.
China exported 1.2 billion pairs of shoes to the United States last year, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America. About 26% of U.S. clothes were imported from China in 2023, one study found, and about 80% of U.S. toys.
Williams said furniture prices likely won't rise much anytime soon because most companies now import from other Asian nations, such as Vietnam or Malaysia.
Yet “globalization has definitely helped bring costs down,” she said. “There's a reason you could buy a $699 sofa in 1985 and buy a $699 sofa today."
D'Innocenzio reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michael Liedtke in San Francisco and Linley Sanders in Washington also contributed to this report.
People walk past an electronic board displaying Shanghai shares trading index at a brokerage house, in Beijing, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Boxes of party supplies imported from China are stacked outside a store in the Toy District of Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An aerial view of imported iron ore in a port in Yantai city in eastern China's Shandong province Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Chinatopix Via AP) CHINA OUT
An aerial view of new cars waiting for shipment at a pier for "roll-on/roll-off" ships in Yantai city in eastern China's Shandong province Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Chinatopix via AP)
A vendor of halloween costumes wait for customers at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Foreigners shop for fashion accessories at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
An aerial view of Xiasha Container Terminal on a canal in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang province Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Chinatopix Via AP)
U.S. flag themed wearables are displayed at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, eastern China's Zhejiang province, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
