The San Francisco 49ers are shaking up their front office.
Team president Paraag Marathe is being reassigned from his position, according to reports.
CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco says Marathe, who became team president in 2014, will retain his title through the end of the NFL season but will lose some of the responsibilities. He is expected to do more work for the Sacramento Republic soccer team, though he reportedly will continue to work on the Niners’ salary cap and contract negotiations.
Though Maiocco presents the news as a reassignment for Marathe, the San Jose Mercury News’ Tim Kawakami says this is more like a firing. He adds that team COO Al Guido is likely to take on many of Marathe’s duties.
One reason Marathe reportedly is being reassigned is because the team believes he has been the source of some media leaks.
An NFL source told me tonight that Marathe was being deposed as president in part because he is believed to be the source of many leaks.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) December 4, 2015
Indeed, many of the 49ers’ sagas have played out in the media, especially with all of the undercutting about Jim Harbaugh last year.
Kawakami and Cam Inman added this in their article on the matter: “Marathe also developed contentious and distrustful relationships with some players and agents.”
This is major news for the 49ers. The team went from having poor results to being back on top of the NFC during Harbaugh’s tenure as a head coach, to right back to being dysfunctional this season. Fan attendance is decreasing, performance is lacking, and the franchise needs to find a new quarterback. Meanwhile their brilliant idea to jettison Harbaugh in favor of their front office favorites has completely backfired. Fans are calling for Jed York to resign, but that is unlikely to happen. For now, they will have to settle for him taking away job duties from his right-hand man.
