Brent Jones calls out Baalke, thinks GM on ‘relatively short leash'

The 49ers gave Jim Tomsula a 4-year, $14 million contract when they hired him in January 2015.

But after a 5-11 first season, he was fired.

"The reality is, he (Tomsula) did not get to go shop for the groceries," former 49ers tight end Brent Jones said on KNBR 680 on Monday night. "Unfortunately for Coach Tomsula, he was cooking with leftovers and out-of-date food. We haven't had a solid roster now for over 12 months.

"The reality is this team was not that talented. Our drafts for the last three years have been average to mediocre, trending more toward mediocre. And our free agency signings have been abysmal. So at some point, you have to get players to have a successful organization...

"... This is a complete rebuild in my opinion with the roster. We gotta look at it from a 2-3 year standpoint. We gotta start hitting the bull's-eye with draft picks and free agents. We can't keep missing and keep saying, 'Yeah, but we got the pieces in place.' Because that's not true."

[RELATED: Brent Jones: With York family, 'words ring hollow; talk is cheap']

In 2012, the 49ers selected A.J. Jenkins, LaMichael James, Joe Looney, Darius Fleming, Trent Robinson, Jason Slowey and Cam Johnson.

None of those players found success in San Francisco, and none of them were on the 2015 roster.

The 2013 draft yielded Eric Reid, Tank Carradine, Vance McDonald, Corey Lemonier, Quinton Patton, Marcus Lattimore, Quinton Dial, Nick Moody, B.J. Daniels, Carter Bykowski and Marcus Cooper.

Reid has started all 47 games he appeared in over the last three seasons, but Carradine and McDonald have yet to make a big impact.

Lemonier has made two starts and appeared in just 10 games this past season, while Patton has 36 catches for 394 yards and a score to his name.

Dial had a strong 2015 with 2.5 sacks and 59 tackles over 15 starts. Lattimore retired before ever suiting up, and the other four players are no longer with the organization.

The 2014 class includes Jimmie Ward, Carlos Hyde, Marcus Martin, Chris Borland, Brandon Thomas, Bruce Ellington, Dontae Johnson, Aaron Lynch, Keith Reaser, Kenneth Acker, Kaleb Ramsey, Trey Millard.

Borland had an incredible rookie campaign, but shocked the football world when he retired due to concerns over his long-term health.

When healthy, Hyde has shown flashes of brilliance. Ward finished the 2015 campaign with several strong performances, Lynch is a rising star, and the young cornerbacks had their moments.

It's too early to make any judgments on Baalke's 2015 selections.

"I want to see pure football people in the organization, across the board," Jones explained. "We need to be much less of a business and marketing organization. We've got a team, we've got a stadium, we've got all this stuff now. I want pure football people. I want people that are gonna put a winning product on the field.

"You only energize the fanbase and get people showing up to games when you have quality players. We can't keep missing in the first round of the draft. We can't swing and miss badly, waiving at a slider that's three feet outside of the plate in terms of free agency. That's just not gonna cut it."

[MAIOCCO: Baalke's 2015 49ers free-agent class a bust thus far]

Is Jones calling out Baalke specifically?

"I am. I don't know Trent. Do I respect him? Yes. But this is a meritocracy ... We had a few drafts early on where we had some solid drafts ... But the last three years, I've been uninspired. We got a guy here, a guy there, that can maybe play. I'm trying to figure out what significant impact he's had on the roster. At best, it's average. Average doesn't do it in the National Football League...

"... He's had some success in the past but I just think it needs to be a good working relationship with the head coach, with your scouts, and maybe take some of the authority and spread the wealth a little bit. No matter whatever spin you hear coming out of the organization, people are leery of this organization, of the front office, because of what happened with the really successful coach in Jim Harbaugh.

"It put the whole coaching world on alert, and nobody wants to come in and have the GM tell him the players they're gonna have, the players that they're gonna play, the style of offense that they're gonna run. You're never gonna get a coach that's worth anything that way. They're gonna have to make some adjustments. We'll just see. Right now, it's just all words."

During his press conference on Monday morning, Jed York acknowledged that Baalke needs to right the ship.

[RELATED: Baalke: 'When you're 5-11, it's not all coaching']

York believes Baalke, who is under contract through 2018, will do just that.

"Trent understands that I’m not satisfied with the current state of this team," York declared. "Trent’s role is to find the next head coach and continue to build this roster and get us back to championship form. Trent has the skills to do this and get this done. He’s built championship rosters in the past. He’s got the respect of folks around the league and his peers.

"And, Trent knows that he and his staff are going to have all the resources available, at their disposal, to make sure that we get this job right."

The 49ers have the fifth-most available cap room in the league heading into next year with $113.33 million devoted to a cap that is expected to be approximately $153 million per team.

They also possess the No. 7 overall selection in the draft, and are projected to have 12 picks.

"I think Trent Baalke is on a relatively short leash," Jones said. "Better have a good draft this year, we better sign some good free agents, we better hire the right coach, or I think he's not long for the job. That's just the world that the National Football League is...

"... We are a proud organization but I'm almost to the point of saying, 'We were a proud organization.' Twenty-one years and counting since a Super Bowl victory..."