The San Francisco 49ers held their annual State of the Franchise event at the California Theater in San Jose on Wednesday night and took the opportunity to make a big announcement. The team has signed veteran tackle Joe Staley to a two-year contract extension, which will keep him under contract through the 2021 season.
"I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving!" Staley shouted in front of the Niner Faithful in attendance.
"Honestly, Jed (York), since the moment you guys drafted me in 2007, it's been my absolute honor to play for this franchise, and I've wanted nothing more than to complete my entire career here with one franchise," Staley continued. "First, I want to thank you and your family so much for believing in me throughout my whole entire career. You have given the players everything we could ever ask for; the culture you have in the building. I have a lot of friends that are around the league that I've met throughout the years, and they don't speak as highly as the guys feel about the franchise that we have here with the 49ers.
"So thank you so much for continuing to believe in us, and for giving me this opportunity to play for 15 years — who knows? Maybe more. But really, what we want to do is we want to bring you a championship trophy. I want to because this is the only franchise that matters to me."
Staley signed his contract extension on Monday, and the team was able to keep it a secret so they could announce it in front of the fans on Wednesday. He has always expressed an interest in playing his whole career with the 49ers but wasn't sure what his future would be beyond 2019.
Moments after unveiling that #49ers LT Joe Staley is signing a two-year contract extension w/ the team keeping him in the Bay through 2021, Staley talks about how special it is to share this with the #NinersFaithful at the state of the franchise event. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/cmCVdgW5xn
— MJ Acosta (@MJAcostaTV) June 6, 2019
"Obviously, I never wanted to play for another franchise," Staley told reporters backstage. "I was just kind of hoping that they would want to do a deal and get a deal done. Honestly, too, at the time, I was going into my last year, and it was going to be year 13, and it wasn't 100 percent that I was going to play past this year. But once I made a decision that for sure I was going to play more after this year, it was like, 'I only want to play for the Niners,' so I just tried to get a deal done."
The 49ers made Staley the No. 28 overall selection in 2007. He has 174 starts through his 12 NFL seasons and is a six-time Pro Bowl selection. Staley started all 16 games for San Francisco in 2018. He is entering his 13th NFL season and was entering the final year of his contract before Wednesday's announcement.
"I still love the game and still feel like I can play at a high level," Staley said in April. "I still feel like I'm valued on the football team."
Huge congrats to @jstaley74 ! Proud to call you a friend and teammate, and now for two more years! No one is more deserving #HOF https://t.co/tLqfz2SmNn
— Mike McGlinchey (@mmcglinch68) June 6, 2019
General manager John Lynch said in April that the 49ers hope Staley never has an opportunity to suit up for another organization.
"I think he's a special player. He's a special personality," Lynch told reporters before the draft. "I'm not going to get into the specifics of the contract and where we're going on all that. I'll just tell you that my hope, that Kyle's (Shanahan) hope, that everyone associated that is involved in these decisions, is that Joe never plays anywhere else but the San Francisco 49ers."
Staley received Pro Football Focus' sixth-highest overall grade among tackles last season and the eighth-highest overall grade among all offensive linemen.
"It's so rare nowadays to see someone play for the same franchise for their entire career," quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said on Wednesday night after the announcement. "I'm really happy for him and his family."
Earlier on Wednesday, 49ers CEO Jed York hinted at the possibility of news being revealed during the State of the Franchise event.
Looking forward to the State of the Franchise this evening. Who knows, maybe we will break a story tonight
— Jed York (@JedYork) June 6, 2019
