The last two-plus seasons haven’t quite gone the way the 49ers would have hoped after reaching the NFC Championship Game three straight years and coming up five yards short of winning Super Bowl XLVII.

With the departure of wildly successful head coach Jim Harbaugh following clashes with the front office and others within the organization, on top of nearly every key player on the team moving on either in retirement or free agency, the cupboard is pretty bare for CEO Jed York.

That’s why the Sporting News on Friday said the 49ers are looking like the worst franchise in the NFL.

San Francisco is currently home of the NFL's worst franchise. How do the 49ers recover? https://t.co/xA8Rh1c7gR pic.twitter.com/0JyRW2tKJf — Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 4, 2016

Here’s how the article starts:

Oakland at least has a quarterback. Cleveland at least has a vision. Jacksonville, Tennessee and Tampa Bay have both a quarterback and a vision. Washington has a 2015 playoff appearance and a proven general manager to justify its direction. San Francisco has … a fancy stadium.

And while all that is true, it’s far too early in the offseason to presume the status quo will remain the same heading into 2016. The 49ers are expected to have a NFL-high 12 draft picks this spring and $55 million in salary cap space to try to fill holes on its depleted roster. Winning or losing doesn’t happen March 4.

Because if the 49ers come away with a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft, suddenly their vision under new head coach Chip Kelly becomes clear, as does the future of Colin Kaepernick.

But as the last two years have proven: nothing is assured. Just about the craziest and most dramatic scenarios have become expected in Santa Clara lately.

The current state of York’s franchise is at a low point, as is his approval rating from a fan base that saw its team move out of its home town for more lucrative pastures in the South Bay. York knows this, which is why he swung for the fences by hiring the biggest boom-or-bust available coaching candidate in Kelly.

The good thing about sports is the antidote for failure is easily identifiable: winning. Maybe Kelly can turn things around in Year 1 like he did in Philadelphia, helping the Eagles go from 4-12 to 10-6 in in 2013.

Then the Sporting News would have a new team to call the NFL’s worst next March.