John

Lynch

The 49ers announced the extensions of Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan at the same time. Though Lynch has made a number of head-scratching picks in the draft, he has always found a way out of the holes he dug for himself. For Trey Lance, his most infamous pick that also featured a trade of multiple first-round selections, the life raft was hitting on Brock Purdy with the final pick in the draft. Lynch has also assembled an elite core of pass-catching weapons for Purdy with players tailored to his skill set and Kyle Shanahan’s scheme around every corner. A Super Bowl victory has eluded the duo for seven years, but they have been tantalizing close numerous times, including a Super Bowl berth and a pair of NFC Championship losses. Sitting at 3-0 to start the 2023 season, the hope will be that Purdy is just good enough to get the team over the hump.

The 49ers added No. 99, No. 101, and No. 102 overall while also being given picks in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds. Two of those third-round picks came from the Texans hiring DeMeco Ryans as head coach and the Titans hiring Ran Carthon as general manager. The Cardinals, Commanders, Browns, and Chiefs also added third-round picks, with the Patriots adding a fourth-round pick. The full list can be viewed in the link below.

Lynch had talks with Amazon to become an analyst for their Thursday Night Football programming last offseason. A deal never materialized and Lynch decided to return to the 49ers. His current contract runs through the 2024 season, though an extension could come as soon as this offseason. Having led the 49ers to three NFC Championships and a Super Bowl in the past four years, no one deserves a new deal more than Lynch right now. The only thing keeping him from re-upping with San Francisco for years to come is the allure of a cushy job on TV, though that won’t be happening this year.

The tech colossus and football television neophyte is trying to throw money at its announcer problem — namely, it doesn’t have any — but could not lasso Troy Aikman and also struck out on Lynch. Talks with Al Michaels to serve as the play-by-play man have been at the “one-yard line,” but Michaels is reportedly waiting to see who his announcing partner might be. 50-year-old Lynch was delightful in the FOX booth before landing in the front office and will undoubtedly work in T.V. again one day.

“We felt like we had a team that can compete,” Lynch said. “We went to ownership, said ‘hey things are looking good, we want to make this (trade), but we don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy.’” Per Lynch, 49ers ownership signed off on keeping both a rookie and the 29-year-old veteran under contract for 2021. It confirms what was already known: the Niners will be adding someone under center at No. 3, and Garoppolo is in fact part of the team’s plans ... for now. (Coach Kyle Shanahan added that the team wouldn’t “rule out a trade” if they’re “absolutely blown away.”) Both Lynch and Shanahan are scheduled to be in attendance for Mac Jones’, Trey Lance’s, and Justin Fields’ (rescheduled) pro days.

Peters, who was hired by the 49ers in 2017 as vice president of player personnel, is widely considered to be an up-and-coming general manager candidate. He’ll serve as the team’s assistant GM in 2021 alongside general manager John Lynch, who in a Friday statement called Peters a “tremendous asset” to the 49ers. Peters got his start as a scouting assistant for the Patriots in the early-2000s.

This comes on the heels of a contract extension for Kyle Shanahan that will link the coach to the club through the 2025 season. The two form a very good partnership and have nailed many important roster-building pieces along the way. It wasn’t always rainbows and roses, as the duo started 10-22 in the first two seasons together due to a multitude of injuries, namely to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Business has since picked up, all the way to contending for a Super Bowl last February. Lynch has been unafraid of making big decisions, like trading away DeForest Buckner this offseason, and being tied to one of the best playcallers in the NFL never hurts.

Of course, it remains to be seen if San Francisco will actually pull the trigger on a trade. Schefter added the 49ers don’t have second-, third- and fourth-round picks, so they “want more picks.” It’s unclear what position the 49ers could be zeroing in on.

He’ll undergo an MRI today.