Opinions aren’t split about the San Francisco 49ers brass. In fact, 71% of our poll voters believed John Lynch was the right man for the job. This was after Lynch and Kyle Shanahan caught flak, as they tend to do around NFL Draft time, for selecting a couple of players higher than what was expected against the consensus.
When you look at the hit rates in each round of the NFL Draft, the 49ers are in line or exceeding expectations compared to the rest of the league. The one round that’s done them in?
The most important one. Naturally, that’s what most will remember.
Even if Ricky Pearsall or Mykel Williams don’t live up to their draft status, NFL Insider Tom Pelissero said on The Rich Eisen Show that we shouldn’t expect the 49ers to part ways with Lynch or Shanahan anytime soon:
I don’t see a world where John Lynch ever gets fired by the San Francisco 49ers. Same thing with Kyle Shanahan. They stabilized that franchise after; if you remember how things were for several years before they got there, it was a constant churn. It was the end of the Jim Harbaugh era, which became the Jim Tomsula era, which became the Chip Kelly era. The 49ers are competitive year after year.
The 49ers have become one of the most successful franchises of the 2020s. The organization feels like it should have some hardware to show for it. They’ve been on the doorstep of a championship on more than one occasion. Barring their most important players getting hurt, this team has been a shoo-in for a postseason appearance.
Pelissero continued, this time speaking about the moves the team has made:
They certainly, I think it’s fair to say, have supplemented a lot through trades and, at times, free agency because they’ve had some misses in the draft. I know there was a minor uprising in the media and among fans because you take De’Zhaun Stribling with your second-round pick, and that’s the starting point for your entire draft.
They’ve been really good at drafting guys on Day 3. Brock Purdy, of course, was a pick there, along with guys like George Kittle and Fred Warner, who were not first-round picks. At the top of the draft, the bang for buck hasn’t always been there.
The 49ers have built a strong enough foundation through their stars that has given them a long enough leash. It’s how they’ve maintained success without hitting on a first-rounder this decade. Purdy saving the day certainly helps.
Pelissero believes it’s more likely that Lynch would pursue something else than being fired:
I don’t think it’s a matter of whether you fire John Lynch. If anything, at some point, could John Lynch decide, ‘I’ve had enough, and I’m going to walk away. I’m going to go into an emeritus role?’ They’re structured differently, too, because Kyle Shanahan has such a huge voice in everything they’re doing. They’ve also got a lot of accomplished front office people.
Pelissero used trades like Christian McCaffrey. There’s Trent Williams. Even the process of acquiring Dee Ford was a good one. The same is true for Emmanuel Sanders. The 49ers have taken swings. If I were a fan of a team, I’d want my front office to be aggressive.
When that’s the case, you can expect several misses. But if that’s the mindset and the approach is consistent, you’re going to end up with several hits. And that explains the 49ers roster.
Which is why Pelissero finished where he began, by saying, “No, I don’t think John Lynch gets fired.”
