Black Monday kicks off, and answers from John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan regarding Jimmy Garoppolo, Dee Ford, Trent Williams and more.
Robert Saleh says his goodbyes as the 49ers wrap up the 2020 season with an eventful Monday, packed with comments about Nick Bosa's health to Garoppolo's contract.
(Santa Clara, CA) - 2020 did not go well for a lot of people. A year of pain, hardships, struggles, and a year in which football was the last thing on many people’s minds. Let’s make that clear.
Unfortunately, the 2020-21 NFL season for the 49ers… went about as bad as the rest of everything in 2020.
Let’s review it, in a couple short bullet points that come nowhere close to actually summarizing the severity of the situation:
The 49ers led the league in injuries, their franchise DE and QB got seriously injured, their best offensive player played through a sprained MCL, bone bruise, torn labrum, and high ankle sprain.
Their MRI bus broke down.
The sewage pipes in the Levi’s Stadium parking lot exploded.
They had to move to Arizona.
From 13-3, to 6-10. From worst (2018) to first (2019) back to worst (2020).
This season was meme-worthy for too many reasons. But, there were some positives.
Brandon Aiyuk looks like a future superstar. He blew Deebo Samuel’s rookie season out of the water, should be a main-stay on all-rookie teams, and if not for big market hype and this guy named Justin Jefferson, Aiyuk would be considered the best rookie WR in the draft.
Jeff Wilson Jr took the next step, leading the 49ers in rushing and in general being a force, all season, when healthy.
Fred Warner ascending to the level of best coverage LB, and best overall LB in the league, surpassing Seahawks stalwart Bobby Wagner.
Jason Verrett proving the doubters wrong, being able to stay healthy and ascend back to a Pro Bowl-caliber level of play.
Robert Saleh keeping this defense top 10, despite all the injuries.
But the season has wrapped up. It’s already Mock Draft Monday for me, and while you might be groaning - this is no doubt, the most important offseason in the Shanalynch regime.
Black Monday:
Quick hitters.
The Jets, as everyone and their mom expected, fired Adam Gase. One year too late, sadly, as they alienated their best young player in Jamal Adams, and have ruined Sam Darnold.
The Chargers fired Anthony Lynn. Two years ago, the Chargers under Lynn went 12-4 and got past the Wild Card round. But the coaching failures, especially in late-game situations, doomed him this season. Whoever coaches the Chargers next will be getting a very, very ideal situation. With a budding young franchise QB in Justin Herbert, paired with two great WRs in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, plus, Joey Bosa, Derwin James, and Chris Harris Jr. on the defense to go with loads of young defensive talent.
The Jaguars are likely to hire Urban Meyer, the hold up is contractual disagreements. The hire could fall through, but right now, Meyer is the favorite and has reportedly told relatives he will join the Jaguars. Doug Marrone was fired as well.
So far, not as eventful as we thought. So far. Vic Fangio, Doug Pederson, Mike McCarthy, and Matt Nagy are all expected to retain their jobs.
Robert Saleh, our very own, has interviews lined up with the Falcons, Lions, and Jaguars according to John Lynch. Jacksonville’s interest in Meyer doesn’t stop them from doing due diligence on their former LB coach. The Lions connection has been quite obvious, and the Falcons - an interesting fit. They just hired a DC named Dan Quinn from the Seattle 4-3 under system, so rehashing that idea… doesn’t seem the smartest. But Saleh is a different coach. Kyle Shanahan seems resigned to the fact that Robert Saleh has coached his last game as the 49ers defensive coordinator.
Eric Bieniemy, a hot name among NFL circles for a while as Andy Reid’s assistant in Kansas City, is interviewing with the Falcons and Lions so far. Bieniemy is a leading candidate for many jobs, but it’s interesting that other teams haven’t requested him yet.
Joe Brady, the current Panthers OC, and Joe Burrow whisperer as the LSU offensive coordinator during their 2019 title run, has garnered interview requests from the Falcons, Chargers, and Texans. Brady is widely considered as the next young genius OC, part of the trend that Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay kickstarted in 2017.
Arthur Smith, the Titans OC, who’s been largely responsible for the transcendence of Derrick Henry and the resurrection of Tannehill into a legitimate top 10 QB - has garnered interview requests, amazingly, from every team that needs HC.
Smith might be the hottest name out right now.
The other hot name - the Bills’ Brian Daboll. Josh Allen has flourished into an MVP candidate and with him, Stefon Diggs has ascended to top 5 WR territory. Daboll is a large part of that, with experience with the Chiefs, Browns, Dolphins, and under Nick Saban at Alabama. Daboll has already received an interview request from the in-division opponent, New York Jets who are in position for an Allen-esque prospect in Justin Fields.
The Chargers also requested Daboll - their GM went to high school with him. And Daboll could work wonders with Herbert at the helm.
There are other, smaller candidates as well - the Colts DC, Matt Eberflus, as well as the Giants DC, Patrick Graham, have also garnered interveiw requests from the Jets who seem to be going less of a traditional route with this hire. Eberflus has called plays for one of the top defensive units in the game, and was a large part in the development of talent like Darius Leonard, a fast rising LB who may already be top 5, and one day, challenge Fred Warner for best MLB in the league.
Finally, the “squints eyes at screen, shakes head” interview:
What about GMs?
There’s good news and bad news on that front for the 49ers.
John Elway has stepped down as GM and is (supposedly) taking the backseat while looking for a true GM to collaborate with Vic Fangio. It’s highly likely that his old buddy, Adam Peters, would consider this job heavily as the Broncos roster still has Peters’ fingerprints all over it. The Panthers have also requested an interview with Peters for their vacant GM job.
Interesitngly enough, the Washington Football Team requested an interview with former Lions GM and current 49ers assistant, Martin Mayhew. This might just be part of the Rooney Rule, but regardless - Mayhew has perhaps improved his talent evaluation after his failures with the Lions. Due to the NFL’s new rules regarding minority hires, the team that develops minority talent that is good enough to be hired by another team is rewarded with a compensatory pick. You’ve heard that the 49ers will receive a 3rd round pick if Robert Saleh is hired by a team as HC this offseason. They actually receive two, one in 2021, and one in 2022. Similarly, the 49ers would receive a compensatory 3rd round pick if Mayhew was hired as a GM as well.
If you haven’t heard, there’s a QB controversy in Santa Clara. Just not a competition. Over the next couple months, a decision will have to be made on Jimmy Garoppolo’s future. His contract along with his play and injury concerns have led many to speculate whether his days are numbered in SF, and while logically, moving on from a QB who reached the Super Bowl last time he was healthy seems, well, idiotic, it’s more nuanced than that.
When asked about the QB situation, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan had a lot to say. Shanahan has repeatedly reinforced that he believes Jimmy G is their guy and will be the starter in 2021, but seems to always follow up his comments with something talking about how if there’s an upgrade, they will look into it. That’s obvious. If a HC isn’t saying that, there’s a problem.
Lynch went into more detail today, saying Garoppolo is expected to be the quarterback for next year, and Kyle Shanahan when asked, again, about it, said that the 49ers “have their starting quarterback”.
On paper, that would seem like that’s it. Case closed? Not exactly. Lynch was also asked about Garoppolo’s contract, and Lynch mentioned that if it’s necessary with the rough free agency the 49ers are projected to go through, the 49ers would look into reconstructing Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract.
And it’s also worth noting - it’s hard to trust front offices at face value. DeForest Buckner was supposed to be a 49er for life. Nobody comes in and takes Cassius Marsh’s job. It’s not new to the NFL - Josh Rosen was the Cardinals’ “guy” according to Kingsbury, until he wasn’t. It’s hard for Lynch and Shanahan to give an answer other than - Jimmy is the QB for us.
And it’s certainly interesting when reports come out like this:
“Garoppolo’s injuries certainly complicate the picture. Kyle Shanahan, the coach said, he believes Garoppolo will be the quarterback in 2021, but he says he can’t say it with certainty,” ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported Sunday (h/t CBS Boston). “Most league insiders believe if there’s a better option, the 49ers will have somebody other than Garoppolo at the start of next season.”
But that last sentence is key: if there’s a better option. It’s exactly what Kyle Shanahan has said - Garoppolo is the starter, until he isn’t. There isn’t much to derive from these developments, but so far - Garoppolo does seem to be on track to return for at least another year as the 49ers quarterback.
Shanahan added that the 49ers would evaluate the QB position through the draft and free agency, but through the lens of improving their backup situation.
We also received an update on Dee Ford. Not a good one.
Bosa’s ACL recovery is key to the “Revenge of the Revenge Tour” campaign of 2021-22, but Ford likely has played his last game as a 49er. The 49ers could save quite a bit of money which they need for other positions and FA like Jason Verrett, Kerry Hyder, and more.
Trent Williams, newly minted Pro Bowler and PFF’s #1 tackle in the NFL - reiterated his desire to resign with the 49ers, saying they were his number one destination. That won’t change anytime soon, but Williams, based on other record breaking deals for tackles, will garner a heavy price tag - likely in the $20M range. It’s a tough price to pay, but it’s well worth it - Williams was still getting into game shape this season, returning from a cancerous tumor and missing a season last year. And still was that good.
John Lynch also made it clear that the 49ers would “figure it out” with regards to Fred Warner’s impending contract extension. Warner will garner near or more than Bobby Wagner’s $18M APY, which is another heavy price tag. A lot of tough decisions will come this offseason, and guys like Kyle Juszczyk and Kendrick Bourne, although wanting to be back, are clearly aware that they may be expendable.
I’ll leave you, with, well, a meme of a moment to represent this season.
John Lynch actually liked this tweet:
If you want to get his attention, maybe just mention him on Twitter! You might get lucky. Maybe.
Ya gotta love Crant Gohn
Love your articles Riqonator. Keep going! (There’s some Trey Lance fanboy has taken over your Slack account though—not so sure about him...)😘
It’s 2021 people! I’m buying a Jimmy G jersey to set the ball rolling! Offseason is the best season (when you have a shit season).
And 2021 will be Solly’s year, wherever he ends up. We should run a sweep on that. What if we package him up with CJB and send him to the Chargers for Joey Bosa? Surely our cap can handle all that!