It’s beginning to look more and more like the San Francisco 49ers are truly committed to a long-term rebuilding project with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. Both the general manager and head coach were given six-year contracts, and now we have some more information that leads us to the conclusion the 49ers won’t pull a fast one on either man after one season.
The rookie general manager spoke with KNBR’s “Tolbert & Lund” Tuesday and revealed the 49ers might not land their quarterback of the future in 2017.
“The answer for us is that Kyle and I are going to get together and — we’ve already discussed it — but we’re going to get together and find out exactly what he’s looking for in a quarterback,” Lynch said. “And then we’re going to evaluate the guy’s path, evaluate the draft and look hard at free agency, trades. Whatever we need to do to get a guy, And it may not be this year. We draft and develop. We’re looking at every scenario but we both are big believers — I don’t think is anything revolutionary — everyone knows how important that position is. But we certainly place a huge emphasis on it and we’re going to work hard to get that right.”
The 49ers own the No. 2 overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, and one of the top quarterbacks is sure to be there for the taking. But as many talent evaluators have said, this year’s crop of quarterbacks isn’t exactly brimming with promise.
Lynch’s comments also bring to mind another recent report that indicates the 49ers could be targeting Matt Schaub as a free-agent addition (more on that here). Schaub was with Shanahan in Atlanta this past year and could be a bridge quarterback, whether the team drafts a rookie this year or next.
Speaking of next year, the 49ers could be eyeballing guys like Sam Darnold out of USC, Josh Rosen out of UCLA, Washington’s Jake Browning or even Josh Allen out of small-school Wyoming.
And if the 49ers do pick up a quarterback early in the draft this April, perhaps they already believe that player would benefit from a year on the bench.
The bottom line here is that the 49ers don’t seem to be in a huge hurry to make a huge splash. Given the last few years, when their record dropped from 8-8 in 2014 to 5-11 in 2015 to 2-14 this past year, they realize there is a lot of work to be done all around and that finding the right quarterback for the long term isn’t all about taking a stab at the best guy this year.