Reports surfaced earlier in the weekend that the San Francisco 49ers were going to fire head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke (more on that here).
While Kelly himself is coaching the team’s season finale against the Seattle Seahawks, Baalke has confirmed that he’s been fired from his role as GM.
BREAKING: Trent Baalke confirms that he has been fired as the GM of the @49ers. pic.twitter.com/neYk6MobWP
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 1, 2017
In no way should this be seen as a surprise. Baalke has overseen one of the most-dramatic regressions in NFL history over the past three seasons. San Francisco, with two wins heading into Week 17, just recently snapped a 13-game losing streak. This is the same team that just three years was considered a legit Super Bowl contender.
Be it the multiple players that have retired in their prime or Baalke’s inability to draft with success on offense, the talent on San Francisco’s roster has taken a major hit.
Short of CEO Jed York looking in the mirror and blaming himself for this post Jim Harbaugh era mess, we knew the silver-spoon fed executive would find another scapegoat. On Sunday, that came in the form of Baalke himself.