The 49ers have brought new power players to the table. So how exactly will the structure of putting together the team work?
ESPN’s Jim Trotter chimed in Monday afternoon to give us some insight he gleaned from CEO Jed York.
I misspoke earlier. Lynch will have final say over the draft, free agency and 90-man roster. Shanahan will have final say on 53-man roster.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) January 30, 2017
John Lynch is getting an unbelievable amount of say who has no NFL talent evaluation experience, but the fact that Kyle Shanahan controls the final product is the right call. Shanahan has been a part of building rosters the last nine seasons.
This is a similar setup to the one the Seattle Seahawks have. GM John Schneider is the most influential throughout the offseason process, but ultimately, head coach Pete Carroll is making the final calls on the 53-man roster. Miami’s Adam Gase and Atlanta’s Dan Quinn also both have final-say of the 53.
On paper, this all seems like it could work. But as we know, friction can happen when the GM and coach do not agree on certain players. Parameters will have to put into place for such disagreements. Jed York had this to say about a falling out between Trent Baalke and Chip Kelly.
“it can’t be, you know, ‘I have the 53-man roster and you need to go back to your office.’ We can’t have that,” York said. “It’s got to be these two guys on the same page and when we disagree on a player we need to know what to do when we disagree on a player and know how to move forward and move beyond it. That’s very important to me. So, whether the head coach is in control or the general manager is in control, they need to be accountable to each other. That’s the most important relationship in the building.”
Lynch will have No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft and reportedly close to $80 million to work with in cap space.