© Kelley L Cox | 2017 Feb 9
After a season in which they won just six games, year two for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan hasn’t started off much better. Though substantially hamstrung by the early season losses of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Jerick McKinnon, the 49ers enter Week 9 with just one win.
With both Lynch and Shanahan on six-year deals, KNBR’s Brian Murphy asked NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport how long their jobs are safe.
“They are definitely good through this year, obviously through next year,” Rapoport said. “Beyond that, I don’t know. I would imagine that they are safe also beyond that.
“I think one thing that has happened is clearly the organization, the talent is getting better, but obviously it’s not there yet. This year, if they had a quarterback that could have raised their level a little bit. Maybe they could have been a wildcard team, maybe. 8-8, 7-9, 9-7, something like that, that’s probably where they are.
“Next year, with Jimmy (Garoppolo) coming off the ACL, (Jerick) McKinnon coming off the ACL, with a very top draft pick that they don’t need to make on a quarterback, they should be a lot better.
“If they don’t win next year, I would imagine there will be some questions being asked, as would be the case in every league, but I don’t get the sense that anyone here is in trouble. I do get the sense there’s an understanding of like, ‘Wow, everything just came together to be the worst this season and, hopefully, it’s not like that next season.’”
Listen to the full interview below.