It sounds like John Lynch will return as the 49ers’ general manager in 2022, but he certainly has options.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post provided some more details to his report earlier this week that Lynch was getting interest from Fox Sports to replace Troy Aikman as the network’s lead analyst for NFL games, and also interest for Amazon as the analyst for Thursday night games.
Apparently, Amazon wasn’t messing around with their offer. Marchand says the two sides had dinner, with Amazon offering around three times what Lynch makes as 49ers GM ($5 million). Ultimately Lynch declined, desiring to stay in the 49ers’ front office for the time being.
Considering broadcasting shakeups like the one we are seeing right now don’t happen all that often, Lynch declining to take the offer is a full-throated commitment to the 49ers organization. There will always be interest in Lynch from the TV broadcasters, but the offers may not be as lucrative as Amazon’s for awhile, considering Fox, Amazon and ESPN all have potential openings for lead color analysts depending on how things shake out.
Lynch worked as a broadcaster for Fox from 2008-2016, typically paired with Kevin Burkhardt who may take over as Fox’s lead play-by-play commentator if Joe Buck leaves. Lynch has served as the 49ers’ GM since 2017.