Trent Baalke might be out as 49ers general manager, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t still irked about his tenure with the organization.
One of those people is former 49ers tight end Brent Jones, who joined Murph and Mac Wednesday morning, and took a few jabs at Baalke when asked about his thoughts regarding new GM John Lynch
“The more that I’ve thought about it, I want a guy that’s a football guy,” Jones said in regards to Lynch. “Here’s a guy that is the greatest of the greatest character. Honest. Communicator. He’s not gonna hide in the corner. He’s not gonna shy away from the press. He’s not gonna pick fights with players or he’s not gonna leak to the media. He’s not gonna draft receivers in the first round that can’t catch or play. He’s not gonna draft guys with ACL injuries and he’s actually gonna work with Kyle (Shanahan).”
Jones’ comments are in reference to WR A.J. Jenkins, Baalke’s first round pick in 2012, who was traded after just one season, and the seven players Baalke drafted during his tenure with significant knee injuries. Jones also said that Lynch will be successful because he will be willing to hire a handful of other individuals to help with decision making, one of Baalke’s percieved shortcomings.
“The reality is it’s never one guy.” Jones said. “Even the greatest general managers of all-time, they’ve got a director of college scouting, they’ve got a director of player personnel, they’ve got pro scouts…it’s about creating a team and not just one way of thinking. Now certainly, you need a leader when you have a team. And John Lynch is a natural leader.”
“I’m more positive than a lot of people are, but we all don’t know at this point. First and foremost, the greatest sign for 49ers fans, take solace in this fact: We got a true football guy leading football operations. He’s hiring more people so we’re not gonna be overloaded with business people.”
“So the greatest sign for 49ers fans, for maybe the first time in a decade, maybe longer, we’re going to have a pure loaded up football operations side of the equation, and push everything else to the other side of the building.”
Listen to the full interview below.