If you were hoping for dramatic changes after the 49ers' Super Bowl loss, you may get your wish.
Check out what Mike Silver just wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle:
"In theory, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch can reckon with their overtime defeat in Super Bowl LVIII, make some hard choices designed to keep the team competitive for years to come and force-feed recent draft picks into the lineup to see if they've got what it takes.
But what's the fun in that?
More likely, Shanahan and Lynch will fight through their shared trauma, get off the mat and come out swinging - something that could lead to aggressive moves in the draft and free agency and result in potential trades.
Make no mistake: With star quarterback Brock Purdy on a rookie deal and a rapidly rising salary cap, the 49ers are in it to win it once more in 2024."
Silver is deeply connected to the 49ers. He was on the team's beat during the glory years. He's known Kyle Shanahan since the 49ers' coach was 15 years old. He covered John Lynch for years when Lynch was playing in the league. He's as tied in as anyone can be at the highest levels of the organization.
He's not writing this for no reason.
Here's more:
"Tough decisions may be coming, possibly involving productive veterans who played a big role in the franchise's recent run of success.
They have a better sense of which valued veterans might already be declining, some of them in ways most of us can't necessarily see.
It's easy for me to say...that top-of-market standouts Trent Williams, George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, Deebo Samuel, Arik Armstead, and [Javon] Hargrave should be part of any effort to run it back. However, Shanahan and Lynch need to be honest about what the film showed. Sometimes elite football players fall off quickly and precipitously. If the coach and the GM believe that applies to any of these players, or to younger (but well-worn) stars like Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, or Dre Greenlaw, they need to act accordingly and try to find something better.
According to organization sources, many tough conversations are already being contemplated."
Again, consider who these words are coming from. For some people, "organization sources" might be a scout or a quality control coach. Mike Silver is not some people.
How daring do Lynch and Shanahan want to be? Their history says they won't just sit back and hope things work out. Think of the names that they've brought on board. The offseason after losing the Super Bowl in 2019 they acquired Trent Williams and traded back into the first round to draft Brandon Aiyuk. They were determined to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo after 2020 and gave up three firsts and a third to draft a quarterback. Then, when they soured on Trey Lance a year later, they brought Jimmy Garoppolo back right before the season began to hedge their bet. Kyle Shanahan told the ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast team in Week 4 of 2022 that he didn't have the type of running backs on the roster he needed to run the system he wanted to run. Three weeks later they gave the Panthers four picks for Christian McCaffrey.
This 49ers regime does not sit back and wait, they act. The only question now is whether the team will be as bold in moving away from star players as they have been in acquiring them.
If you're looking for more in-depth conversation about this, Grant Cohn and I talked about it on Wednesday's Stats & Cohn.
Bill Walsh once said, "Better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late." He did it with Montana, Lott, Rice, and others.