This is it for the 49ers’ duo of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
No, the duo isn’t on the hot seat, but consider the 2025 season the beginning of either a glorious future or the end for the pair, which came in Santa Clara in 2017 and retired the winning standard of the red and gold.
But even the most successful of franchise leaders only have so much leash, and Shanahan and Lynch have already used up every inch of theirs, going through two “franchise” quarterbacks before finding Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, left, and head coach Kyle Shanahan speak during a press conference at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Now Purdy is the third franchise quarterback, signed to the largest contract in 49ers history.
It was a no-brainer deal for the Niners and a win-win for the franchise and player — both parties earned serious concessions from the other in reaching the final agreement.
The deal also irrevocably intertwined the Bay Area fates of the three most important people in an organization — Purdy, Shanahan, and Lynch.
Perhaps the trio will lead the Niners to another golden era. No matter what, we’re down to brass tacks in the South Bay.
It speaks volumes about Purdy that Shanahan and Lynch have tied their San Francisco fates to a 6-foot quarterback coming off a six-win season. While the alternatives were not necessarily plentiful or obviously superior, there was still the realistic possibility of adding Purdy’s 2024 backup Sam Darnold, longtime Shanahan target Kirk Cousins (usurped in Atlanta), longtime bugaboo Russell Wilson, or Northern California native Aaron Rodgers. Such alternatives were relentlessly offered from outside parties, but those inside the Niners’ facility were steadfast in their zeal to sign Purdy.
Perhaps that’s because the powers that be know they’re only still in power in Santa Clara because they lucked into Purdy with that final pick.
The severity of the situation at hand is obvious.
The 49ers did a hard reset this past offseason, trading Deebo Samuel, cutting contracts the team deemed to be underwater, re-signing the team’s core three — Purdy, George Kittle, Fred Warner, loading up on 11 draft picks, and putting a full-court press to successfully bring back defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy celebrates while holding The George Halas trophy after winning the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions 34-31. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group
In turn, the team could be pushing the message that 2025 is a gap year, saying that they’ll see what happens in 2025 but will be back to Super Bowl or bust in 2026. There are subtle ways of hinting at such expectations without expressly stating such beliefs.
Yet Shanahan and Lynch have said nothing of the sort so far. No, thanks to one of the most favorable schedules in NFL history (though making such proclamations before the season always proves foolhardy) and those big-money contracts to their middle linebacker, tight end, and especially their quarterback, it’s full-steam ahead this season.
Success of this experiment will be obvious. It will come in the form of a double-digit-win season, a playoff berth, and perhaps even a home playoff game. division titles. It could even look like 2023, when Purdy not only led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance, but also received MVP votes in the process.
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Failure will not be obvious, but rather evidenced by dissonance. The team wins but Purdy struggles; Purdy is exceptional but the team around him cannot win games. It’s this kind of gray area that has unfairly cursed the young quarterback so far in his career — the 49ers’ wins apparently (if you listen to certain sects of media) have nothing to do with Purdy, but the losses are hung on the quarterback’s neck like an albatross.
It simply will not matter that his supporting cast is diminished or that his receiver core is questionable, at best. No, now that he’s the $265 million man (even though he might only see a third of that number) whatever deference the 26-year-old once received (minimal, it seems) will be gone.
And if he’s gone, then so too are the two who drafted him.
