49ers Traning Camp: 5 Burning Questions Facing San Francisco

What does Tom Gamble’s promotion mean for Trent Baalke?

News broke recently that San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York announced Tom Gamble had been promoted to the assistant general manager position.

Gamble had served as the 49ers director of pro personnel from 2005 through 2010 and, in 2011, the 49ers promoted Gamble to the director of player personnel. In 2013, Gamble had left the 49ers for the same position with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was teamed up with head coach Chip Kelly.

Kelly and Gamble immediately connected and, when Gamble was fired in 2014, was the tinder that started the fire that ultimately led to Kelly being fired as well a year later. Now in San Francisco, they are teamed up once again.

So what does this exactly mean for current general manager Trent Baalke?

Well, it’s not good. However, Baalke was already in somewhat of a “hot seat” entering 2016. York said this entering the 2016 offseason about Baalke:

"Trent Baalke will remain the General Manager of the 49ers. Trent understands that I’m not satisfied with the state of this team. Trent’s role is to find the next head coach and continue to build this roster and get us back to championship form. Trent has the skills to do this."

It seems to have an underlying tone that says, “if you don’t show progress, I’m going to have to make some changes.”

If the 49ers start the season on a down note, look for Gamble to become the general manager sooner rather than later.

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