49ers: John Lynch Continuing to Write Trent Baalke's Epitaph

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch has already been more active this offseason than his predecessor, Trent Baalke, was a year ago. And by doing so, Lynch is continuing the narrative on Baalke’s epitaph in Santa Clara.

Let’s jump back into our San Francisco 49ers time machine for a moment and travel back to the start of 2016 NFL free agency.

The Niners, almost like now, had a plethora of team needs, a new head coach and a future filled with uncertainty.

And the man at the helm was former general manager Trent Baalke.

San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

Baalke’s biggest free-agent acquisition that year — despite an abundance of Niners cap space — was offensive guard Zane Beadles. And that was it.

San Francisco’s NFL Draft that year produced two potential standouts — defensive end DeForest Buckner and cornerback Rashard Robinson — but that was it too.

Not surprisingly, the 49ers went 2-14 in what turned into a one-and-done year for former head coach Chip Kelly.

Also not surprisingly, Baalke got the ax.

Now it’s 2017. John Lynch is at the head of GM duties. And even though he had zero front-office experience prior to accepting the position in Santa Clara, Lynch has already shown a knack for being more proactive in addressing San Francisco’s needs.

Subsequently, fan reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and hopeful. A far cry from the “let’s pray something good happens” feeling from a year ago at this time.

And by being more proactive, Lynch continues to cast shade on Baalke’s less-than-stellar efforts.

49ers Active in Free Agency Before Free Agency Begins

I have a hunch Baalke’s actions in free agency prior to the 2015 season made him a bit gun shy a year later. Remember 2015? In what was a horrid offseason — we can’t entirely blame Baalke for that — the former GM brought in free agents like wide receiver Torrey Smith, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, cornerback Shareece Wright and running back Reggie Bush.

October 23, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Dockett didn’t even make the 53-man roster. Wright couldn’t make it through the season before being moved, and Bush ended up getting hurt in what otherwise probably would have been an unproductive year.

So much for Baalke wanting to get right back into the free-agent market in 2016.

Now, Lynch has already been more aggressive than his predecessor. The Niners pulled in slot corner K’Waun Williams, who had a number of suitors, as well as landing nose tackle Earl Mitchell.

All this, and free agency hadn’t even started yet.

Tack on San Francisco’s pending signing of veteran wide receiver Pierre Garcon — and the slew of other pending free-agent signings — and we can immediately tell Lynch is, essentially, the opposite of Baalke in nearly every fashion.

Heck, we even wrote about it earlier. It’s continuing to be true.

Undoing What Trent Baalke Did

Part of Lynch’s first assignments was to evaluate what the 49ers had on their roster.

It wasn’t much. But that didn’t mean San Francisco’s GM was going to stand pat with what he had and try to make it work.

No, Lynch parted ways with Smith even though he still had a lengthy chunk of years remaining on his contract — three, to be exact. Shortly thereafter, Lynch parted ways with veteran safety Antoine Bethea.

The latest move was to waive disappointing center Marcus Martin. Baalke used a third-round pick on the former USC product back in 2014.

Sep 12, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers center Marcus Martin (66) during a NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

To gauge just how ineffective Baalke had been, especially on offense, in the last few NFL Drafts, let’s look at what Eric Branch of SFGate.com had to say in the wake of Martin’s release:

"In addition to Martin, Baalke used six other first-, second or third-round picks on offensive players in his final five drafts: wide receiver A.J. Jenkins (2012), running back LaMichael James (2012), tight end Vance McDonald (2013), guard Brandon Thomas (2014), running back Carlos Hyde (2014) and guard Joshua Garnett. McDonald, Hyde and Garnett are still on the roster."

Out of seven offensive picks in Rounds 1 through 3, the 49ers now have just three remaining on the roster — Carlos Hyde, Vance McDonald and Joshua Garnett.

Hyde, OK. But McDonald has been a late bloomer at best. The same will likely be said of Garnett, who struggled in his rookie year.

John Lynch at the NFL Draft

We still have no clue how Lynch’s first efforts in the NFL Draft will go. It’s possible, perhaps likely, he has some failures — all GMs do — over the next few years in Santa Clara. But that’s fine.

Good general managers limit the mistakes and poor investments.

Mar 2, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

That’s something Baalke didn’t handle particularly well. Even when San Francisco’s roster was in desperate need of plug-and-play talent, Baalke continued to use picks on guys not even close to ready. His “All-ACL” picks, like cornerback Will Redmond last year, certainly hurt the Niners’ chances to improve.

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One can bet Lynch won’t go that route.

And while we don’t know what Lynch’s actions will be this April, we’ve already seen enough evidence to support the notion San Francisco’s current GM is nothing like his predecessor.

That’s exactly what the 49ers need. They’re getting it too.

Next: 5 Moves that Sealed Former 49ers GM Trent Baalke's Fate

By handling his duties as such, Lynch is continuing to show just how bad Baalke’s mistakes over the last few years were.

San Francisco 49ers: GM John Lynch Continues to Write Trent Baalke’s Epitaph

By Peter Panacy | Mar 8, 2017