What do John Lynch’s NFL Combine statements mean for 49ers offseason plans?

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch took the stage at the NFL Combine today and talked about Jerick McKinnon, Joe Staley and much more. Niner Noise breaks it down.

One of the benefits, if there can be one, of being a general manager of a bad team like the 49ers were when John Lynch came on board is how much leeway exists to change the roster. With oodles of cap space and a lack of talented players, both Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan took three offseasons to reshape the roster.

However, now that they’ve built a roster worthy of a Super Bowl appearance and much more, Lynch’s job with the 49ers becomes a little harder. He must now work to improve the margins of the team, all while shuffling a precarious cap situation and not disrupting the egos and mood of a close-knit locker room.

During his press conference at the 2020 NFL Combine, Lynch talked about some of these issues and ways the 49ers could look to improve. I’ll be summarizing and extrapolating off the interview.

If you want to watch the entire interview itself, click on this link.

A key statement that should not be a surprise to anyone is Lynch’s reaffirmation of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as the starter of the team and the leader going forward (h/t Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area). Nothing much to see here; Garoppolo took the Niners to a Super Bowl, and there would be no reason to irk him and cause a ruckus. He’s safe, as he should be.

Lynch also talked about Jalen Hurd’s impending recovery, stating how the 49ers expect him to be available for offseason workouts. The context of Hurd’s recovery was when answering a question about the talent in this wide receiver class. Lynch acknowledged the value, but said the Niners would be getting additional production from receivers who missed time on their own roster, like Hurd and Trent Taylor.

While one shouldn’t read too much into it, it does seem like Lynch believes an early round selection of a receiver in the draft may be a luxury rather than a necessity given the current roster. It could also explain why the Niners may not re-sign Emmanuel Sanders, as Nathan Bannerman explained.

As Maiocco summarized, it’s clear the 49ers expect tackle Joe Staley to return for yet another attempt at a Super Bowl ring. Staley dealt with a broken leg this year, but when healthy, he provided exceptional blocking, especially for a player his age. It seems like the Niners went into the offseason expecting Staley to return, so I doubt it changes their internal calculus much.

However, it does make the prospect of selecting an offensive tackle in the first round much less. Especially with Daniel Brunskill, who has managed to play above average at both tackle and guard, in the foray, the incentive is greatly reduced.

The final statement of note is Lynch saying running back Jerick McKinnon was cleared to play in the Super Bowl but was not ready. He also said the Niners will look to restructure McKinnon’s contract if possible.

McKinnon was signed on an exorbitant four-year, $30 million contract with a cap hit of around $8.5 million. For a player who has missed the last two years with injuries, it’s not justifiable to keep him around with that salary. Although releasing McKinnon would incur a dead cap hit of $4 million, the $4.5 million saved would be plenty worth it for this year.

That’s why a restructure that reduces the overall cap hit, as well as dead cap, would be beneficial for the Niners but not necessary. By restructuring and implementing a pay cut, the 49ers would still save money (probably around the $4.5 million they’d save by cutting him) while still keeping McKinnon in the fold as an explosive back who could do what Tevin Coleman did last year.

McKinnon was signed by the Niners because he fit Shanahan’s system. In two years, there’s been no real reps of him within the system. A restructure takes pressure off him, lowers the risk for the Niners and could help reinforce the roster and keep continuity.

While taking a pay cut is not optimal for McKinnon, it probably is the only option for him now.

NFL Combine comments should be taken with a grain of salt, but with what Lynch said, there are a few things that we can extrapolate and expect from the 49ers this offseason.