5 reasons why 49ers could win Super Bowl 57 next season

Reason No. 1: 49ers will face a weakened NFC overall

The Seahawks endured a surprising 7-10 finish last season, fourth place in the NFC West, and now the speculation surrounds whether or not quarterback Russell Wilson wants out of Seattle.

If he goes to another NFC team, that’s one thing. Yet there are plenty of reasons to anticipate the entire conference being much weaker in 2022, particularly at quarterback, with so many teams in need of signal-callers and so few plausible options available.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see the Niners trade Jimmy Garoppolo into the AFC. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact a number of previously Super Bowl-contending teams in the NFC are either going to be or potentially will be without their starting quarterbacks next season and generally lack proven contingency plans.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just watched quarterback Tom Brady retire. There’s plenty of smoke surrounding the notion the Green Bay Packers will move quarterback Aaron Rodgers this offseason, too, perhaps to the Denver Broncos.

Just those three alone — Brady, Rodgers and Wilson — leaving their respective teams will alter the entire landscape of the NFC next season. While the AFC is stacked with exceptional quarterbacks, many of them young, the NFC doesn’t appear to be so.

And as long as San Francisco is able to navigate through the conference next season, it would face as good a shot as any to pull off a win against one of those AFC opponents in Super Bowl 57.