NOTE: John Lynch video courtesy of @Lombardi Himself David Lombardi – Check out his You Tube Channel HERE!
49ers General Manager John Lynch spoke at the 2025 NFL Draft Combine on Wednesday morning, here is what you need to know:
BROCK PURDY LATEST:
No surprise here and nothing really news breaking to be honest, but when it’s the quarterback, it leads the piece. Purdy will sign with the 49ers it’s a matter of when not if. Yes, he’ll get an insane amount in the $55-60 million range. If negotiations stall you may here Kirk Cousins name who will be released by the falcons or Sam Darnold’s name who was Purdy’s back up in 2023. Don’t believe any of the back and forth. Purdy will be the 49ers man under center for a long time. The when matters though. He needs to get on the same page with Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and the rest of the crew on the field as soon as possible. Chemistry between QB and receivers starts in the offseason.
DEEBO GONE:
Lynch was asked about Deebo Samuel in the end of the year press conference and said the 49ers weren’t in the business of letting talented players walk out of the building. Fast forward a bit and Lynch said at the combine Wednesday the team will help him pack his bags and move on. It was obvious the minute Brandon Aiyuk signed his big deal late last offseason after all the drama it was too expensive in the 49ers mind to have two players at the position making this amount of money. It might have been different had Samuel stepped up in Aiyuk’s absence after his knee injury, Deebo did not. He had the worst season of his career. 2024 first rounder Ricky Pearsall will have a full offseason, Jauan Jennings in a team favorite. Deebo’s play and number don’t fit. Good news is a lot of teams need receivers this offseason and it’s reportedly not a good wide out draft. It won’t be a ton in return, but the 49ers will get something, despite taking a cap hit which is easier to swallow because of the increasing salary cap.
BIG TRENT WILL BE BACK:
49ers future Hall of Fame Left Tackle Trent Williams will be 37 by the time training camp rolls around in July, not that Williams does much in camp. Last season Williams held out looking for more money, which he eventually received. He wasn’t the same player and missed the final seven games of the 2024 season with a left ankle injury. Lynch said on Wednesday Williams is fully recovered and is a go for the 2025 season. The 49ers offensive line is average with Williams hulking presence at left tackle. Without him, they’re below average. The team still needs to address the future on Brock Purdy’s blind side but the All-Pro gives them another season to delay those thoughts. There are a few well thought of tackles in the draft and the 49ers sit at #11 in the first round, a place they aren’t often and where they hope they aren’t a year from now. It might be the time to grab a rookie to groom for the future, but it’s not an emergency as it would have been had big Trent packed it in.
GREENLAW AND HUFFANGA LATEST
I put these two together because that was the way the question was asked, but I think these are two different situations. Similar in that both players fought major injuries last season, different in that one seems to be unaffordable while the other is wait and see. Huffanga will be looking for something similar to the 4-year $69 million deal the Packers gave to free agent safety Xavier McKinney to lure jim away from the Giants last offseason. That’s to rich for the 49ers loaded salary cap in an offseason where they paying Brock Purdy. Plus they have solid second year player Malik Mustapha ready to start in Huff’s place. Greenlaw played 34 snaps last season coming of the Achilles injury he suffered in the Super Bowl loss too the Chiefs. If he wants more than a one-year make good deal, he could be gone, but is a team out there who will give him multiple years coming off that type of injury? If so, the 49ers have options. Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood is only 25 with the arrow pointing up. He played for former Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh, who is back as the 49ers DC. Also, Chiefs do it all LB Nick Bolton is free and only 25. He’s likely out of the 49ers price range, but you never know.
CMC UPDATE:
In 2023 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey had over 2,000 all-purpose yards and accounting for 21 touchdowns on the ground and through the air on his way to offensive player of the year honors while leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl. In 2024, CMC had 348 all-purpose yards and zero touchdowns. It’s overly simplistic to say the entire reason the 49ers tumbled from the Super Bowl to 6-11 was because of his injuries, but it was number one on the list in 2024, a long list. Lynch gave a positive update on the 49ers star running back saying he would be ready for most offseason activities. The strange Achilles injury was an on again, off again thing where it seemed the 49ers were waiting until the right time to get the most out of him in 2024. McCaffrey didn’t appear in a game until November 10th versus the Buccaneers. His season ended on a non-contact injury in the snow in Buffalo against the Bills on December first. If he is fully recovered from the injury, McCaffrey opens up the entire offense and makes everyone better.
STARTS AIYUK, ENDS WITH GETTING YOUNGER AND CHEAPER:
The question was about recent reported inquiries into the availability of 49ers injured receiver Brandon Aiyuk who is coming off an ACL surgery. Lynch quickly side stepped the question and actually offered better insight into the 49ers thinking this offseason which is get better but get younger and cheaper. If this was another team it would sound like a retool situation, that’s not where the 49ers are. They believe they are still in a Super Bowl window, but Lynch admitted with the contract of Purdy needing to get done, plus Kittle needing a new deal going iinto his last year of his deal and other players like Fred Warner who has a $29,2 million cap hit this season, they need to offset those numbers with rookie deals to balance the sheet. On the field, the players have to play to a high standard. The rookies for the most part accomplished that in 2024. To catch the Eagles, Lions and Rams, who have had multiple solid drafts recently, San Francisco has to follow up a solid 2024 draft with an even better 2025 haul.
WORKING ON A DEAL TO KEEP GEORGE KITTLE LONG TERM:
Kittle spoke about getting a deal done during Super Bowl week on radio row. He’s gong into the last season of his current deal and his cap number jumps from around $12 million in 2024, to over $22 million in 2025. Jumps like that tell you when a deal is likely done. Both sides want to get something done. Kittle said that week he wants to be a 49er for life, the team should want him to be after the toughness and leadership he showed during a down 2024 season.
49ERS STILL HAVE FAITH IN JAKE MOODY, LYNCH SAYS: (Quote per @TracyFGSN Follow her)
Lynch said it and as a good executive will do, took the organizational blame for the former third rounders roller coaster season. Moody did suffer a high ankle sprain making a tackle early in the season and was never the same mentally when he came back. It’ sone thing to say it, but the 49ers with a new special teams coach in Brant Boyer in 2025 will no doubt bring in true competition for the struggling Moody in training camp. He has the physical skills, but with kickers it’s all upstairs. Whether he can recover is a big if. The first kick he misses, even if it’s in preseason, the grumbles, hisses and boos will start all over. I think Moody is done in red and gold.