The Los Angeles Rams, who have won the NFC West each of the last two seasons, aren't going to relinquish control of the division anytime soon without a fight. Their offseasons are aggressive, and their head coach is one of the brightest young minds in football. The Rams will enter the 2019 season as the defending NFC champions.
The Seattle Seahawks, who were predicted to be headed south in the standings, proved doubters wrong and made the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.
The San Francisco 49ers have won 10 games over the past two years and have finished in the bottom half of the division standings during each of Kyle Shanahan's two seasons as head coach. Injuries have contributed to the accumulation of losses, but the point has come when anything less than an aggressive offseason will be a disappointment to fans.
Kyle Brandt of "Good Morning Football" knows that 2019 could be a make-or-break season for Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, who enter year three of their six-year deals. The excuses will be gone. The team is trying to address the injury concerns with a restructuring of its training and medical staffs. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Jerick McKinnon will be healthy. And the 49ers could have nearly $70 million in salary cap space when free agency kicks off.
Brandt feels all of that points to a potential do-or-die offseason on the horizon because there is a lot of catching up to do in the division race. The 49ers were part of a broader discussion about teams who could make the playoffs in 2019 despite missing them the year before.
"If you look at this leadership of Shanahan, and Lynch, and York, you know what they're going to do," Brandt said last week. "They're not going to do nothing. They have to do something bold because the division is way too good. It might just be getting better with the Cardinals.
"They've had a weird couple of years with the injuries and the late Garoppolo add in the first year. I don't know if it's going to be Antonio Brown (added in the offseason). I don't know if it's going to be Earl Thomas.
"We talked to Shanahan down in Atlanta, and we said, 'So, Kyle, is it going to be an aggressive offseason? C'mon.' And he kind of had a twinkle in his eye; he's like, 'Well, it's always an aggressive offseason.'
"It has to be now because if they go 6-10 this year, what are we doing here? The Lynch thing, the Shanahan (thing), it's not working. There's no more excuses. There's no more injured quarterback. The division is so good. I think they know [they've] got to take a shot here. I think they're going to be extremely bold. I think it will work. I would love to see the Niners go from last to first."
