San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters on Monday. Lynch revealed that the team plans to exercise the fifth-year option on offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, keeping him signed through the 2022 season.
The move will guarantee the offensive lineman $10.88 million in 2022.
San Francisco drafted McGlinchey out of Notre Dame with the No. 9 overall pick in 2018. He earned a 79.7 overall grade and a 91.3 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus in 2020, both of which were career-highs. However, the offensive lineman's 58.3 pass-blocking grade was a career-low.
"I think there's a lot of things I did really well all year," McGlinchey told reporters before the 49ers' season finale against the Seahawks. "There's things I did a lot better than last year. But I wasn't consistent enough. The fact of the matter is there were some bad moments this year that I let my team down when they needed me to be at my best, and I didn't get it done.
"The thing I need to do is just be consistent. It's not as big of a drastic change as everybody would like to make it out to be. It's only a small fix here and there, and it's not like it's happening throughout an entire game. It's cleaning up the really bad plays that I've had, especially in pass protection and getting consistent and becoming the player I know I can be in that area and just staying at it."
McGlinchey, 26, has 44 game appearances — all starts — through his three NFL seasons. His play in 2020 was heavily criticized by analysts — specifically for his pass blocking.
"He's got to get stronger if he's going to stay at that position and have a long career," said NFL Media analyst Brian Baldinger. "He's got to be stronger at the point, and he's got to stop these bull rushes. ... It just comes down to core strength and how you anchor it. A lot of it is technique, but some of it is just good old-fashioned squats and deadlifts until the sun goes down each night."
Shanahan hopes the adversity that McGlinchey faced during the 2020 season will make him a better player in the future.
"That's why I think it's a good thing for Mike to go through that stuff because I think it can make him stronger," Shanahan told reporters in December. "He's made of the right stuff. He's a good football player. He's going to have a great career, and I plan on it being here, and I hope he takes it the right way, and it makes him a better player next year for it."
