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The San Francisco 49ers have come close to a sixth championship in three of the last four years. They've reached the NFC Championship Game three times and the Super Bowl once. However, each season has ended in heartache for the team and its fans.
Kyle Shanahan's group has proven it can be consistently good, which is what the head coach and general manager John Lynch set out to do when they took over the roster-building process in 2017. Yes, they want to win the organization's sixth Super Bowl championship, but they also wanted to ensure that the 49ers are competitive year in and year out. They have accomplished that.
One well-recognized and respected media personality believes the 49ers' Super Bowl window will be open for a while, and that has a lot to do with what Shanahan and Lynch have accomplished in their six seasons with the team.
"It does appear that they're set in so many positions," Rich Eisen told 95.7 The Game's Ray Ratto and Allen Stiles on Thursday. "Lynch is terrific at the job. I think he and Shanahan work really well together. [49ers CEO] Jed York is thrilled with them. And if there's any coach-GM combination that could survive trading multiple first-round picks to move up to take a quarterback who hardly plays a game, for them, it's these two, as they've made NFC Championship Games, plural, in three of the last four years.
"And they just find so many talented players. I love [LB]
Fred Warner,
[S Talanoa] Hufanga. Their defensive line is beyond stout. They have the Defensive Player of the Year (DE
Nick Bosa) on [the roster]. [WR]
Deebo Samuel is transformative.
[TE George] Kittle is one of my favorite players I've covered and gotten to meet and know in the 20 years with the NFL.
[RB Christian] McCaffrey is now there."
Yes, the 49ers have a lot of players slated to become free agents in less than three weeks. But they also have a lot of talent remaining. In Eisen's opinion, that sets up Shanahan's group to be a legitimate contender for years to come, and their Super Bowl window is not close to closing.
"I think the window is open for a nice long time," Eisen said. "They're young, and they're physical. Nobody wants to really play them. And the question is,
What happens when push comes to shove? And in the last two NFC Championship games, push came to shove, and they got pushed around."
The 49ers strongly believe the outcome in this last NFC Championship Game might have been different had their starting rookie quarterback,
Brock Purdy, not sustained an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in his right elbow early in the contest.
"They really thought that what happened to Purdy, getting knocked out, ruined their chances, and thus it really wasn't a fair fight," Eisen continued. "But the reason why Purdy got knocked out is because the Eagles dominated, eviscerated the line. I mean, that's the fact. So if Purdy doesn't get knocked out—as a matter of fact, if he has an extra beat,
[WR Brandon] Aiyuk was open on the play in which he hurt his elbow.
"They're right there, and if circumstances are different on two Championship Sundays, maybe they get one of these Super Bowls."
Other than the Kansas City Chiefs, Eisen notes that San Francisco is the only team that has consistently been a legitimate championship contender. He doesn't see that changing in 2023.
"Who would you choose in the NFC next year going in?" Eisen added. "And I'd be hard-pressed to choose someone other than the Niners."
You can listen to the entire interview with Eisen below.
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
Ian Rapoport didn't offer much of an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and their standout wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk. However, the NFL insider emphasized one thing: The team is not entertaining trade discussions at this juncture.
Reacting to Aiyuk's decision to unfollow the 49ers on Instagram, Rapoport couldn't help but chuckle at the latest development. This practice has become commonplace among players who are unhappy with their contract situations. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel similarly took this action in 2022 before requesting to be traded just before the draft.
Things have yet to escalate that far with Aiyuk, but Rapoport sees his
Analyst Dane Brugler recently revealed his seven-round mock draft for The Athletic, forecasting all 257 selections in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, set to kick off next week.
"Piecing together a mock like this is time consuming, but I enjoy the exercise, because it allows me to focus on each team's needs, organizational trends and prospect-team pairings that make sense based on '30' visits, league buzz and overall interest," Brugler wrote.
Most expect the 49ers to address the trenches early in the draft, and Brugler has the team doing that. It's just not on the offensive side of the football. In fact, Brugler doesn't have San Francisco
