On Thursday, Kyle Shanahan was stepping away from the podium when news started trickling in about the Los Angeles Rams signing Odell Beckham Jr., so reporters didn't have a chance to ask the San Francisco 49ers head coach about the move. It is certainly relevant to the Niners, who host the Rams on Monday night.

Shanahan joined KNBR this morning and was asked about Beckham to the Rams.


"It didn't surprise me," Shanahan said on the Murph & Mac show. "I actually thought he was going to go to Green Bay."

Shanahan, general manager John Lynch, and the 49ers were very interested in acquiring Beckham in 2019. The feeling was mutual on Beckham's side but a deal was never struck. Lynch revealed this week that the receiver once pleaded for San Francisco to find a way to bring him to the Bay Area.

"Shoot, I'll never forget, four years ago or something, he came up to me in pre-game [while playing for] New York and said, 'Get me here. Get me here,'" Lynch admitted via a KNBR interview.

Of course, things are different now. The Rams are looking like legitimate Super Bowl contenders while the 49ers are self-destructing at 3-5. Lynch admitted that the 49ers aren't as attractive of a destination right now. Meanwhile, Shanahan tried to convey that getting into a bidding war for Beckham now makes less sense than it did in 2019.

"When we were really interested in him is when he had the two years on his deal," Shanahan continued. "... I think the hardest thing for us is, yeah, you want to add people and stuff like that but I learned in '19, when we were 8-0, whatever it was, when we added Emmanuel Sanders, we needed him bad at the time. I think that was a great move. I think it would have been hard to do what we did without him. But I also know, when you do that for people who are in one year of their contract, what it means for you in the following years. That was tough, draft-pick-wise.


"With Odell, it would be money-wise, and you're only doing it for seven games. That's great. He can help you for those seven games but you don't want to do that at the expense of the following year. And I think that's why not as many teams are going at it as you would expect."

You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.



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