49ers notebook: Shanahan, Lynch endorse Garoppolo at NFL combine
The 49ers are playing catch-up.
The emotionally exacting toll of playing in the Super Bowl, and the five weeks it extended the season, had coach Kyle Shanahan slightly behind schedule when he arrived in Indianapolis this week for the annual NFL Scouting Combine.
Shanahan was fresh off a much-needed vacation to Cabo San Lucas to recharge for an upcoming few weeks that will include making a number of important decisions about his roster while under difficult financial constraints. San Francisco has three starters poised to hit free agency — Elk Grove’s Arik Armstead, receiver Emmanuel Sanders and safety Jimmie Ward — and just one pick during the draft’s first four rounds, making it likely the team will consider trading back for more choices.
Additionally, two young captains are nearing the end of their rookie contracts and are due for lucrative new extensions: All-Pro tight end George Kittle and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
“This is the first time that I want every single person on our team back because I think we have a team that could win a Super Bowl,” Shanahan told reporters Tuesday at the combine. “I think we showed that last year. When you have that, it is really tough, because when have you ever been able to bring the exact same team back wherever you’ve been? So that is a lot harder, especially our cap situation.”
Shanahan said he typically goes over film from the entire season with his coaching staff the Monday after the Super Bowl after vacationing during the playoffs (San Francisco, of course, didn’t make the postseason the last two years). He’ll begin that process this week in Indianapolis instead, while balancing a tight schedule of meeting with college prospects before starting to evaluate their game film when he returns to Santa Clara next week.
Shanahan and general manager John Lynch fielded questions from the podium in at the Indianapolis Convention Center and, naturally, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s name came up. Both Shanahan and Lynch reaffirmed their commitment to Garoppolo after he struggled with a 2.8 passer rating in the fourth quarter while the Kansas City Chiefs came back from a 20-10 deficit to win the Super Bowl 31-20.
“We’re extremely proud of Jimmy and committed to Jimmy moving forward. He’s our guy,” Lynch said.
Garoppolo in 2019 started all 16 regular season games for the first time after a torn ACL cost him the final 13 games of the previous season, which factored into the 49ers finishing 4-12 and netting the second overall pick in last year’s draft. Lynch said he expects Garoppolo to take significant strides now that he’s healthy this offseason with more time to develop under Shanahan’s eye.
“That’s the most exciting thing about him is the room for growth. He’s not come close to hitting his ceiling,” said Lynch. “I think the room for growth, the more experience he gets in this system, the more experience he gets playing in general, we think the arrow’s up, and that’s a good thing.”
Said Shanahan: “I thought there was much pressure on him at the beginning of the year as anyone I’ve been around. He just took it, handled it all year and got better throughout the year. I was very impressed with him.”
No decision made about Armstead
Lynch said there hasn’t been a decision made about the franchise or transition tag for Armstead, the team’s sack leader last season. The window to place a tag on a franchise player was moved to Feb. 27 to March 12 while the NFL players association and the league work out terms for a new collective bargaining agreement.
Armstead could make north of $19 million on the franchise tag and more than $16 million if given the transition tag.
San Francisco, however, has some $18 million in cap space after restructuring contracts for center Weston Richburg and linebacker Kwon Alexander. They could create more by reworking other contracts, perhaps including Garoppolo, and relieving $13 million in space by releasing receiver Marquise Goodwin and running backs Jerick McKinnon and Tevin Coleman.
The 49ers haven’t indicated they plan on releasing those players, but it would appear likely their returns in 2020 would have to come under reduced cap figures. Finally, more space could be created if Buckner and Kittle sign new contracts that push their money into future seasons, though that process has been complicated by the current CBA’s expiration coming after next season.
Wide receiver talk starts
One of the most discussed positions on the 49ers’ roster this season will undoubtedly be receiver. There are a few reasons, including Sanders’ looming free agency and the high-end talent and depth in the upcoming draft class.
But there’s also the possibility San Francisco can get production from two players that missed all of 2019 due to injuries: third-round pick Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor, who excelled with Garoppolo when he first arrived more than two years ago.
Additionally, the team is hoping 2018 second-round pick Dante Pettis can rejuvenate his career after falling out of the rotation during his second season. Pettis was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl because the 49ers opted to have an extra running back available while Tevin Coleman worked back from a separated shoulder.
Pettis, Taylor and Hurd are all under contract but will enter the season as question marks given the team’s Super Bowl aspirations. And Sanders, who turns 33 in the spring, may not be around at all, which could leave the 49ers to find an option early in the draft.
“The draft class is incredibly strong, this is my fourth combine and it’s as good as I’ve ever seen,” Lynch said. “The depth of it, the top-end players, it’s a really good class. You kind of get whatever flavor you like. If you like a smaller quicker guy, those guys are there. If you like the big guys that can move, those guys are there. If you like speed, that’s there. If you like separators. And so, I think the whole league is smiling about that.”
Hurd, a running back at Tennessee who played receiver for a season at Baylor before getting drafted, showed promise as a big, physical pass-catching threat last August when he scored a pair of touchdowns in the preseason opener. But he sustained a stress fracture in his lower back that kept him from playing during his rookie season.
He spent most of the year away from the team’s facility to ensure his back was immobile and could heal properly. He also missed the team’s trip to Miami because he was leery about how long flights could negatively impact his back, Lynch said.
“For it to completely heal — it happens on different timelines. And we found that his has been stubborn,” Lynch said of Hurd’s status. “We think we’re nearing towards a much better place to where he’ll be cleared for all activities. Don’t want to officially give that word, but there’s been some recent scans and things that give us a lot of hope that will be the case and that come April 1, our offseason program, he’ll be a full go.”
▪ Shanahan said the loss in Super Bowl LIV was harder to take than his loss after the 2016 season with the Atlanta Falcons when they famously blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots.
“I know the last one was a bigger loss, at the end and stuff. I thought we were the better team,” Shanahan said. “The hardest thing for me is, I thought we were the best team in the NFL. And when you really believe that — and I thought it for a while, it wasn’t just the last couple weeks of the year. In Atlanta we kind of got hot at the end of the year, so I kind of felt fortunate. This year, I thought we had it.”
▪ Shanahan told reporters the 49ers haven’t decided which tender to place on restricted free agents Kendrick Bourne, Matt Breida and Elijah Lee.
The 49ers will have right to match any offers they receive from other teams and receive draft compensation should any of those players leave. The higher the tender, the most expensive they would be in 2020, which means the decision will come down to how the complicated situation with the salary cap shakes out.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 12:57 PM.