Written by Conor Orr at NFL.com
The San Francisco 49ers stunned the football world Sunday night by naming Hall of Fame finalist John Lynch as their new general manager following weeks of secret courtship.
Lynch’s deal with the 49ers will be for six years — the same contract length the 49ers are planning to give Kyle Shanahan when they officially make him their head coach, sources informed of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Fox Sports first reported Lynch’s hiring.
The finalists were believed to be Vikings assistant George Paton and Terry McDonough, the Cardinals’ vice president of player personnel. Rapoport said the 49ers identified Lynch as a candidate “weeks ago.”
The 45-year-old, who last played in 2008, has never held a job in an NFL front office.
The move seems on par with the surprising decision the Broncos made in 2011 to make John Elway their general manager, although Elway did spend a few years in charge of an Arena Football League team before taking the job. Lynch has been an analyst for Fox Sports since 2008.
One advantage Lynch would seem to have? As part of his job with Fox he is able to travel every week and spend his days in meetings with team personnel, executives and coaches as part of his broadcasting responsibilities. This would theoretically give him a complete picture of how some of the league’s more successful operations work.
That doesn’t mean the job will come without hurdles.
Former Lions president and CEO Matt Millen made a similar transition after years in the television game, but he never saw his team win more than seven games in a season during his stint from 2001-08. He was dismissed in 2008 amid the only 0-16 season in NFL history.
The 49ers obviously hope their fortunes are different. Lynch made nine Pro Bowls and received two first-team All-Pro nods during his time in the NFL. He won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was named the Bart Starr and “Whizzer” White Man of the Year award winner back in 2006. He is in both the Broncos’ and Buccaneers’ ring of honor.
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