ORLANDO, Fla. — Multiple times this week, the hallways of the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes — the venue of the NFL’s owners’ meetings — turned into San Francisco 49ers-themed reunions.
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh and his counterpart with the Houston Texans, DeMeco Ryans, walked together from the coffee shop to their next meeting in the conference wing. The two former 49ers defensive coordinators caught up on the stroll. Just a few minutes later, Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon — formerly the 49ers’ director of player personnel — entered the lobby with his family. Carthon smiled as he ran into Minnesota Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was the 49ers’ director of research and development until 2019.
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Then, both men ran into their former boss, 49ers general manager John Lynch, on his way to meet with local reporters.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, formerly the 49ers’ offensive coordinator, and Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters, who was Lynch’s top lieutenant until January, were also prominent in Orlando. So was a former 49ers coach from another era: Jim Harbaugh, who has wrapped up a nine-year run with Michigan to coach the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harbaugh is only linked to the 49ers’ current brass through owner Jed York. The two have buried the hatchet since the feud that led to a coaching change after the 2014 season. The 49ers are in a new era now, entering their eighth season under the leadership of Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan, and York is proud of the strides his franchise has taken in that time.
He believes the league meeting, featuring so many former 49ers staffers in prominent roles with other teams, is a good showcase of that progress.
“In 2010, I don’t think I realized how important it was for us to have the type of organization that’s truly looked at as a place where we were a model for a lot of other teams in professional sports,” York said Tuesday. “Our meeting room from 2019, you see folks who are now head coaches of teams, general managers of teams. And it’s a testament to what we’ve all collectively built. John and Kyle have put together a great group of people, and it’s rewarding.”
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Over the past two days, we’ve featured articles based on conversations with Lynch and Shanahan. Here are 10 more 49ers-related nuggets from the annual meeting.
1. Ryans, who guided the Texans to a 10-7 record and a playoff win in his first season as head coach, said he has worked to bring leadership philosophies from San Francisco to Houston.
“There’s a lot of things from Kyle,” Ryans said. “Just seeing how he operates, how he and John work together. That’s one thing I’ve always leaned on with me working with Nick (Caserio): how to have a successful organization, how a head coach and GM work in step. I saw that from Kyle and John. Seeing how they work together is a credit to why the 49ers have been successful the past few years — just because of their relationship.
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“It’s all about collaboration. If everybody’s working together, you can get things accomplished. They really set the path for that collaboration.”
2. York is now the principal owner of the 49ers, having bought out his mother, Denise DeBartolo York, to own a majority stake of the franchise. He’d previously held the title of CEO.
“It’s a move from a family standpoint to keep this team in our family for generations to come,” York said. “I think that’s reflective of how we’ve operated. My parents are going to stay as co-chairmen. I don’t think you’re going to see any change. It’s more of a long-term family planning thing and making sure this team stays in our family for generations to come.”
3. At the meeting, the NFL banned the swivel hip drop tackling technique, instituted a markedly updated kickoff procedure and made it possible for teams’ emergency third quarterback to come from the practice squad.
The 49ers were one of three teams — along with the Las Vegas Raiders and Green Bay Packers — to vote against the kickoff proposal even though it seems players such as Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey have skill sets that might be well suited for the change.
York said his concerns with the rule have to do with its implementation — he wanted more potential flexibility — rather than the change itself.
“They’re trying to reintroduce the (kickoff) to the game and make it more of a real play than a ceremonial play — I’m 100 percent for that,” York said. “I just want to make sure that with something that’s brand new that we have the opportunity to address it during the middle of the season. So that if there’s injury data or just a competitive issue that doesn’t work, this isn’t the asterisk season of the kickoff rule that didn’t work. I’m 100 percent for trying to make that play active in our game again.”
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4. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid holds 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, whose team he defeated in Super Bowl LVIII, in high regard.
“Lot of respect for Brock,” Reid said. “He does a nice job. I don’t really care where he got picked. That doesn’t matter to me. He’s just a good player. He sees the field. He’s got good accuracy. Great timing with his receivers, and he’s calm. You feel like he’s got everything under control there.”
Andy Reid praised 49ers QB Brock Purdy:
"I know (Shanahan) has got a great young quarterback, and him with a great young quarterback is deadly." pic.twitter.com/l7hHAAknja
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) March 25, 2024
5. York agrees, as was evident through his acknowledgment that the 49ers — if Purdy continues on his current trajectory — will likely have to fork over major cash to the quarterback position.
“I think that’s a good problem when your quarterback is one of the highest-paid guys on your team and in the league,” York said. “So there’s a lot of planning that goes into it, but I’m glad we have Paraag (Marathe), JL, Kyle — they’re the ones that are going to figure out the details of it. I just have to sign the check.”
Purdy won’t be eligible for an extension until 2025. But based on everything York, Lynch, Shanahan and others said this week, the team is budgeting with big money for Purdy in mind.
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6. Reid had some more thoughts regarding Purdy and Shanahan, who has now coached seven seasons — reaching two Super Bowls and four NFC Championship Games — without winning a Lombardi Trophy. Reid didn’t break through with a Super Bowl victory until his 21st season as a head coach. His Chiefs beat Shanahan’s 49ers to claim that title at the end of the 2019 season.
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“Just keep going,” Reid said when asked whether he had any experiential advice for Shanahan. “He knows. He’s a smart guy. He’s a heck of a football coach. And things happen in this game. Our game could have gone either way. It was just a toss-up there. Really, both Super Bowls (against the 49ers), for that matter. So you just keep plugging. You keep doing what you’re doing, and somewhere you pop over the hill there. I know he’s got a great young quarterback, and him with a great young quarterback is deadly. I think as Purdy continues to grow in this thing, you’ll see even better things.”
7. The 49ers aren’t happy the NFL stripped them of a 2025 fifth-round draft pick over what the team has called a clerical salary-cap error, but they’ve accepted the league’s punishment — which also involves a four-spot drop in the fourth round of this season’s draft — and are ready to move on.
“I have a difference of opinion on the severity of the discipline,” Lynch said. “But we take accountability for what happened.”
The 49ers say they accidentally overpaid an unspecified player $75,000 in recent years. Instead of immediately notifying the league, they unsuccessfully tried to recoup the money from the player after noticing the error.
“To me, $75,000 on what the salary cap is (the 2024 cap is $255.4 million) is a pretty insignificant number,” York said. “In hindsight, we should have said something right away to the league and certainly know that moving forward. We didn’t gain a competitive advantage from it. There wasn’t any duplicity in it. But it is what it is.
“And the league may not be your best friend on every single day, but you know that they hold all 32 teams accountable. And I know that they’ll look at every other team, and no one is going to get a competitive advantage by skirting the salary cap.”
8. The 49ers have been involved in two pick-related controversies this month. The other issue came when the NFL awarded this season’s compensatory draft picks, which are calculated using a complex formula based on a team’s acquisitions and losses in the previous year’s free-agency cycle.
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The 49ers and Buffalo Bills received fourth-round compensatory picks even though they initially expected third-round picks.
“I think us and San Francisco, we got a raw deal,” Bills GM Brandon Beane told local Buffalo reporters this week.
Brandon Beane explains why the Bills are getting a fourth round compensatory pick instead of a third round pick like they had planned. He called it "a raw deal" #BillsMafia @WKBW pic.twitter.com/jUXNafXgT4
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) March 25, 2024
Beane said the Bills and 49ers inquired about the situation with the NFL. Apparently, the complexities of void years and other cap-management maneuvers combined to impact the standing of both teams in the compensatory formula. The Bills and 49ers, according to Beane, narrowly missed the cutoff to notch an extra third-round pick.
“We did our best, and they said no deal,” Beane said.
Said York: “I’ve been in the NFL long enough to know that what you expect and what actually happens aren’t always the same things. Whatever it is, we still have an extra pick. We’ll move forward, and we’ll be fine.”
9. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who took a $1.75 million pay cut when renegotiating his contract with the 49ers this month, attended his first league meeting. He was there with his wife, Kristin, who recently signed a licensing deal with the NFL that allows her to use team logos for the apparel she creates. She hopes her products can be featured in team stores across the league.
York discussed the importance of Juszczyk’s pay cut when it came to the 49ers’ roster sustainability under the salary cap, and he referred to Kristin’s endeavors in the same answer.
“If we can help a player or a player’s spouse build or grow a business, we want to be able to do that,” York said. “We want to be a family atmosphere. They show that it’s a family atmosphere as well when they’re willing to make adjustments so we can do what we can to try to go win a Super Bowl. Those are little things that give us an advantage to stay in that window and stay in that hunt, where your window of winning a Super Bowl can be extended because guys are willing to work with you.”
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10. York had a realization when he spoke with broadcaster and former Cincinnati Bengals receiver Cris Collinsworth at Monday night’s party.
“I used to dig at him a little bit when he had a negative tone about the 49ers,” York said. “But now I get it — you lost to Joe Montana twice. I told him, ‘I have a much better understanding of how you feel today.’ They had great teams, but they didn’t get over the hump.”
The 49ers beat Collinsworth’s Bengals in Super Bowls to close the 1981 and 1988 seasons. York, of course, relates to that because his 49ers have lost to quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in two Super Bowls.
The owner is now aiming for the breakthrough those Cincinnati teams never reached.
“I think with our group we can get over the hump, and I think Brock has a chance to be one of those guys,” York said. “It’s a disappointment to not win. But you can’t destroy yourself and destroy everything you’ve built just because you didn’t hit your ultimate goal. That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to work toward it and continue to build this thing so we get back there and go win it in New Orleans this year.”
(Top photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)
