SANTA CLARA — The 49ers waited until Friday afternoon to announce multiyear contract extensions for coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
The news dump did not go unnoticed inside the 49ers’ locker room.
“It means we’re in good hands for as long as the extension is for,” 49ers left tackle Trent Williams told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Those two work very well together. Who deserves an extension more than those two? You’d be hard-pressed to find somebody.
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“It just gives you confidence that the people you’re giving your all for won’t be a different set of faces next year.”
Lynch is now signed through at least 2026, while Shanahan’s contract runs through at least 2027.
When CEO Jed York hired Lynch and Shanahan in 2017, the 49ers’ personnel was among the worst in the NFL and the football side of the operation was dysfunctional.
Now, the 49ers own one of the top rosters in all of the NFL with many of the key contributors being acquired in the mid-to-late-portions of their seven drafts together.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers had a league-high eight players listed in the recent NFL Top 100, and six of them were recent draft picks.
No team hits on every acquisition. But when the 49ers have missed, they have pivoted to find someone else — maybe even an upgrade — so that the team does not experience a setback.
Williams said their formula is simple, yet not often practiced around the NFL.
“What makes Kyle and John such a good duo is they don’t care where you were drafted or how much you were paid,” Williams said. “They don’t care about when you got here and walked in this locker room. If you can help this team win, you’re going to be on the field.
“As a player, you respect that the most, because politics do play a huge part in this game.”
It did not work out when the 49ers traded up to No. 3 overall to select Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. That turned out to be OK because they found their long-term quarterback, Brock Purdy, with the final pick one year later.
“It just shows that football is not all about a 40-yard dash,” said wide receiver Jauan Jennings, a seventh-round pick in 2020. “There’s a lot more between the ears than people realize. I think those guys have a knack for finding those players.”
Shanahan is considered one of the top offensive minds in the game, and he has also done a masterful job of hiring assistants, too.
Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel and DeMeco Ryans were hired to head-coaching jobs from their coordinator positions under Shanahan.
It took York and the 49ers a while to find a coach-GM pairing with staying power. The hirings of Shanahan and Lynch rate as York’s best moves since taking over the day-to-day operations of the team.
York has now twice awarded extensions to both men. The first extensions came after the 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl in just their third season together.
“As far as what it does for the players, it gives you that confidence that you’re going to have the same chiefs every year,” Williams said. “And when we come back next year, we’ll have the same voice, the same message.
“I think that’s why you see every year, the team is growing and the culture is growing.”