The 49ers were a rapidly evaporating shell of an NFL team when general manager John Lynch was hired before the 2017 season. While they didn’t find success until Lynch’s third year heading the front office, the foundations were quickly laid with draft picks like George Kittle and Fred Warner, and trade acquisitions like Jimmy Garoppolo.
San Francisco doesn’t have a Super Bowl to show for its success, but they’re entering the 2023 campaign as legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the fourth time in five seasons. Their last few years have been enough to move John Lynch to No. 5 on the NFL GM rankings from NFL Media’s Gregg Rosenthal.
