The news that the San Francisco 49ers had acquired star running back Christian McCaffrey had already gone around the locker room by the time the squad sat down for their meeting on Friday morning.
And That’s Why, At Least In Part
This explains, at the very least in part, why head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t address it at any point until the meeting was winding down.
When he did so, Shanahan referred to the year 2019, when the San Francisco 49ers were undefeated and made a significant deal to acquire receiver Emmanuel Sanders to improve their prospects of winning a Super Bowl. At the time, the Niners were 6-0.
The message that heads coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch delivered to the squad on Friday was consistent with what they’ve been saying all along, even though the Niners are only 3-3 at this point in the season.
“The way that he and John looked at it is that they have so much confidence in what this team can do and that this team is ready to win now that they want to go all-in,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.
“The way that they looked at it is that they have so much confidence in what this team can do and that this team is ready to win now.”
“It wasn’t that we needed someone in that position; rather, it was more along the lines of, ‘We feel like we can do some very amazing things, so why not add that weapon to what we feel like we already have?”
McCaffrey was traded to the Carolina Panthers by the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for draft selections in the second, third, and fourth rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft as well as a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The deal was finalized on Friday morning.
After coming up short in their attempts to win a sixth Lombardi Trophy in 2019 and 2021, San Francisco hopes that McCaffrey and some internal improvements will help the Niners finally break through.
If You Like Your Team
The only time you should do this is if you are confident in your team’s current make-up, Lynch said. We know there’s a lot to do, and we know this isn’t a quick fix for everything wrong with our team.
We’re all going to have to step up our games, but we’re still confident in this squad and its chances, so we went for broke to sign a top-tier football player.
Friday morning found McCaffrey in the Bay Area, where he was immediately integrated into the team’s routine. After passing the physical, he came to the field for the remainder of the light Friday practice, wearing a helmet but not participating in any team drills.
Lynch says that McCaffrey is already trying to get on the field for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, even though it is unclear if he will play.
McCaffrey has stated that the team will make the call on whether he plays, with Shanahan adding that McCaffrey’s status has more to do with whether he can quickly learn enough of the playbook to contribute and less to do with how he is physical.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has stated that his team will be ready to face McCaffrey.
We do not doubt his ability. “I’m sure they’ll find a place for him,” Reid said confidently. In other words, “We’re expecting that. You focus on his strong points and Kyle will put him to use in his strengths.
McCaffrey, who has been injured for the past two years and missed 23 games, claims to be healthy and ready to go.
McCaffrey’s dad, Ed, played for the Denver Broncos for nine seasons, so you can bet he’s psyched to join a team that plays its home games just fifteen minutes from where he went to college.
McCaffrey Confessed That
“I’ve watched them for a long time,” McCaffrey admitted. “It has one of the most potent offenses and, in my opinion, the best running game in the league.
And if you look at the roster as a whole, which I think you should, you’ll see a bunch of guys about whom I have a lot of optimism. The simple act of entering the locker room and initiating contact with the other male players is exciting.
But as a potential offensive tool, how could you resist the temptation to play here? Quite the opposite, in fact; I’m very pumped up.”
The Niners are happy that McCaffrey will be playing for them instead of the other side next week in Los Angeles, whether his debut is on Sunday or in Week 8.
The Rams, who won the Super Bowl last season by trading for star players, were the Niners’ main competition in their pursuit of McCaffrey. This increased the urgency with which San Francisco wanted to complete the deal. Of course, that wasn’t the primary motivation for the Niners to acquire McCaffrey in the trade, but it certainly helped.
What a great benefit,” Shanahan remarked. “I believe that any team would benefit greatly from the addition of a player of Christian’s caliber. Everyone probably considers it, and it would be great to keep a star player from the team we face annual competition from.”
The deal was ultimately finalized, but not without a hefty price tag for the Niners. According to Lynch, the pieces of the trade started falling into place during the team’s week of training in West Virginia the week before.
Though The Niners Will Have Lower Costs
While the Niners will pay less than $700,00 for McCaffrey for the rest of this season, his salary cap number will increase to $12,000,000 for the next three seasons. Even for a running back of McCaffrey’s caliber, that’s a hefty deal.
McCaffrey’s current contract does not include any fully guaranteed compensation beyond this year, so he may be looking for a new one. Both Shanahan and Lynch have stated publicly that they intend to keep McCaffrey on the 49ers roster beyond this year.
“You don’t get a guy like Christian very often,” Lynch remarked. “That’s essentially where we nabbed him. However, his contract will continue to run for several more years after that. We’re taking it slow and steady, but it’s good to know that the guy isn’t just a stopgap for the playoffs (or a “rental”) for the final 11 games of the season.” Since head coach Kyle Shanahan was an early and vocal advocate for the Stanford product in the 2017 NFL draft, San Francisco has kept a close eye on McCaffrey. In the end, McCaffrey’s Stanford teammate Solomon Thomas (a defensive lineman) was the third overall pick for the 49ers.
Finishing Line
On Friday, Shanahan said the Niners weren’t even close to selecting McCaffrey with that pick (though he might have been in the play had the team traded down further), and that he and Lynch had joked with the running back that they were waiting until everything was in place before acquiring him.
It was our plan from the beginning,” Shanahan said with a chuckle. That’s why we planned to begin constructing a defensive line and strengthening our defense immediately so that we could acquire him five and a half years later.
