Matt Barrows of The Athletic raised some eyebrows on Monday when he tweeted out — in response to a question about the San Francisco 49ers' general manager — that perhaps John Lynch might be in line for a promotion to team president.
The tweet has been deleted, probably as an effort to avoid others from creating news out of what was clearly speculation based on hearsay. I have to admit, I fought the urge. It was just too compelling.
Of course, this started with Monday's signing of head coach Kyle Shanahan to a contract extension. Lynch initially joined the 49ers with Shanahan in 2017, so many wondered why the two were not given extensions at the same time. 49ers CEO Jed York has already stated that he would like to lock both up for the long-term.
Of course, Barrows and fellow beat writer Matt Maiocco addressed that (read about it here), but it sill made Barrows' tweet worthy of some chatter ... which it created.
Why would the 49ers promote Lynch? The team thinks highly of VP of player personnel Adam Peters, who could become a hot name when another general manager job opens up. San Francisco, obviously, would like to keep both, so promoting Lynch would allow the team to do the same for Peters — but to general manager.
That scenario would keep the trio of Shanahan (head coach), Lynch (team president), and Peters (general manager) together for the foreseeable future. Shanahan is now signed through the 2025 season. Lynch's contract still runs through its original 2022 end date.
Again, it all sounded like speculation on Barrows' part, but it was fascinating speculation.