When news broke that San Francisco 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters had turned down interview requests from the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals, it sparked speculation about the future of general manager John Lynch.
Does Peters see an opportunity to slip into the 49ers' general manager role? Is Lynch leaving? Remember, he flirted with Amazon last offseason (more accurate: Amazon flirted with him) about a potential return to the broadcast booth. The general manager opted to remain with San Francisco.
The concern over Lynch's future eventually reached the general manager.
"I just had somebody come in and say, 'Hey, man, is there something I should know?'" John Lynch told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami via a phone interview on Wednesday. "I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I'm getting all these calls that, you know, people are inferring that you're leaving.' I was, like, 'No, I'm good.'"
On Thursday morning, Lynch confirmed that Peters had no intention of leaving the 49ers right now.
"Adam made a decision," Lynch said on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "We had some discussions. He made a decision that he's really happy here, and that makes us happy. As a friend, there's only 32 of these jobs, and so when opportunities come up, you encourage people to go seek that opportunity. But when people are happy, and their families are happy, and they want to be somewhere, we're happy as well.
"I think we've got a really good environment, and we're focused on being successful right now, but I think people see long-term success and want to be here."
Peters was expected to be a hot name in general manager searches. However, turning down interviews may mean he plans to remain with San Francisco for the foreseeable future, possibly eventually replacing Lynch whenever the general manager feels his job is done. Lynch, a family man, has previously stated that he doesn't see himself in the role forever, after all.
For now, though, it looks like the 49ers will hold onto both Lynch and Peters.
"I think Adam just came in and said, 'Look, I respect both those places, but I'm very happy here,'" Lynch told Kawakami. "I think that's a great thing. You know, Adam's from here (Cupertino) and is a big part of what we've done. He's been big for me."
