By Jack Loder
When Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson feasted on a turkey dinner at midfield after thumping the 49ers on Thanksgiving night in 2014, it seemed like rock bottom in terms of humiliation for San Francisco. The scene at Levi’s Stadium last night made that Turkey dinner look like a preseason game. As much as Seattle pantsed New England to win Super Bowl 60 convincingly, the Seahawks dunked all over the 49ers.
When the 49ers re-occupy their locker room, there might still be a faint scent of cigar smoke. The carpet might be slightly stained by champagne. The 49er faithful can only hope it pisses them off more than it does you or me.
Here’s how this can end up being a good thing for the 49ers. The acute sting of watching Seattle hoist the Lombardi at Levi’s stadium should fuel Jed York and John Lynch in a way that only burning jealousy and contempt can. Last spring, the 49ers played it fiscally responsible, unloading some valuable roster pieces, or being uncompetitive in free agent offerings, in the name of long term vitality. That’s all well and good, until you realize that the Niners could have loaded up in 2025 and competed in what was a down year across the NFL. Injuries played a role, but there are other reasons the Niners weren’t the ones enjoying the corpse of an inept Patriots team on the biggest stage in American sports.
We should all expect and even demand that the 49ers take aggressive steps this off-season to stay on par with Seattle, It’s precisely what John Schneider and the Seahawks did for the last few years as the Niners beat up on the NFC West before ultimately falling short of the biggest prize.
Start with wide receiver, where the bizarre and often nauseating saga of Brandon Aiyuk has left the 49ers empty handed in the elite wideout department, a department where the Seahawks and Rams are both set. Ricky Pearsall still could have that potential, but an injury riddled sophomore season that didn’t reflect first round production when he was on the field implores me to pump the brakes on Pearsall. Go get an established wide receiver to pair with your big quarterback investment.
John Lynch has never been bashful about his love for investing draft capital on the defensive line. From Nick Bosa to Mykel Williams, the list of San Francisco’s top picks is littered with big boys up front. But that strategy hasn’t always yielded success. For every Nick Bosa, there exists a Javon Kinlaw, or a Drake Jackson. Peruse the established market for a pass rusher, however expensive he may be. Perhaps a disgruntled Maxx Crosby would be willing to swap silver and black for red and gold? Be sure to boot those tires.
It seems like for the entirety of the Shanahan and Lynch tenure, the defensive secondary has been suspect at best. That’s no different today. This is where Lynch and his brass should pounce in the draft, where the 2026 class is very strong. At both cornerback and safety, the Niners can upgrade with some of college football’s elite talents.
The Seahawks aren’t going anywhere in the short term future. It’s not too much of a stretch to say Mike McDonald is to a defense what Kyle Shanahan is to an offense. Seattle is young, relatively cheap, and will be hungry for more. There’s no sugarcoating the fact that two division rivals have now accomplished what the 49ers have not been able to, in a time frame in which the 49ers were better than both for multiple years. The only way to get that monkey off your back is to just get it done.
