The 49ers are pumped. That’s probably an understatement. Euphoric might be more apt.
What’s clear is they aren’t pinching draft pick pennies, or thinking in anxious hypotheticals of “well, what if he gets hurt?”
It was a deluge of optimism and eagerness in Santa Clara on Friday, as the team welcomed Christian McCaffrey. He knows the Bay and the franchise well, with his father, Ed, and brother, Max, both former 49ers.
That familiarity is mutual.
Lynch said he remembers throwing passes to his father, Ed McCaffrey — “Eddy,” as he called him — when Lynch was still a quarterback at Stanford. He also mentioned going to a few frat parties with him and his wife, Lisa.
This is a pure, good vibes addition.
The past two days felt drab, banal. There was excitement over the potential returns of Nick Bosa, Trent Williams and Jimmie Ward, but it was all familiar. They were coming off a loss to a lesser team because of a fumble, a few missed plays and having a worn-down defense. An imposing Chiefs team lies ahead. Maybe the offense will figure it out this week, maybe not.
Then, Thursday night’s bombshell. Four picks for Christian McCaffrey. There was a buzz that has now made its way to the 49ers’ headquarters.
Reporters — in greater numbers than on a usual day — glanced Lynch walking his fellow Stanford alum into the Levi’s Stadium and towards the locker room for the first time heading out to practice. Even in 49ers sweats and a backpack, heads turned to glimpse the new addition.
“I think it gave the locker room a jolt when he walked in there,” Lynch said in a Friday press conference.
That was no lie. There was a palpable energy in the 49ers locker room on Friday.
Trent Williams told KNBR that when he heard about the trade, “it felt like Christmas.”
Dre Greenlaw couldn’t contain his excitement. In a couple-minute exchange, he shook his head in (positive) disbelief, looking at McCaffrey, just a few lockers away, as he settled into his new digs.
“Hell yeah, hell yeah,” Greenlaw said. “It’s crazy.
“When he’s running his routes, man, he’s a receiver. You gotta give him cushion. You gotta give him his respect. And then the bad thing about is like, when he catches the ball, you gotta be on him. If not, then he can make you miss…”
How does a defense account for the likes of McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Juszczyk?
“You don’t,” Greenlaw told KNBR.
“I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to see it,” he said, increasingly hyped with every “I can’t wait to see it.”
Greenlaw said he’d give McCaffrey time to settle in, but couldn’t wait to pick his brain. Talanoa Hufanga, whose locker is next to Greenlaw, didn’t wait, sitting down with McCaffrey for a few minutes before his introductory presser.
Lynch seemed to know his acquisition might have this affect. While he said nothing that was particularly surprising, he didn’t keep his cards exceedingly close to his vest.
In assessing their star acquisition, Lynch made a distinction between McCaffrey and most of the other backs in the league, particularly as it pertains to his receiving chops. McCaffrey’s career average of 51.2 receiving yards per game is the second-highest career average for any running back with at least 25 career games.
Only Charley Taylor, who converted to an out-and-out receiver fairly quickly in his Hall of Fame career, averaged more, at 51.5 receiving yards per game as a running back (55.2 yards per game for his career).
The 49ers GM called McCaffrey a “force multiplier,” saying he’s similar to Deebo Samuel in that there’s myriad ways to use his skillset.
“He’s an extremely versatile player,” Lynch said. “He’s an explosive football player, he’s a smart football player. I could go on and on. And he checks all the boxes.”
The questions, of course, are not about McCaffrey’s pedigree. It’s about health and cost. McCaffrey missed 23 games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons with lower body injuries.
He’s been healthy this season, but missing more than two-thirds of the prior two seasons is enough to make you sweat, especially for a 49ers team that’s been prolifically injured over the last decade.
The 49ers feel like he’s proven he’s healthy again.
“First of all, you gotta look at his history coming out of Stanford, really a pristine health record,” Lynch said. “The last couple of years have been rough. But it really felt like this year, he had re-established that health.”
McCaffrey is also due about $12 million in each of the next three seasons, though costs just $690,000 to the 49ers this season.
Lynch said that figure, due to a contract conversion done by the Panthers before this season, bumped up the draft compensation a bit. While he’s due quite a bit of money going forward, it’s all non-guaranteed aside from a $1 million injury guarantee.
There will almost certainly be a contract restructuring to come, whether that’s soon, or more likely, later. The 49ers would enter perilous territory cap-wise if they didn’t amend his contract. The likes of Jimmie Ward, Mike McGlinchey, Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu and others are all free agents this offseason.
“I think we have a plan,” Lynch said. “You can’t just keep doing this over and over and over again. But we feel like we can make [McCaffrey’s contract] work. Obviously put a lot of thought into it, but there’s going to be some inflection points where we have to figure some things out.”
The contract might not be too difficult to sort out, given the lack of guaranteed money. But San Francisco parted with a haul of draft picks, giving up their 2nd through 4th-round picks this year and a 5th-round pick next year.
How can they justify continuing to invest picks on running backs? A 3rd was used this year on Ty Davis-Price, who’s fourth in the pecking order currently. A 3rd was used last year on Trey Sermon, who was cut this offseason. Their 6th-round pick, Elijah Mitchell, is their best running back drafted in the Shanahan era.
Is spending this much for a running back really prudent? Lynch thinks so, pointing to the 49ers’ process.
“We certainly value our picks and I think that’s why we could entertain doing something like this,” Lynch said. “We have a lot of our core locked up. That’s not to say you don’t have holes that you have to fill from year to year. It’s really hard to part with draft picks because I like our process and I like our ability to identify people that are good for us. But when you have an opportunity at a player like this it’s a move worth making.”
The last component, of course, is that the other aggressive suitor — the Bills were a somewhat distant third — were the Los Angeles Rams.
Kyle Shanahan had Matthew Stafford snagged by Sean McVay a couple offseasons ago, and the Rams won the Odell Beckham Jr. sweepstakes last year, while the 49ers sat at 3-5. There was clearly an element of preventing them from getting another premium talent.
“That’s always an interesting question because I always say, ‘It’s about us’… but I also know the fastest way to success is winning your division,” Lynch said. “In part, it seems like a lot situations end up where it’s us against them in these things. I’m sure glad he’s here and not there.”
He wanted a deal done sooner so the Rams wouldn’t undercut them.
“I was trying to because I know their propensity to come in late and go big,” Lynch said. “I was trying to get it done before, but that wasn’t going to happen.”
The 49ers made sure they got their guy, and paid a premium price for him.
The front office is stoked. The coaching staff is stoked. The locker room is stoked. McCaffrey is stoked. Now let’s see him in action.
