One Thing Differentiates us from the Seahawks and Rams
There are three elite franchises in the NFC West.
There are three elite coaches.
But there are only two elite general managers.
In the 2026 landscape, the Three Elite Coaches are obvious: Shanahan, McVay, and the rapidly ascending Mike Macdonald.
The Two Elite GMs? Les Snead and John Schneider.
Which leaves John Lynch as the odd man out of the elite tier - despite all the winning.
Controversial? Maybe.
Wrong? I don’t think so.
Provable? Absolutely.
Les Snead didn’t just build a great roster - he rewrote the rules. Seven years without a first-round pick, still wins a Super Bowl, then immediately reloads with late-round hits like Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner. Nobody weaponizes free agency like Snead. His roster construction is aggressive, creative, and ruthlessly efficient. That’s elite.
John Schneider locked in elite status the moment he completed the Russell Wilson trade. That deal alone rebuilt the Seahawks’ foundation - Witherspoon, Cross, JSN - and then he somehow transitioned from the Pete Carroll era to the Mike Macdonald era without a single basement year. That’s front-office wizardry.
The case against Lynch being in that same tier usually comes down to two things - and they matter.
1. The Trey Lance trade.
An elite GM cannot miss that badly. Three first-round picks for a quarterback who never became part of the plan is a process failure, full stop. The team survived it, yes - but it absolutely shortened what could have been a dynasty window.
2. The Shanahan Factor.
Around the league, there’s a real belief that the 49ers’ roster success is driven more by Shanahan’s system than Lynch’s independent scouting. Lynch is a fantastic closer - McCaffrey, Trent Williams - but he hasn’t consistently turned “nothing into something” through the draft the way Snead and Schneider have lately.
Now, let me be clear:
The 49ers had a remarkable year.
I barely wrote about it because I was honestly having too much fun watching it. I thought this was a 7-win team at best. Instead, they showed ridiculous heart. I’m incredibly proud of them.
But the clock is loud now.
- Trent Williams is 38
- Juice is 35
- Kittle is 33 with a torn Achilles
- CMC is 30 with a ton of mileage
- Even Fred Warner just turned 30
Then came that Seahawks game - the one that really snapped everything into focus.
We can’t score on them.
We aren’t tough enough.
They’re nasty, young, and fast as hell.
As currently constructed, they beat us nine times out of ten.
So the path forward is obvious - and uncomfortable:
We need to draft better.
We need a much better offensive line.
We need health and depth on the defensive line.
We need bigger, stronger, faster corners.
This offseason is massive.
I genuinely believe it will define John Lynch’s legacy as the GM of the 49ers during this entire run.
No pressure.