Kyle Shanahan has led the San Francisco 49ers to back-to-back NFC Championship game appearances. A big part of the team is the strength of their offensive line. Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey were able to put up huge numbers last season behind a dominant line. This allowed the team to control the clock and wear down opposing defenses. This off-season, the 49ers lost a big part of that line in free agency. Shanahan was not happy about losing Mike McGlinchey to the Denver Broncos.
Kyle Shanahan On Mike McGlinchey
At the Annual Meetings in Arizona, Shanahan talked about how disappointed he was to lose McGlinchey but he also understood it.
“Mike just was too good — we hated losing Mike,” Shanahan said via Jose Luis Sanchez III of All 49ers. “But we know the level that Mike played at. We had a feeling of what his market would be. I don’t think Mike necessarily wanted to leave and we didn’t want him to leave, but when you play at that level and your market’s gonna be that, it’s a good problem for him. We hate to lose him, [but] we also pay our other tackle (Trent Williams) a lot of money. That has to do with balancing out a roster, and so it doesn’t have to do with specific players.”
They just couldn’t match the money. The Broncos paid him $87.5 million dollars to get McGlinchey to leave San Francisco and with all the other players the 49ers have to sign, it was impossible to keep him.
How Much Will The 49ers Feel The Loss Of McGlinchey?
Will this drastically affect the offense for the 49ers next season? They still have Williams as the left tackle and the rest of the offense is still full of talent. However, offensive line play is often about continuity. The more new pieces a team has, the more likely a communication issue happens. I would expect that the first part of the season might see some growing pains but the 49ers have proven they can coach players up to meet their standards.
The 49ers have a great chance to return to the NFC Championship game. The conference as a whole is weak. If Kyle Shanahan can fill some of the holes left in free agency, they should be squarely in the mix in the NFC.