49ers GM John Lynch should be on hot seat after Trey Lance debacle

John Lynch has mostly done an outstanding job as general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, assembling a roster that has consistently been among the NFL's best over the past five years. But even with that success, he should still be feeling his seat getting a little warm following the conclusion of the Trey Lance debacle on Friday night.

The 49ers traded Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in 2021, to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick just two years after trading a bounty of draft picks to acquire him. Lance played eight games with the team, and given his draft spot, the price the 49ers paid to get him and his lack of success with the team it will go down as one of the worst draft decisions in the modern era.

It is also the type of thing that could — and maybe should — get a general manager fired if the team doesn't do a ton of winning to make up for it. 

For all of the great things the 49ers have done on the field over the past five years, reaching a Super Bowl and three NFC championship games, the one thing they have not done is add another trophy to the franchise's trophy case. The biggest reason why is they have been consistently unable to find the right quarterback to get them over the top.

Jimmy Garoppolo was decent, and at times pretty good, but he was not a difference-maker and the type of passer you could count on to take over a game.

Lance was supposed to be the guy, but injuries and a lack of trust from the head coach buried him on the depth chart this preseason and resulted in his trade.

The 49ers think they found the answer in 2022 seventh-round pick Brock Purdy, but he has only played a handful of games in the NFL and is still very much unproven.

Giving up multiple first-round picks to take a QB No. 3 overall and then trading him for a fourth-round pick two years later because you think you found your answer in the seventh round isn't good scouting. It is getting lucky. Extremely lucky. 

And that is if Purdy ends up being as good as they think. As promising as he looked at the end of the 2022 season, he has still played only a handful of games in the NFL ,and nobody knows what he will look like over a full 17-game season when opposing coaching staffs will have time to prepare for him and break down his weaknesses. That also says nothing of the fact that he is coming off major elbow surgery, which adds yet another variable into the mix. 

Lynch has two potential issues here. The first is he completely mis-evaluated the most important position on the field and burned several premium assets for a player who was not good. In doing so, he passed on multiple potential Pro Bowl-caliber players who could be making major impacts for the 49ers right now. 

The second is that unless his team wins a Super Bowl, or at the very least gets back to another one, his mis-evaluation is going to be a significant reason why. That is why the success or failure of Purdy is so important. 

It seems harsh to say, but if the 49ers do not get back to that level, or if Purdy is not the answer, this is the type of situation that costs executives and team-builders their jobs. You never want to say that a team has to win the Super Bowl because the odds are always stacked against even the best teams, but Lynch has put himself in a spot where his team might have to do just that to justify his process here. He should be feeling the pressure.