John Lynch: 49ers can be 'better football team' than last year

The San Francisco 49ers came agonizingly close to winning the Super Bowl in February, only to be taken down by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Some teams miss their one shot and never get another chance but 49ers GM John Lynch believes his team can be even better in the upcoming season.

"I think it's a state of a team that I think is very well-equipped to compete for championships," Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area. "Now, it's incumbent upon us to find a way to be better than we were last year, which was pretty darn good. We talk about it a lot, (coach) Kyle (Shanahan) and I. It's a philosophy that we kind of bonded on when we first started having conversations. It's something Jon Gruden used to talk about. You never stay the same. You're either getting better or you're getting worse."

Lynch showed his commitment to improving the team during the offseason, as he managed to find replacements or upgrades for nearly every player the 49ers lost. The now-retired Joe Staley was replaced by Trent Williams in a trade. He drafted Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk to replace DeForest Buckner and Emmanuel Sanders, respectively. Lynch feels confident that the 49ers have done the work to still have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL next season.

"I'm very encouraged with where our franchise is," Lynch said. "Our goal was to give ourselves a chance to be a better football team this year. I think we've done that. I think we have a chance to be a better football team, and that's tough when you talk about some of the losses that we've had."