49ers to employ unique power structure
Posted by Mike Florio on February 9, 2017, 11:34 PM EST
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profootballtalk.nbcsports.com]
There’s a fine line between thinking outside the box and effin’ nutty. Time will tell where the new San Francisco power structure falls on that spectrum.
Officially unveiled on Thursday along with the introduction of coach Kyle Shanahan, new G.M. John Lynch explained the division of authority as follows: “I can tell you Kyle has control of the 53. I have the 90. Free agency and draft, I think I have. But, in all of those, it’s also written that, subject to approval of the other guy. And so, that’s the way we wanted it.”
If Shanahan and Lynch form a true partnership, with consensus building and compromise the norm, none of this will be an issue. If they don’t, however, the arrangement has the potential to become a mess.
As explained by Lynch, each guy has veto power over the other guy’s decision-making authority. Which means that Shanahan actually has final say over the 90-man roster, free agency, and the draft and that Lynch has final say over the 53-man roster.
More specifically, disagreements that can’t be resolved could devolve into tit-for-tat gridlock, with veto power becoming the basis for trading horses and/or mutual back-scratching and/or mutually-assured destruction.
Again, if it ever comes to that, the battle already has been lost. The goal should be to always work together, without having to pull out the contract and determine who has what power and how much of it.
Given the Baalke-Harbaugh Bay Area imbroglio, the relationship between Shanahan and Lynch is far more critical than the nuts and bolts of the power structure. So forget about the respective power of coach and G.M. and focus instead on whether they can successfully run the three-legged race.
