49ers general manager John Lynch has been extremely busy in recent weeks.
It happened not so long ago, but it’s been rare when a team loses on Super Sunday and then, one year later, hoists the Lombardi Trophy. It happened in the 1970s twice via the Dallas Cowboys (lost V, won VI) and the Miami Dolphins (lost VI, won VII). More recently, the New England Patriots fell in Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles and then bounced back to stifle the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
Hence, it’s safe to say that San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch isn’t letting his talented team rest on its laurels. There have been some injuries (wide receiver Deebo Samuel), free-agent defections (wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders), retirements (offensive tackle Joe Staley) and three players opt out this season (via Ourlads.com).
That’s not even including trades that sent DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis, Matt Breida to Miami and Marquise Goodwin (who opted out for 2020) to Philadelphia. But within the last two weeks, the Niners, who fell to Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV in February, have signed five veteran performers to fill in the gaps.
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Veteran additions will help bolster the 49ers in the 2020 season.
Versatile Spencer Long is on board (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). He began his career with Washington, had a brief stint with the New York Jets and played last season for the Buffalo Bills. He can lineup at guard and center. Tight end Jordan Reed is fairly familiar with Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system as their paths crossed briefly in D.C. But he’s never played all 16 games in any season and missed all of 2019 with concussion concerns.
Defensive end Dion Jordan inked a one-year deal, according to the team, and has been in and out bouncing around the league since being the third overall pick by Miami in 2013. A year ago, he played in seven games for the Raiders and logged two sacks.
More recently, Lynch inked wide receivers J.J. Nelson and Tavon Austin. The former played briefly with the Raiders in 2019 while Austin spent the year with the Dallas Cowboys.
The wild cards here both have Jordan in their names. The defensive end has been limited to 50 games in his career due to any number of factors both on and off the field. Injuries have been the issue for Reed. But over a two-year stretch from 2015-16, he caught a combined 153 passes for 1,638 yards and 17 scores in 26 outings. He went onto catch nine passes for 120 yards and one touchdown in the club’s 2015 wild card loss to Green Bay.
He’s only been on the job for four years but Lynch continues to impress. These latest acquisitions were economical and, if one or two pans out, the club may have found the depth it was looking for as they look to become the first NFC team since the rival Seahawks (2013-14) to make consecutive Super Bowl appearances.