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San Francisco 49ers News & Rumors

49ers Hire DeMeco Ryans As DC, Mike McDaniel As OC

By | at January 18, 2021 10:15 am

The 49ers have officially promoted inside linebackers coach DeMeco Ryans to defensive coordinator. On the other side of the ball, they’re bumping run game coordinator Mike McDaniel to offensive coordinator, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

[RELATED: 49ers Re-Sign Josh Johnson]

Ryans takes over for former DC Robert Saleh, who has agreed to become the Jets’ new head coach. Many believed that Saleh would try to take Ryans with him to the East Coast, but the 49ers didn’t want to let Ryans get away. Given the work he has done with LBs Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner, and Azeez Al-Shaair, the young assistant was a natural fit for the role.

McDaniel, meanwhile, takes over for Mike LaFleur, who will serve as Saleh’s OC in New York. McDaniel has worked with Kyle Shanahan at multiple stops and his profile has grown larger over the years. He was a candidate in the Browns’ most recent head coaching search and the Dolphins were also eyeing him as an OC candidate in this cycle.

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NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/15/21

By | at January 15, 2021 3:06 pm

Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts given out:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

  • QB Kyle Sloter

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

0 comments Baltimore Ravens Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Hunter Thedford Las Vegas Raiders Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Transactions

2021 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 15, 2021 1:24 pm

Exiting the regular season, six teams are searching for new head coaches. That number is up from last season but not quite as high as 2019, though there may well be more vacancies that emerge during the playoffs.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 1-27-21 (7:05pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

18 comments Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans

49ers Likely To Promote DeMeco Ryans To DC

By | at January 15, 2021 11:00 am

The 49ers are expected to promote linebackers coach DeMeco Ryans to defensive coordinator, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Ryans would take over for Robert Saleh, who has agreed to become the Jets’ new head coach. 

[RELATED: Jets Hire Robert Saleh]

Saleh may want to bring Ryans with him to New York, but the Jets would have to work something out with the Niners in order to facilitate the lateral move. Ryans has impressed in SF, molding youngsters Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner, and Azeez Al-Shaair into quality linebackers. Thanks in part to Ryans’ guidance, Warner went from a third-round prospect to a Pro Bowler in 2020.

Ryans may be tasked with a new-look defense in 2021. Safety Jaquiski Tartt, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, and defensive ends Ronald Blair and Kerry Hyder are set for free agency. Those players could potentially reunite with Saleh on the East Coast, as noted by Matt Barrows and David Lombardi of The Athletic.

 

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Jets Officially Hire Robert Saleh

By | at January 15, 2021 10:25 am

The Jets have hired Robert Saleh as their new head coach, per a club announcement. It’s a five-year deal for Gang Green and the 49ers defensive coordinator , as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 

Saleh is now the Jets’ 20th head coach in franchise history. The 41-year-old was an early favorite for the job, based on the strength of his SF defense. In 2020, the Niners finished fifth in total yards, seventh in rushing yards, and fourth in passing yards allowed. In 2019, Saleh’s D surrendered just 169.2 passing yards per contest — the lowest average since Rex Ryan‘s 2009 Jets D.

The Jets have lots of holes to fill, but also lots of room to remake the team with their new coaching staff. They’ll have ample cap space to work with in March, plus two first-round picks (Nos. 2 and 23) in April.

There were seven vacancies in this cycle, and six of those teams requested interviews with Saleh. The Jets didn’t want to let him get away and, ultimately, they got their man.The 41-year-old edged out a number of qualified candidates, including Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith — similarly popular in this cycle – had just completed a second interview. Here’s the full rundown, via PFR’s tracker:

19 comments New York Jets San Francisco 49ers

Eagles To Interview Robert Saleh

By | at January 13, 2021 9:54 pm

The Eagles are a bit behind the curve after their late firing of Doug Pederson, so they don’t have any time to waste as they move forward in their unexpected coaching search. We’ve already heard they’re interested in luring Lincoln Riley from the college ranks, they’ve requested interviews with Todd Bowles and Arthur Smith, and now we’ve got another candidate on their radar.

Philadelphia has requested an interview with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. After going through a second Jets interview Wednesday, Saleh is on his way to Philly and will begin interviewing with the team tonight, Ian Rapoport and Peter Schrager of the NFL Network note (Twitter links).

Saleh has been a hot name, getting linked to pretty much every open job. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie indicated at his press conference Monday that he usually prefers a quarterback guru as head coach, but he clearly isn’t married to that idea.

To that end, we also have some additional details on what a potential Saleh coaching staff would look like, via this tweet from Peter Schrager of NFL Network. Schrager writes that the belief around the league is that Saleh would bring a 49ers offensive assistant with him to be his OC wherever he goes, and that they would seek to implement a “Shanahan”-style offense.

That would mean a heavy run and play-action scheme. Schrager specifically highlights Mike LaFleur and Mike McDaniel as names to watch on that front. McDaniel is the 49ers’ run game coordinator who has coached under Kyle Shanahan for most of the past decade, while LaFleur is the passing game coordinator who has been with Shanahan since 2014 with the Browns when he was an offensive intern. He’s also the younger brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

14 comments Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers

2021 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

By | at January 12, 2021 8:02 pm

This year’s NFL GM carousel figures to be more active than usual. The Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Texans, and Jaguars are all on the hunt for a new front office leader. And that’s only the official list. The real tally shows six clubs looking for a GM, since the Washington Football Team is expected to install a GM to work alongside head coach Ron Rivera. By mid-January, we could easily see a couple more jobs opening up — that’d put ~25% of the NFL on the market.

We’ll keep track of the GM candidates for each club here, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make general manager changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:

Updated 1-19-21 (7:02pm CT)

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers 

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Football Team

23 comments Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Cleveland Browns Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

2021 NFL Draft Order

By | at January 11, 2021 8:54 am

Wild Card weekend is in the books and 75% of the NFL’s 2021 Draft order has been set. Here’s the rundown, thus far:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. New York Jets
3. Miami Dolphins (via Texans)
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. Cincinnati Bengals
6. Philadelphia Eagles
7. Detroit Lions
8. Carolina Panthers
9. Denver Broncos
10. Dallas Cowboys
11. New York Giants
12. San Francisco 49ers
13. Los Angeles Chargers
14. Minnesota Vikings
15. New England Patriots
16. Arizona Cardinals
17. Las Vegas Raiders
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Washington Football Team
20. Chicago Bears
21. Indianapolis Colts
22. Tennessee Titans
23. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
24. Pittsburgh Steelers

24 comments 2021 NFL Draft Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Cincinnati Bengals Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans

49ers Notes: Sowers, DC

By | at January 10, 2021 9:34 pm

Sowers became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl last year. She’s been a full-time offensive assistant on Kyle Shanahan’s staff the past few seasons. It doesn’t sound like she has any plans to stop coaching though, and she said in a recent interview with Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle that the lack of a clear path upward was the reason for her departure. “In terms of advancement opportunities, there are more other places than here, in terms of my ceiling for growth. I feel like I have a lot to offer. It’s been an amazing learning experience here, but instead of staying as is, it’s best for my professional growth if I move on.” That doesn’t mean it was a bitter divorce with the 49ers however, as Sowers emphasized that she “loved” her time there.

  • Sowers might not be the only staff member Shanahan needs to replace if defensive coordinator Robert Saleh lands a head coaching job. Should one of the handful of teams interviewing Saleh offer him the gig, it sounds like the 49ers could look in-house for his replacement. Linebackers coach DeMeco Ryans is a candidate for the DC role should that happen, Shanahan said at his year-end press conference. Shanahan also added that “it’s a matter of time before DeMeco is coordinator in this league, a matter of time before he’s a head coach.” Ryans played as a linebacker for ten years in the league with the Texans and Eagles before retiring and joining the 49ers as a quality control coach in 2017.
36 comments Arizona Cardinals San Francisco 49ers

S Antoine Bethea Announces Retirement

By | at January 7, 2021 4:45 pm

Antoine Bethea partook in a November workout with the Ravens but did not end up playing this season. The veteran safety will not opt to circle back to the NFL in 2021, announcing his retirement instead (Twitter link).

Despite coming into the NFL as a sixth-round pick from a Division I-FCS program (Howard), Bethea proved to be immediately reliable and incredibly durable. He started 16 games in 10 of his 14 seasons and was a backup for just nine games in his career.

A Colts 2006 draftee, Bethea played much of his career with Indianapolis. But after eight Colts seasons, he became a three-year 49ers starter (2014-16), spent two years with the Cardinals (2017-18) and wrapped up his run as a 16-game Giants first-stringer at age 35. Bethea landed a Colts extension in 2010, signed a four-year, $24MM 49ers deal in 2014 and secured a three-year Cardinals contract in 2017.

Bethea finished with 25 career INTs and ventured to three Pro Bowls — two with the Colts and one with the 49ers — and started in 13 playoff games during his Indianapolis tenure. During his 200-start career, Bethea managed an impressive eight 100-plus-tackle seasons. He finished with 110 stops during his age-35 season with the Giants. Bethea also notched four postseason interceptions, including two as a rookie during the Colts’ Super Bowl XLI championship campaign.

2 comments Antoine Bethea Arizona Cardinals Indianapolis Colts New York Giants San Francisco 49ers
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