West Notes: Dominik, Shanahan, Smith, Berry

Before the mystery candidate for the 49ers’ GM job became revealed as off-the-board hire John Lynch, fellow TV analyst Mark Dominik received consideration for the GM job, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter). However, the sides never scheduled an interview. But Lynch getting the job doesn’t necessarily mean a path from ESPN to the 49ers isn’t on the table for Dominik.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Lynch plans to bring in an experienced personnel man as his top lieutenant, and CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora wonders if Dominik — the Buccaneers’ scouting director during part of Lynch’s career in Tampa before becoming the team’s GM later — will land in San Francisco because that familiarity with Lynch (Twitter link).

Here’s more from the 49ers’ surprising hire, along with the latest from some other NFL teams as the Pro Bowl continues.

• The six-year contract that’s expected to be offered to Kyle Shanahan is two years longer than the deals for both Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly, and one year longer than Jim Harbaugh, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com notes.
• Alex Smith took from his exit interview with Andy Reid he will return for a fifth season as the Chiefs‘ starting quarterback. “We’ve talked a lot, and for sure, the talk was just the sense of urgency — [him saying] ‘let’s go get it, you and me,’ ” Smith said, via Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star. “For both of us, I think you realize the opportunities are less and less.” Reid said as much publicly after the Chiefs’ second-round loss to the Steelers, but calls for the Chiefs to replace the middling quarterback will certainly come from pundits. Smith will turn 33 in May. He has two more years left on his deal and will take up $16.9MM of Kansas City’s cap in 2017. That number rises to $20.9MM in 2018, and by ’18, the Chiefs would save $17MM by parting ways with Smith.
• Add Chiefs DC Bob Sutton to the list of those wanting Eric Berry to return. Joining Reid on this topic, Sutton said from the Pro Bowl, “That’s out of my wheelhouse but I mean, you’d be crazy not to [want him back],” Sutton said, via Conor Orr of NFL.com. “I thought he had an MVP-type season. He was a dynamic force. I don’t know how much more you could do. This guy had an impact on our entire team. Not just our defense, but our entire team.” Berry is a UFA for the second straight year. It would cost the Chiefs $12.967MM to retain him on the franchise tag again. Kansas City stands to possess less than $5MM in cap space before roster cuts are made.
• Chiefs co-player personnel director Brett Veach looms as a candidate to fill new Colts GM’s Chris Ballard‘s shoes, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets, pointing to his scouting acumen as a route up the ladder.