John Lynch added another experienced NFL personnel man to his front office, with the 49ers’ new GM announcing (via CSNBayArea.com’s Matt Maiocco, on Twitter) Martin Mayhew will join him in San Francisco. Mayhew will come to San Francisco as a senior personnel executive.
The former Lions GM spent last season with the Giants but was linked to a Lynch-led front office after the 49ers made their seismic hire. Mayhew served under Jerry Reese for one year as director of football operations/special projects, but his more notable personnel-related tenure came in Detroit. Mayhew succeeded Matt Millen, whom many have brought up recently in light of the 49ers’ unorthodox Lynch decision, as Lions GM and served in that capacity for nearly eight years.
The Lions fired Mayhew in November of 2015 during his eighth season, but he’ll represent significant experience as Lynch acclimates to being a GM. The two also have a history together. A former Super Bowl-winning cornerback with the Redskins, the now-51-year-old Mayhew’s final four NFL seasons came with the Buccaneers from 1993-96. Those years doubled as the 45-year-old Lynch’s first four in the NFL.
Mayhew joins assistant GM Tom Gamble and VP of player personnel Adam Peters in the Lynch front office. This arrangement may become crowded, per USA Today’s Tom Pelissero, who notes Mayhew could replace Gamble as assistant GM after the draft (Twitter link). The 49ers are tentatively planning to give Gamble, promoted to his current post last year, until around draft time to prove he has a place with the restructured organization.
Dude took a 0-16 team, the worst team in the history of the NFL and turned them into a playoff team in 3 years and kept them at that level for a while. He could probably be the GM instead of Lynch to be honest. Like the hire but I feel a few of these people will be leaving for GM positions of their own sooner rather than later.