Kyle Shanahan - Pro Football Rumors

Hue Jackson “Pushed Hard” For QB Trade This Offseason?

October 31st, 2017 at 11:50am CST by Sam Robinson

Prior to the 49ers snagging Jimmy Garoppolo for a second-round pick that’s likely to fall at the top of Day 2, the Browns were the team most connected with the former Patriots backup this offseason. And Hue Jackson may have been a key driver behind that Garoppolo-to-Cleveland buzz.

The second-year Browns coach “pushed hard” this offseason for the team to trade for Garoppolo or former Bengals charge A.J. McCarron, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. Jackson felt Garoppolo could be a big part of a turnaround from Cleveland’s 1-15 season, Cabot reports, and made Tom Brady‘s then-backup his primary offseason target.

Cabot adds the Patriots would have traded Garoppolo to the Browns for “the right offer,” which the longtime Browns reporter notes would have had to include at least one first-round pick. The Browns had two of those going into the draft and ended up with three first-round selections while also carrying multiple second-round picks in April after making the Brock Osweiler trade.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported the Browns offered a second-round pick for Garoppolo, with Cabot adding the team did not go further on Day 2 of this draft to make the necessary offer to the Pats. Browns executive VP Sashi Brown said going into the draft the team was not interested in trading for a veteran quarterback.

Kyle Shanahan and Garoppolo spent time together when the current 49ers coach worked as the Browns’ OC in 2014, and Shanahan told cleveland.com at this year’s Super Bowl he had Garoppolo ranked high among the draftable 2014 passers during his one-year stay in northeast Ohio. Shanahan did not want Johnny Manziel, whom the Browns drafted, nor did he prefer Teddy Bridgewater. However, the short-term Browns play-caller did like Derek Carr and Tom Savage, per Cabot.

When the Patriots and Browns could not agree on terms for Garoppolo, Jackson pivoted to McCarron, Cabot reports. But Jackson viewed the current Bengals backup, whom he coached for two seasons in Cincinnati, as a stopgap until the Browns could land their long-term solution.

Cabot wonders if McCarron would be in play by today’s 3pm CT deadline but reports it would have likely taken at least two second-round picks to pry him from the Bengals this offseason. McCarron is under contract through the 2018 season.

NFC Notes: Hyde, Ngata, McAdoo, Bucs QBs

October 18th, 2017 at 6:39pm CST by GregGoldstein

Despite the noise of a Carlos Hyde trade, Kyle Shanahan attempted to put an end to those rumors during a media session today. Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee passes along that the first-year 49ers head coach said that the reports of a speculative trade involving the running back were “absolutely, absolutely 100 percent false.” The rumors started to pick up after San Francisco was making calls to teams about now-former 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman. Despite the pushback, rookie Matt Breida has slowly started to cut into Hyde’s touches in recent weeks. The former Georgia Southern running back had his first double-digit carry game two weeks ago against the Colts, even though the rookie touched the ball just six times this past Sunday. Nevertheless, the 49ers are still winless through six weeks, which means that the trade winds will continue to swirl around the team with the deadline just a few weeks away.

Building off the news that Ben McAdoo gave up play calling to offenisve coordinator Mike Sullivan for their Sunday night contest against the Broncos, it is now known that neither owner John Mara nor Giants executive chairman Steve Tisch asked the head coach to give up the offensive playbook, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. It would seem that McAdoo made this decision on his own with the results being positive thus far as the team shocked many by going into Denver and winning by double digits.
Now that Haloti Ngata is out for the season with a torn biceps, the question remains: Just how long will the 33-year-old continue to play in the NFL? The Lions defensive lineman told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he has not made any decision about the future yet. “We’ll have to see. To be determined,” Ngata told the press. The veteran has not been the same player he was with the Ravens since he joined Detroit in 2015. Ngata did show signs of life this seasn, racking up two sacks in the team’s first five games, which matched the halfway mark of the number of QB takedowns he put up in the two seasons prior.
Although Jameis Winston left last Sunday’s game because of a shoulder injury, the Buccaneers still don’t expect to sign another QB for this week’s affair against the Bills, tweets Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. Auman reports that Tampa Bay seems to be comfortable with Winston suiting up as an emergency backup for Ryan Fitzpatrick, if he can’t start. The move sounds a bit risky considering that the team still does not have a third-string QB with Ryan Griffin currently working to get off the IR. However, the news may be encouraging to some as it seems Winston has most likely avoided a long-term injury.

Extra Points: Rams, Shanahan, Raiders

September 20th, 2017 at 4:41pm CST by Zachary Links

In January, the Rams had planned to interview Kyle Shanahan for their coaching vacancy, but a snowstorm on the East Coast put the powwow on hold, as Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com writes. Days later, the team 86’d the meeting altogether as they pivoted eventual hire Sean McVay.

“They told me if I didn’t sit down, they might end up having to move on,” Shanahan said, “and I was definitely OK with that. I think it worked out for both parties.”

On Thursday night, the Rams will get a glimpse at what might have been when they take on San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium. Of course, the Rams are very high on McVay – who is the league’s youngest coach – so they have no cause for regret at this time.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

Donald Penn’s new two-year, $21MM extension with the Raiders will not give him a raise from the $6.4MM he was due in 2017, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. However, he did get a $3MM guarantee in 2018 in exchange for signing on for two more years. In 2019, he’s slated to earn a non-guaranteed $6MM, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets. As previously reported, he could get guarantees that extend into the 2019 season based on how well he plays in 2017.
Based on his history, it’s likely that Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor will look to move the offense quicker with more of a dink-and-dunk approach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com opines (Twitter link). It remains to be seen what the running back rotation will be like. To date, Joe Mixon and Jeremy Hill have not had a lot of carries while Giovani Bernard has drawn the lion’s share of the work. That could change now that Ken Zampese is out and Lazor is calling the plays.
On Tuesday, the Panthers, Bears, Cowboys, Packers, Jaguars, Chiefs, Dolphins, Jets, 49ers, and Bucs all conducted workouts.

Kyle Shanahan, John Elway Address Broncos’ HC Decision

August 18th, 2017 at 6:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Kyle Shanahan lost out to Vance Joseph when the Broncos chose a coach to replace Gary Kubiak in January. But Shanahan ended up in San Francisco, and the first-year HC said during the 49ers and Broncos’ joint practices he sensed he wouldn’t get the Denver job.

“I just had this gut feeling that I wouldn’t,” Shanahan said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com, of his chances at becoming the Broncos head coach. “I went into the interview, I really enjoyed it, meeting with those guys. I hadn’t seen them for a while. But yeah, I never felt like it. I felt after the interview I made it hard on them, but I always had a feeling that I wasn’t.”

Elway played for Mike Shanahan for most of his career, when Shanahan was an assistant or during the four years he coached Elway as Denver’s HC. While the Broncos GM passed on bringing Mike’s son into the fold, Elway said the then-Falcons OC “wasn’t far behind.”

“His knowledge of the game is as good as there is in the league. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit,” Elway said. “I’m very happy with Vance, but Kyle wasn’t too far behind just because he has that knowledge. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to have a lot of success in this league.”

Due to the ties he had growing up in Denver, Kyle Shanahan ended up with a slight sense of relief he didn’t get the Broncos job. The younger Shanahan spent time in the Bay Area growing up as well, with Shanahan separating his Denver stays with a three-year run as OC in San Francisco, but most of Mike Shanahan’s NFL coaching years came in Colorado.

“Always deep down, I think, I’d rather [be in] a different situation,” Shanahan said. “But I loved Denver. I loved growing up there. My family is from there. My wife’s family is from there. So it would be a hard thing to say no to when your family’s there and things like that. But by no means was that my situation of choice.”

Elway agreed one of his finalists receiving the job Joseph now has would have created potentially a more pressure-packed environment and expounded on why Shanahan viewed it as a lesser fit than his current position.

“You are coming back to where you were raised and friends and family and everything that’s back there, all of a sudden you might have been walking into a pressure-cooker, especially with the situation that we’re in, having won the Super Bowl a couple years ago, so the expectation level was very high,” Elway said of the disparate natures of the job Joseph got and the rebuilding task Shanahan agreed to undertake. “So I can understand what his thinking was on whether he wanted that job or not because [of] having grown up there and such.”

NFC Notes: Vikings, Peterson, 49ers

May 27th, 2017 at 9:05am CST by Ben Levine

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is taking some time off as he recovers from eye surgery, but the 60-year-old vowed that he’d be back before long.

“I’ll be back shortly. One eye or two, it really doesn’t matter. I’m going to be back,” Zimmer said (via Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune). “So we can put the retiring thing or whatever to bed quickly.”

The coach revealed that there haven’t been any setbacks since he underwent surgery earlier this month, and he indicated that a recent examination revealed that everything was progressing positvely. Zimmer is ultimately hoping to be back on the sideline in early June for organized team activities.

“I miss being in the meetings with players and I especially miss being out on the field, where I can give immediate feedback on technique and things like that,” he said.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFC…

During the NFL Draft, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan called tight end Vance McDonald to update him on potential trade talks. The 26-year-old offensive weapon appreciated his coach’s willingness to be completely transparent about the rumors. “Basically, it’s just like any other team in the NFL would do,” McDonald told Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “If you’re a 2-14 team, obviously, there are a lot of things you can improve on, a lot of spots that need to be filled. There are a lot of things you need to improve upon in the offseason. So if teams are going to call and inquire about you, then obviously the next step is to … call around to every other team…So that’s exactly what happened to me. It isn’t like they don’t want me here. There was never a lack of communication on any level.” McDonald finished last season with career-highs in receiving yards (391) and touchdowns (four).
Running back Adrian Peterson is still trying to figure out his fit with the Saints, but his teammates are confident that his presence will result in one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. “I think he’s looking forward to that,” said fullback John Kuhn (via Brett Martel of the Associated Press). “Not to put words in his mouth, but everybody in here, especially on the offensive side, realizes that the more weapons that we have, the more explosive we can be.”
Cardinals wideout Jaron Brown was expected to play a significant role during the 2016 season, but a torn ACL ended his campaign prematurely. Despite the injury, the organization still decided to sign the former undrafted free agent to an extension. Now, Brown is hoping to repay the Cardinals for their good will gesture. “That meant a lot,” Brown told Kent Somers of AZCentral.com. “You don’t see that too many times, and it kind of shows that faith and loyalty in me to get back to where I was. It was good for both sides.”

Extra Points: Trubisky, Dolphins, 49ers, Bucs

May 6th, 2017 at 8:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bears played it close to the vest before making their Mitch Trubisky trade from No. 3 to No. 2, one that headlined the draft and one that may have the team’s power structure at odds. Chicago’s brass tried to throw teams off the scent early in the process by sending an armada of personnel to Deshaun Watson‘s pro day while orchestrating a secret dinner meeting with Trubisky, per Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. The Bears also “begged” Trubisky’s camp not to leak news of that summit, and that part of the operation succeeded. Ryan Pace followed Dave Caldwell‘s secretive playbook when he made the Blake Bortles pick few expected.

Here’s more from around the league as rookie minicamp sessions are upon us.

Charles Harris experienced a similar type of draft misdirection. The Dolphins cancelled a pre-draft visit with the Missouri product without providing a reason for the change of plans. “I was like, ‘Man, that’s messed up,” Harris said, via James Walker of ESPN.com. Miami was linked to edge defenders coming into the draft despite re-signing Cameron Wake and Andre Branch, and Harris fell to the Fins at No. 22 to validate their pre-draft plot. The Dolphins met with Harris at the Combine but didn’t prompt him for a post-Combine workout before the cancellation tactic. “It’s just there are some players that we purposely try and stay away from once we are comfortable with the player, his character and what type of kid we are getting,” Dolphins GM Chris Grier said, via Walker. “We just do not feel the need to spend any more time with them.”
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan were split on one of the 49ers’ eventual draft picks, and the coach won out. Lynch had Utah running back Joe Williams off his draft board, but Shanahan convinced the new GM to give the go-ahead for a fourth-round selection, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Shanahan, who was tied to the 49ers midway through the GM hunt and thus received an opportunity for additional control, helped sway Lynch to trade a fifth-round pick to move up in the fourth round and select Williams. The Utes runner’s questionable off-the-field past had Lynch skeptical, but Shanahan saw some promise in the back who ran the Combine’s second-fastest 40 time at 4.41 seconds. With Carlos Hyde entering a contract year, Williams could be a key component of the 49ers’ future.
Both Kendell Beckwith and Buccaneers management expect the linebacker to be ready to return by training camp, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Beckwith tore his ACL late during his senior season at LSU last fall. Stroud expects Beckwith to be a possible early-season starter on the strong side, with the writer believing primary 2016 starter Daryl Smith — PFR’s No. 4 UFA off-ball linebacker — is closing in on retirement rather than returning for a 14th NFL season.
Bucs running back Jeremy McNichols underwent surgery shortly after the Combine to repair a torn labrum, per Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Laine reports McNichols’ timeline hovers at around four months, noting the Boise State-developed back hopes to be ready for camp. McNichols arrived via fifth-round pick for a Bucs team that has questions about Doug Martin‘s future. The team still employs Jacquizz Rodgers, Charles Sims and Peyton Barber on the roster. McNichols caught 103 passes at Boise State in three seasons, but Jason Licht views him as a possible three-down back as opposed to a passing-game specialist.

Front Office Rumors: Bills, 49ers, Colts

March 23rd, 2017 at 12:09pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com brought us news on the Redskins’ GM search. Further down in his column, he presented more front office news from around the NFL. Here’s a look at the highlights:

New Bills coach Sean McDermott could convince ownership to import front office guys with whom he has a relationship. JLC floats the name of Panthers director of player personnel Don Gregory and notes that there are “already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills GM Doug Whaley” will not last.
The 49ers are also looking to add to the front office. This makes sense given that new GM John Lynch is a front office neophyte.
New Colts GM Chris Ballard may want to shake up the scouting core, but league sources tell JLC that he may have to wait a year since the evaluators that are already there have more time to go on their contracts. Still, Ballard badly wants to poach Seahawks executive Ed Dodds. If Indy can land him, he’ll probably get a promotion over his current title. Jets director of college scouting Rex Hogan is also a Ballard target, but JLC hears that he still has a good amount of time left on his contract and might be harder to pry away.
Bears exec Morocco Brown, who has history with Ballard, could be a possible candidate for the Colts and 49ers. JLC notes that Brown had a solid relationship with new SF coach Kyle Shanahan in D.C.

Daniel Snyder Blocking Kirk Cousins Trade?

March 8th, 2017 at 6:46pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Redskins haven’t given any indication they they’re willing to trade franchise-tagged quarterback Kirk Cousins to the 49ers (or any other club), and Washington may be holding onto its signal-caller thanks to owner Daniel Snyder‘s poor relationships with both Cousins and the Shanahans, Kyle and Mike, according to Kevin Jones of KNBR.

Snyder reportedly still holds a grudge against the Shanahans after firing the pair following the 2013 campaign, per Jones, and especially dislikes that the duo’s prediction of a failed Robert Griffin III career ultimately proved true. As such, Snyder has no interest in “helping” Kyle Shanahan in any regard, including sending him a ready-made franchise quarterback in Cousins.

Snyder may also possess personal animus towards Cousins, as Jones describes a “weird” relationship between the two. After Cousins won the first game of his career in 2012 filling in for an injured RGIII, Snyder reportedly refused to congratulate or even acknowledge Cousins in the locker room following the contest, according to Jones. Although Snyder has since softened his stance, a degree of tension still endures.

Cousins will make nearly $24MM in 2017 under the terms of his second consecutive franchise tag, which he has yet to sign.

49ers Rumors: Kap, Shanahan, Staff, Reid

February 9th, 2017 at 7:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Colin Kaepernick appears to be warming to the idea of staying in San Francisco. While it’s uncertain if that’s in John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan‘s plans at this juncture, the 29-year-old quarterback reached out to Lynch. Kaepernick and the new 49ers GM plan to meet soon, Lynch said Thursday (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle).

“It will be a football decision,” Lynch said regarding Kaepernick’s status, “but I think part of that, there are different layers to that. I think everything will be included in the decision. I’m not talking specifically about his stance, though. When you have a quarterback, the great ones are leaders of men. All those things will be taken into account. Colin and I, when I did some 49ers games, I’d say we hit it off. I’d say there was a trust there. I think that trust extends, and I was thrilled when he reached out. I’m looking forward to talking with him.”

Shanahan said he will evaluate Kaepernick on film in the coming weeks. Many other signal-callers, like Kirk Cousins or Jimmy Garoppolo, have been linked to the 49ers in recent weeks, and the team can save $16.9MM by cutting Kaepernick. Previously believed to be opting out, Kaepernick is now in wait-and-see mode, joining the new-look 49ers in that regard. He’s the only quarterback under contract with the 49ers for 2017, even if that contract is not exactly binding.

Here’s more coming out of San Francisco.

The official delegation of autonomy came down, and Shanahan will indeed be one of the handful of coaches with 53-man roster control. Lynch will oversee the 90-man roster, free agency and the draft, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets. Shanahan elaborated on his decision not to ask more from the 49ers in terms of control after being in a position of leverage due to the team’s eventful head coaching search. “I didn’t want to demand all of it,” Shanahan said. “What’s important to you? I’ve always thought none of it matters if you’re working with the right guy. So it’s what do you want to put down on paper? And I don’t need all that down on paper. It was important to me to have the 53 on paper because I think it’s important that the players know that.”
Shanahan made a commitment to former Falcons running backs coach Bobby Turner to follow him to his first HC job “a long time ago,” but he wants previous RBs coach Tom Rathman to stay with the team in a different capacity, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com notes. The former fullback has spent the past eight seasons on the 49ers’ staff, dating back to the Mike Singletary regime. “I love Tom Rathman. He’s a hero of mine, and I know what kind of coach he is. I’m trying hard to get him to be here in whatever other role he wants,” Shanahan said. “But I know Tom. Tom is a running backs coach. I’m going to try my hardest to keep him here. It’s definitely going to be up to him.”
One of the many players placed on IR during the 49ers’ 2-14 season, Eric Reid looks to be on track to return by OTAs, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports. Reid tore a biceps tendon in late November but told Wagoner a doctor informed him if there was a game this week he would be able to practice. Entering his fifth season, the safety will make $5.676MM as part of the fifth-year option the team exercised.
Lynch does not have a known preference on what kind of defensive scheme he wants the team to utilize. He said (via Nick Wagoner, on Twitter) he’s talked with DC options with backgrounds in multiple fronts. Former Jaguars linebackers coach Robert Saleh, current Patriots ‘backers boss Brian Flores and Falcons passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson are known options thus far. The 49ers have long used a 3-4 alignment, but most of the players from their early-2010s defensively geared run are no longer on the team. That said, 5-technique ends Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner arrived as first-round investments the past two years.

49ers Won’t Hire Offensive Coordinator

February 8th, 2017 at 11:37am CST by Dallas Robinson

New 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan will likely call the offensive plays in San Francisco, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Additionally, Shanahan is expected to hire former Falcons assistant Mike McDaniel as a run game coordinator and Wagner College offensive coordinator (and former Falcons staffer) Rich Scangarello as quarterbacks coach, per Rapoport. Ex-Atlanta running backs coach Bobby Turner is also headed to San Francisco, tweets Gil Brandt of NFL.com.

Given that the 49ers aren’t expected to hire a formal offensive coordinator, San Francisco will head into the 2017 campaign with inexperience infecting many areas of the club’s structure. New general manger John Lynch has never worked in an NFL front office, while Shanahan is not only a first-time head coach, but will act as his own OC and lean on a QBs coach in Scangarello whose most recent coaching experience comes at an FCS school. In addition, Shanahan will oversee some of the club’s personnel aspects, as he’ll exert control over the 49ers’ 53-man roster.

As for the rest of San Francisco’s coaching staff, Shanahan is reportedly interested in hiring co-defensive coordinators, with Atlanta passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson and former Jaguars linebackers coach Robert Saleh emerging as the most likely candidates for the positions. On offense, the 49ers still want to keep former RBs coach Tom Rathman on staff in some capacity even after adding Turner, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.