As John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, and the San Francisco 49ers head into the 2025 NFL Draft, they’re making a first-round selection for the second year in a row following the infamous trade that resulted in drafting Trey Lance. However, even though the 49ers eventually selected Lance, Grant Cohn of 49ers On SI doesn’t believe he was Shanahan’s first choice at quarterback when the trade happened.
“I’m guessing Shanahan always wanted Jones but was told by the organization that he wasn’t an option, so he reluctantly took Lance instead,” Cohn wrote. “Lance was a project Shanahan didn’t want to take on. His heart wasn’t in it. He merely wanted a quarterback who fits his system, and that’s Jones.”
During the pre-draft cycle ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, there was a lot of speculation on who the 49ers were drafting. Once they traded three first-round picks — 2021, 2022, 2023 — and a 2021 third-round pick for the No. 3 pick from the Miami Dolphins, some speculated that the 49ers were drafting Mac Jones out of Alabama. However, Shanahan and the 49ers selected Lance third overall, pouring water over the Jones speculation.
Now, it’s uncertain whether Cohn believes “the organization” was John Lynch, the general manager, or if it meant ownership was speaking with a voice that wouldn’t accept differing opinions.
Considering the 49ers were coming off their recent success under quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo — a quarterback who lacked high-end athleticism, though, his pocket-passing ability made up for it — it would’ve made sense for Kyle Shanahan to be enamored by a quarterback like Mac Jones, not Trey Lance.
Jones was coming into the NFL off a National Championship victory, while Lance was perceived as a high-ceiling project following a three-year college career with North Dakota State of the Missouri Valley Conference — a member of the FCS. Although FCS is still Division I, it’s a step lower than the FBS, which hosts conferences like the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, etc.
So, although the 49ers selected Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft, Shanahan got his guy eventually. Only four years later, Jones signed with the 49ers, giving Shanahan the quarterback he apparently wanted all along. However, with the Brock Purdy contract negotiations, there’s a possibility that Jones could end up as their starter eventually.
