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Does John Lynch have any NFL front office experience?

By Brad Berreman

Jan 1, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Fox Sports announcer and former NFL player John Lynch on the sidelines before game between Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Fox Sports announcer and former NFL player John Lynch on the sidelines before game between Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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The San Francisco 49ers have gone off the grid to hire John Lynch as their general manager, but does he have any prior front office experience?

The San Francisco 49ers are expected to hire Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach as soon as they can. Along the way they’ve been interviewing general manager candidates, with a few candidates rising to the top.

But the 49ers have gone well out a limb, with Jay Glazer of Fox Sports first to report they will hire former NFL safety and Fox television analyst John Lynch as their new general manager. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting a six-year deal for Lynch in his new post. Lynch is a Stanford alum, so he will return to the Bay Area.

Lynch played 15 NFL seasons (1993-2007) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos earning nine Pro Bowl selections in his career. He is also a Hall of Fame finalist this year, so this could be a huge week for Lynch.

But the question now is, does Lynch have front office experience to carry into his new job?

Lynch has been tied to potential front office positions before, but nothing ever came of it and he has no experience in that capacity. Schefter added that Lynch called Kyle Shanahan a week ago to volunteer for the general manager post in San Francisco. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network further reported Lynch would not go through the process, and take the job, unless it remained a secret. So that explains why nothing surfaced attaching Lynch to the job with the 49ers prior to news of the hiring Sunday night.

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It’s a big leap from analyzing talent on game tape for television work and analyzing talent when your job literally depends on it. But it’s safe to say another prominent voice will be added to the 49ers’ front office (ESPN analyst Mark Dominik?) to support Lynch in his new role. Otherwise, and taking into account the 49ers’ recent history, we could see a second coming of Matt Millen’s failure in a lead front office role upon stepping out of the broadcast booth.