John Lynch Says Kyle Shanahan's "Master Plan" Was Getting Kirk Cousins To The 49ers

San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch went on ESPN Radio’s to talk about his team’s big offseason and Jimmy Garoppolo’s exciting future. Getting Garoppolo for a second-round pick from the Patriots last year was huge, since the quarterback looked outstanding as he led the 49ers to five straight wins to end the season, but Lynch revealed the team’s coach originally wanted a different signal caller.

Kirk Cousins was long connected to the once-vacant Niners QB gig, which made sense since head coach Kyle Shanahan previously served as Cousins’s offensive coordinator in Washington. There was supposedly mutual interest before the Garoppolo trade. Shanahan didn’t get his guy, but Lynch says he was won over once Garoppolo started playing:

We made the trade, but then there were some days when Kyle Shanahan was, like, in mourning, because I think everybody knows his master plan was to have Kirk Cousins come in eventually. I was proud of Kyle, because I think he knew this was the right thing for our franchise. And he didn’t hesitate. But then, even then, Jimmy had to really prove himself.

Kyle was really smart, he didn’t play him right away, he waited until he had some semblance of an understanding of our scheme before he put him in. When he did put him in, he put him in a position to succeed. I would tell you that Jimmy really impressed Kyle to the point where he said, “This is our guy.”

Makes sense. You gotta find your guy, but sometimes when the guy you thought would be your guy can’t be your guy anymore, a different guy can become your guy.