One of the projected best NFL teams for the 2023 season kicked the tires on Lamar Jackson.
San Francisco general manager John Lynch on Monday confirmed the 49ers, who currently own the fourth-shortest odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to win Super Bowl LVIII, did their due diligence on Jackson. The superstar quarterback has been in a contract dispute with the Baltimore Ravens for months now, and under the terms of the non-exclusive franchise tag, he’s free to talk to any team.
To be clear, the Niners seemingly never considered staging an actual Jackson pursuit. But Lynch’s comments during a pre-draft press conference were nonetheless noteworthy.
“You look into everything, and we seem to be linked to everything,” Lynch told reporters, per ProFootballTalk. “I can tell you, I think it’s how convicted we are on Brock (Purdy), on this current group of guys. You’re not doing your job if you don’t look into things. A lot of those things I think you’re limited by the way our roster is set up and the other thing is, what’s your motivation? And there’s more than just Lamar. There’s tremendous players, MVP-type players. We really like our guys and we like where we’re at. We like our complete roster and how they fit for multiple reasons and we’re excited about that group. So, I’ll just leave it at that.”
While Jackson all but surely will not end up in the Bay Area, that doesn’t mean the 49ers won’t make a significant quarterback trade in the near future. The emergence of Purdy, the final pick in last year’s NFL draft, might motivate Lynch and company to move on from Trey Lance, the third overall selection in 2021.
