49ers GM: Super Bowl ambitions led us to CMC

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- If the San Francisco 49ers' trade for moving back Christian McCaffrey looks similar a determination they anticipation volition enactment them implicit the apical to winning a Super Bowl, there's a bully crushed for that: It is.

The Niners and Carolina Panthers officially completed their commercialized Friday greeting with San Francisco sending second-, third- and fourth-round picks successful 2023 and a fifth-round enactment successful 2024 to the Panthers for McCaffrey.

In San Francisco, the anticipation is McCaffrey tin determination the 49ers person to getting implicit the hump and winning the Super Bowl aft coming up conscionable abbreviated successful 2019 and 2021.

"You lone bash this erstwhile you person a content successful your squad arsenic it's constructed," wide manager John Lynch said Friday. "The erstwhile clip we made a large splash similar this, it was [receiver] Emmanuel Sanders backmost successful '19 due to the fact that we felt similar we had the squad susceptible for [winning] the full deal. ... We're 3-3 now, truthful we recognize we person a batch of enactment to bash and this isn't a magic pill that's gonna hole each of our ills arsenic a team. We've each got to get amended but we bash inactive precise overmuch judge successful this team, and, and that's wherefore we took a plaything astatine an fantabulous shot player."

McCaffrey arrived successful the Bay Area connected Friday greeting and was rapidly plugged into the team's regular activities. After completing his physical, helium got a locker and a helmet and joined the team's airy Friday signifier midstream.

It's not yet wide whether McCaffrey volition play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, but Lynch said McCaffrey is already lobbying to beryllium active. Regardless of whether that debut comes Sunday oregon adjacent week against the Rams, the Niners are pleased that helium volition beryllium playing for them and not connected the different broadside adjacent week successful Los Angeles.

The Rams made a wont of making large trades for large names en way to past year's Super Bowl triumph and were the Niners' closest contention to get McCaffrey. It's thing the Niners person been progressively alert of and strengthened their tendency to adjacent retired deals similar this arsenic accelerated arsenic possible.

"I'm gladsome he's not there," Lynch said. "It seems similar a batch of these situations extremity up wherever it's america against them successful these things. ... I cognize their propensity to travel successful precocious and spell big. And so, I was trying to get it done before, but that wasn't gonna happen."

Alas, the Niners did get the woody done, albeit astatine a important cost. Lynch said the commercialized began to travel unneurotic erstwhile the squad was successful West Virginia for a week of signifier past week.

McCaffrey has agelong been connected San Francisco's radar, dating to the 2017 NFL draught erstwhile manager Kyle Shanahan was a large proponent of the Stanford product. The Niners ended up selecting antiaircraft lineman Solomon Thomas, McCaffrey's Stanford teammate, with the No. 3 wide prime instead.

Lynch said Friday that helium and McCaffrey were joking astir however the six-year hold to bring him to the Niners was truthful "everything would beryllium right" erstwhile helium yet joined the team.

And portion the Niners volition get McCaffrey for the bargain complaint of a small little than $700,000 for the remainder of this season, his wage headdress fig jumps to $12 cardinal successful each of the adjacent 3 seasons. It's a ample fig for a moving backmost who has missed 23 games implicit the past 2 seasons with injuries, adjacent 1 arsenic talented arsenic McCaffrey.

But McCaffrey besides has nary much afloat guaranteed wealth successful his declaration aft this year, which means a reworked woody could beryllium successful the offing. But Lynch made it wide that the squad views McCaffrey arsenic a 49er beyond this season.

"It's not each time that you get a feline similar Christian astatine the minimum," Lynch said. "And that's fundamentally wherever we got him. But helium inactive has years connected his declaration aft that. I deliberation we're taking it measurement by step, but evidently that helps to cognize that the guy's got immoderate years aft this twelvemonth and it's not conscionable an 11-game, for deficiency a amended word, rental."