Niner Noise

The San Francisco 49ers were within minutes of making it to Super Bowl 56, missing out only because of yet another fourth-quarter collapse and the shortcomings of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams are hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after beating the Niners in the NFC Championship game, then going on to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on Super Bowl Sunday, essentially putting all the chatter surrounding San Francisco’s previous six-game win streak over LA to bed. With the offseason now in full swing, the focus for general manager John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. will be to improve upon what was still an awesome 2021 campaign for the 49ers, yet it’ll likely include an offseason where Garoppolo is traded amid a lackluster market for available quarterbacks. The Niners, without a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, will seek to restock their draft capital in the wake of last spring’s trade-up for Jimmy G’s heir apparent, Trey Lance.