Jed York discloses Kyle Shanahan believed the 49ers gave up ‘a lot’ for Christian McCaffrey’s trade

It was a bet that they were willing to make, and it paid dividends for the San Francisco 49ers.

Jed York discloses Kyle Shanahan believed the 49ers gave up ‘a lot’ for Christian McCaffrey’s trade

Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Shanahan (Image FirstSportz)

In a surprising turn of events, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York revealed that Kyle Shanahan was having second thoughts before trading for Christian McCaffrey. During the recent press meeting, York recalled the conversation he had with Shanahan during the process.

York claimed he and Shanahan had a difference of opinion on the McCaffrey trade.

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Kyle Shanahan thought it was a lot to give up for a running back, and I think John Lynch and I thought it was just the right amount to give up for Christian.
York said

It’s not wrong to assume that the San Francisco 49ers head coach would have doubts because they were giving away a lot for a running back. York’s team traded away second, third, and fourth-round picks for 2023 and a fifth-round pick for the 2024 NFL draft to acquire the Stanford graduate.

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York continued what Shanahan told him. He said,

I remember that very vividly—it's not a pass rusher, it's not a quarterback, but you know it's a good player, but do we want to give up that much?

Jed York’s intuition about Christian McCaffrey proved correct

After bagging several accolades, which included a consensus All-American (2015) and the Paul Hornung Award with Stanford, Christian McCaffrey declared for the NFL. In 2017, the Carolina Panthers drafted him as the 8th overall pick. Although in an interview, he revealed he would stay in Carolina for the rest of his career; the Panthers traded him away midway through the 2022 season to the 49ers.

Jed York discloses Kyle Shanahan believed the 49ers gave up 'a lot' for Christian McCaffrey's trade
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (Image via Imago)

York compared the trade with the game of poker. He described the move as strategic, even though Shanahan was reluctant to come aboard.

As somebody who plays poker a little bit, you don't go all in on the jack-six off suit. When you have a pair of jacks or Ace King, you might not win the hand, but that's the time that you want to push your chips into the middle, and I feel like that's where we were with Christian.

It was a bet that they were willing to make, and it paid dividends for the San Francisco 49ers. McCaffrey had a tremendous 2023 season en route to the 49ers’ second Super Bowl appearance in three seasons. In 16 games, he had 272 carries for 1,459 rushing yards (first in the league) and 14 touchdowns. He also led the league in touches from the line of scrimmage with 339 for 2023 total yards and 21 overall touchdowns, which propelled him to be in the mix for NFL MVP.

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