Why Kyle Shanahan and Jed York were surprised 49ers GM John Lynch turned down broadcasting offer

In February, it was revealed that Amazon had held talks with general manager John Lynch, hoping to pry him away from the San Francisco 49ers’ front office and back into the broadcast booth. Amazon is now the exclusive broadcaster of “Thursday Night Football,” which is available within the company’s Prime Video product.

At the time, the specifics of the talks were unknown. Since then, Lynch has revealed more information. The general manager turned down the lucrative offer from Amazon to remain with the 49ers.

The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami spoke with Lynch this week on his podcast, The TK Show. He asked Lynch about those conversations with Amazon and the decision to turn down a significant paycheck.

Fred Gaudelli, the longtime executive producer of “Sunday Night Football,” was in charge of Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcast. Lynch had gotten to know Gaudelli through production meetings while working at FOX. Gaudelli was a fan of Lynch’s work and felt Lynch was on track to climb the broadcasting ranks.

Late last season, Gaudelli reached out to Lynch. However, the 49ers general manager was hesitant to find out why Gaudelli sought to speak with him.

“I said, ‘Freddie, we are in the midst of this thing. I couldn’t possibly sit down and talk with you,'” Lynch told Kawakami.

Gaudelli responded, “I just want to have dinner.”

Lynch arranged a dinner at his home, not knowing what Gaudelli wanted to discuss. Gaudelli arrived for dinner, accompanied by Amazon executives. Clearly, this wasn’t just a casual get-together.

“The next thing you know, they dropped this bomb on me,” Lynch explained. “They want to hire me, and Mr. [Jeff] Bezos is very aware of this dinner going on.”

The offer was significant. However, given that the 49ers were making a playoff push, Lynch didn’t want to consider it then. He admits to feeling “dirty” even having the dinner with Gaudelli and company.

At his end-of-the-season press conference on February 1, Lynch reassured reporters about his commitment to the 49ers. The general manager had addressed the team after their loss in the NFC Championship Game. That’s when he was reminded that his goal was to win a championship for the organization, not return to television.

“So I just tried to put my thoughts into how we come back from a loss like that,” Lynch said of that conversation with his players. “Talked about the courage it was going to take. And ultimately, that’s what really got me, Tim, other than my loyalties to the York family, how good they’ve been to us, how much we’ve enjoyed this whole situation.

“And then primarily my relationship with Kyle, my friendship and my respect for him and the coaching staff that we have, my staff. All that weighed in. But ultimately, when it came down to making that decision, because the money did get ridiculous, all I could think about was [the moment] getting up and talking to that team. And if I left them with unfinished business, I would never feel good. That wouldn’t sit well with me.”

Shanahan and 49ers CEO Jed York knew the situation, though. They would have understood if Lynch had departed for a salary that some speculate tripled that of the one he earns with the Niners.

“I think I even surprised Kyle and Jed because they knew,” Lynch admitted. “They said, ‘Listen, we love you, we don’t want you to go anywhere, but that’s a hard thing to turn down.’ But ultimately, I did. And I’m happy that I did.”

The overworked Lynch added, “Some weeks,” while laughing.