The San Francisco 49ers are accustomed to playing in big games. They’ve made a trip to the NFC title game in four of the last six seasons and are rightfully considered a perennial championship contender.
Considering how poorly Super Bowl 54 went, Super Bowl 58 carries extra weight. For established superstars that fell just short last time against the Kansas City Chiefs — namely, All-Pros Trent Williams and Nick Bosa — it’s a chance at redemption. In time, it might even be a coronation for Kyle Shanahan, the NFL’s finest offensive mind and play-caller who has been to this stage multiple times but never gotten over the hump.
But these are stories that will only be sorted out on Super Bowl Sunday. We have time to digest them.
For now, it’s worth tracking how San Francisco made it back to the biggest event in American sports. Let’s look at the three smartest decisions the 49ers made that helped lead them to Las Vegas for the 2024 Super Bowl.
1
Trading for Christian McCaffrey
The 49ers did not necessarily need to trade for a running back last October. In fact, with the capable Elijah Mitchell in tow, all San Francisco needed in the backfield was a complement to a loaded supporting cast of pass targets, like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. But general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan understood having a fail-safe, all-worldly offensive dynamo could still do wonders for the team.
Enter the Christian McCaffrey trade with the Carolina Panthers.
In exchange for the princely sum of a 2023 second-round, third-round and fourth-round draft selection — as well as a fifth-rounder in 2024 — the 49ers added perhaps the most complete running back in professional football. They added a multipurpose weapon who has scored 31 touchdowns, rushed for more than 2,200 yards (on five yards a carry!) and caught 119 passes for more than 1,000 yards. McCaffrey was particularly sublime in 2023, acting as the engine to the San Francisco offense in an MVP-caliber campaign.
Oh, and McCaffrey doesn’t turn 28 until June, ensuring there’s likely at least a few more seasons of his brilliance in the Bay Area. What a masterstroke trade by the 49ers’ front office.
2
Jettisoning Trey Lance in favor of Brock Purdy
The 49ers traded three first-round picks for the rights to draft Trey Lance in 2021. He was supposed to be their playmaking quarterback of the future, the passer who would elevate the team the next time it clinched a Super Bowl berth. But inconsistencies in his development and a broken ankle suffered in early 2022 mired any promise Lance might have had.
And when former “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy unexpectedly took the team to the 2023 NFC title game anyway, the 49ers realized something crucial. Purdy was the quarterback of the future they desired. He had shown more than enough promise as a young player to warrant further investment, leading San Francisco to eventually cut ties with Lance by trading him to the Dallas Cowboys.
The rest is history, vindication even.
Purdy isn’t as good as his contemporary in Patrick Mahomes (no one is). He might have alarming (chaotic?) signs of inconsistency from time to time. But there’s little doubt he has been a net positive for Shanahan and a 49ers’ offense that needed a competent caretaker. They made the right decision to back him, that’s for sure.
3
Kept the band together and even added hungry veterans
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
An easy decision for the 49ers after last season’s NFC title game humiliation would’ve been to shake things up. Any time you take a 24-point loss on the chin with a conference on the line, panic is understandable. For the most prominent example, it might have been time to, perhaps, trade Brandon Aiyuk for a massive haul instead of watching him blossom into a Second-Team All-Pro.
Could you imagine if they had dealt away the ladybug-blessed guy who made this play against the Detroit Lions?
But the 49ers didn’t do that. They stayed the course. They brought back largely the same team that won 13 games in 2022 in a championship-or-bust season. Their faith worked out, showing that patience, especially in the NFL, is a timeless virtue.
Even then, San Francisco did make some key additions. Stalwart veteran safety Tashaun Gipson Jr. has filled in well in the secondary, providing a steady presence to a group that needed a lead-by-example leader. They also pried away Javon Hargrave, the former centerpiece of the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line, knowing he’d likely still be a wrecking ball next to Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead.
The 49ers didn’t need to reinvent the wheel to clinch a spot in Super Bowl 58. They just needed some minor tweaks here and there. The proof is in the pudding.
