If the New York Jets are looking to add a veteran quarterback in the wake of Aaron Rodgers' season-ending Achilles injury, 49ers backup QB Sam Darnold does not appear to be an option.
With Zach Wilson set to take over as New York's QB1, the Jets have been linked to a handful of veteran signal callers, but 49ers general manager John Lynch told KNBR 680's "Murph & Mac" on Friday that San Francisco "did not" field a call from the Jets about Darnold.
Lynch, like many around the NFL, was high on the Jets this season and noticed how happy and energized Rodgers appeared to be with his new team while watching HBO's "Hard Knocks."
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"I did talk to [Robert] Saleh, like everyone," Lynch said of the Rogers injury. "I watched a little 'Hard Knocks,' I have a daughter at TCU who's a junior, that's kind of our thing, we watch 'Hard Knocks' together and she watches it out there and we kind of compare notes. If you followed that, Aaron came off great. The way he treated, for instance, Zach Wilson, he was tremendous to that young man.
"You could see Aaron -- and I've been there-- I had a great experience in Tampa, but when you go (somewhere new) -- it was Year 11 for me in Denver -- you kind of have this newfound energy, you're off cruise control, your senses are heightened and it brings something out of you, especially (for) competitors, that you feel like you gotta prove yourself and I felt that coming through the screen with Aaron. That was hard to watch, hard to stomach. I talked with Saleh and that group, they still have a really good football team. It will be interesting to see where they go, but man they got a D-line that is special, a defense that's really good. I still think they'll be a good football team, but that's a huge loss, there's no doubt about it."
Lynch and the 49ers are no strangers to starting quarterback injuries and know just how valuable a backup like Darnold is in this situation, which is why even if New York eventually came calling, the 49ers likely will want to hold onto the former Jets quarterback.
