Thirty-seven. That was the average age of the four NFC quarterbacks who took the field this past weekend in the divisional round. That number was only that low because Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff is 26. The other three -- Aaron Rodgers (37), Drew Brees (42) and Tom Brady (43) -- have an average age of 40.6.
That says two things about the state of the NFC power structure: 1. Rodgers and Brady will continue to be a factor atop the conference for the next few seasons. Brees reportedly will retire following Sunday's loss. 2. There is no clear long-term leader at the head of the NFC.
Rodgers still is fantastic and should take home the MVP this season. He's not going anywhere, but at 37, his best years aren't in front of him. Brady keeps throwing haymakers at Father Time, and while he's shown no clear signs that his abilities are diminishing, the end is drawing near for TB12.
That should show the 49ers that there is a clear opening to make sure the road to the Super Bowl travels through Santa Clara in the coming years, especially after Brady retires and as Rodgers becomes mortal.
For the 49ers to do that, they have to solve their quarterback issue. They have to take a swing, dream big and land a young, franchise quarterback who can make them the team to beat in the NFC for a decade.
Look past Rodgers and Brady and the NFC is a quarterback wasteland aside from Russell Wilson and the emerging Kyler Murray. Goff is a product of Sean McVay's system and his limitations are evident. Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan are upper-tier quarterbacks without the supporting cast to make them true players for conference supremacy.
The state of the NFC's quarterbacks gives the 49ers, who have a roster that is Super Bowl ready if the appropriate tweaks are made, an opportunity to rise to the top and stay there.
Things are different in the AFC where Patrick Mahomes (25), Lamar Jackson (24), Josh Allen (25), Baker Mayfield (25), Deshaun Watson (25), Justin Herbert (22) and Joe Burrow (24) all reside. That's a murderer's row of talented young quarterbacks, led by an all-time great in Mahomes, that will shape the conference picture for more than a decade.
Once Brady exits, the NFC's marquee quarterbacks will be Rodgers, Wilson and Murray. That's the list.
This should make the 49ers' search for a true franchise quarterback, one who fits the mold of the modern NFL all the more pressing. Whether it's a trade for Deshaun Watson (unlikely) or a trade up to draft Justin Fields or Zach Wilson (more likely but not by much), the 49ers finding an elite talent at the quarterback position will put them on track to get back to the top of the NFC and be the conference's leading team for years to come.
Rodgers and Brady are legends. Wilson's greatness is unimpeachable, but the Seahawks can't get out of their own way. Murray is on his way to stardom but the Cardinals are flawed at the moment.
The NFC's ruling class is aging out. Even if Rodgers is on the Brady track (he probably is) and is borderline elite for another eight seasons, that gives the 49ers only two/three elite QBs to contend with each season for a Super Bowl berth.
As the AFC sets up for a decade-long bloodbath between a number of talented quarterbacks, the NFC has two legends guarding the throne with few other realistic challengers waiting in the wings.
Now appears to be the time for the 49ers to make a big swing and put themselves in the driver's seat much in the same way the Chiefs have in the AFC.
What that swing looks like, however, is anyone's guess.