It's been seven years since the San Francisco 49ers last appeared in the Super Bowl, when the team was led by head coach Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick was the team's wunderkind young quarterback.
A lot has changed since then, as back in 2012, current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was living in the nation's capital while serving as the offensive coordinator in Washington, while current franchise QB Jimmy Garoppolo was reflecting on his junior season at Eastern Illinois University.
ESPN's NFL Insiders recently put out a timeline for when each NFL team could next make it to the Super Bowl. Falling into a group of seven teams that are "two years away" are Shanahan and the 49ers.
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Here's what ESPN's Nick Wagoner had to say regarding the placement of San Francisco:
Presumably, this falls somewhere in between the best- and worst-case scenario for the 49ers and operates under the assumption that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is going to stay healthy and develop into the top-10 to top-12 quarterback the Niners envisioned when they handed him a massive contract extension in 2018. There's an intriguing supporting cast in place and plenty of young potential. But it figures to be some time for all of that to come together, with gradual steps still to be taken to get to the middle of the pack and playoff contention before realizing any Super Bowl dreams.
The other six teams to join the 49ers with this distinction are as follows: Ravens, Panthers, Browns, Texans, Jaguars and Titans. People around the NFL have been high on the 49ers as of late, with some projecting San Francisco as one of the most improved teams for 2019.
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The team signed Garoppolo to a five-year contract in Feb. 2018, so the team will have the quarterback position solidified for at least the next two seasons. Meanwhile, breakout tight end George Kittle will still be in his rookie contract for the next two years, and star cornerback Richard Sherman will be under team control through 2020, giving the core of the team at least this year and the next to make a run at a championship.
What does all of this mean? Well not much until Sept. 8, when the 2019 season gets underway for the 49ers in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. But until that point, expect quite a bit more speculation and intrigue to follow the team around as year three of the Shanahan/Lynch era begins.