Early in the offseason 49ers general manager John Lynch sounded optimistic about center Alex Mack returning. He lauded how hard the 36-year-old was working and said the club was anticipating Mack’s return. Monday in his pre-draft press conference he sounded less certain.
Lynch, instead of offering his thoughts on where Mack was in a possible return for a 14th NFL season, put the ball in the veteran center’s court.
“Not a final,” Lynch said when asked if Mack had made a decision. “We’ve been in discussions with Alex, communicating with him and I think I would say, the common theme here today, I’m not going to speak for Alex on that. I think at the appropriate time, Alex will comment on that.”
It’s hard to believe Lynch would make this turn if he was anticipating Mack’s return. Perhaps he’s going out of his way to not push the player toward returning, but leaving it up to Mack to comment makes it sounds as though there’s a big announcement coming.
The 49ers would certainly love to have Mack back for this season. He was good in 2021 and they don’t have an immediate replacement they’d be confident in putting in the middle of their line.
Lynch said they’d be okay with playing a rookie at center, but with potentially two new starting guards it’d be a significant advantage to have Mack’s experience on the interior of the offensive line.
If Lynch’s tone change is signaling Mack’s retirement, then the 49ers have some work to do in the draft to ensure they’re finding a player they’re confident can hold that spot down right away. Either that or they have to go shopping in a thin free agent market.
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