GM Lynch: 'I couldn't' leave 49ers for Amazon after playoff loss

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch recently detailed why he turned down a lucrative offer from Amazon for a broadcasting job after the 2021 season.

"I think the moment for me, after we lost the NFC Championship Game, (coach) Kyle (Shanahan) asked me to address the team, and that's when the clarity really came to me," Lynch said, according to David Lombardi of The Athletic. "I wasn't gonna address it until after the season. But I looked at myself, and I said, 'How do I sit up here and address these guys and talk about having the fortitude to fight through the pain of losing a game like this and then turn around and bolt on them?'

"I couldn't do it. I knew right then what I was gonna do. And I'm happy to be a part of the Niners."

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported in February - weeks after San Francisco's 20-17 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams - that Amazon offered Lynch approximately three times more than his roughly $5-million salary with the 49ers to join its broadcasting team.

Lynch briefly addressed his decision to remain with the club during a press conference in March, saying the "opportunity to compete" spoke louder.

The 50-year-old worked as an NFL analyst for Fox before joining the 49ers in 2017. San Francisco reached Super Bowl LIV during Lynch's third season on the job but fell against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lynch is signed with the 49ers through the 2024 season after inking a multi-year extension in 2020.

Amazon will take over Thursday Night Football this season and is reportedly paying the NFL $1 billion annually through the 2033 campaign for broadcast rights. The company announced Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit as its broadcast duo in March.

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